Original SpaghettiOs
Campbell’s SpaghettiOs are sold in more than 150 million cans each year. Many of these are consumed by kids.
It’s hard to resist those adorable little os in cheesy tomato sauce.
SpaghettiOs were a regular sight in my elementary school lunchbox, much to my grandmother’s amusement.
I remember her picking up a can and reading the label. She said to me, “This is not food.”
Campbell’s first introduced canned spaghetti in 1965. I believe she cried.
Easy homemade spaghettios recipe
It seemed like the perfect time to create a recipe for homemade spaghetti, with kids still in class for a few weeks.
This one doesn’t contain high fructose corn syrup or other ingredients you can’t pronounce.
Healthy spaghettios! Yes, they will fit into a thermos lunchbox.
They are great to pack with healthy Banana Oatmeal cookies or Black Bean brownies.
Healthy spaghetti has ingredients
You can use any small pasta shape that you have.
The spaghetti Os are available in various flavors: dairy-free, soy-free, vegan, low-fat, low-calorie, and sugar-free. Use gluten-free pasta to make homemade Spaghettios.
You can even get gluten-free quinoa Cellini if you prefer a SpaghettiOs style but want to avoid gluten.
You can find nutritional yeast in Whole Foods, Amazon, or most grocery stores’ natural foods section. It’s high in proteins and has a long list of vitamins.
Please do not confuse it with the yeast used for baking bread or brewers’ yeast. Nutritional yeast is used here as a vegan substitute for Parmesan. It adds a cheesy taste to the homemade spaghetti.
Use dairy-free butter and plant-based milk to make vegan spaghetti. I haven’t tried this recipe using oil instead of butter. We tried a fat-free version but were not impressed. We do not recommend leaving it out.
Make homemade spaghettios
Combine the onion powder, paprika, and sweetener in a small pan. Add nutritional yeast, Parmesan or nutritional yeast, butter, and tomato sauce without salt.
Bring the sauce to a rolling boil. Reduce the heat to low and continue cooking, occasionally stirring, until hot.
Bring a medium pot with salted water to a rolling boil while the red sauce cooks.
When the water begins to boil, add the pasta. Cook according to the package instructions or until the desired pasta texture has been achieved. (I like al dente pasta.)
Then, dry the pasta with a paper towel. Pour the pasta into the sauce and mix to coat. Serve immediately.
In the fridge, leftover spaghetti will be in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Reheat the leftovers in the microwave or stovetop, adding milk as necessary to make the sauce creamy.
You can technically freeze pasta, but it will alter the texture of the noodles and the sauce. In general, I don’t recommend freezing leftovers of pasta.
How to use a food balance
Here are the grams equivalents to the cups and tablespoons below.
The following ingredients can be used: 130 grams of pasta, 425 g of tomato sauce, 12 g of nutritional yeast or Parmesan, 30 grams of milk (vegetable milk also works), 10 grams of butter spread, and 12 grams of sweetener.
Remember also to add the salt, paprika, and onion powder.
Ingredients
15 oz tomato sauce with no salt added
Milk of Choice 2 tbsp
Half a teaspoon of onion powder
1/4 tsp of paprika
Salt, 3/4 to 1 tsp as desired
Butter (vegan brands will work)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast (Parmesan)
Sweetener of your choice – 1-2 tablespoons
One cup of your favorite tiny pasta uncooked (if using larger pasta such as elbows or linguine, use 2 cups).
Instructions
SpaghettiO recipe: Stir together all ingredients, except pasta, in a small pan. Bring to a rolling boil, then reduce heat and simmer on low for a few minutes until the butter spread is melted. In the meantime, bring medium pots of salted water up to a rolling boil. Once the water is boiling, add the pasta and continue to cook until desired consistency is achieved. Drain and then dry the pasta with a paper towel. Pour the pasta into the sauce and mix well. Serve. Stir and add milk to any leftovers before reheating.