Beyond Meatballs: 11 Inventive Companions for Spaghetti

Sick of boring old meatballs and red sauce? Spice things up with one of these more unusual combinations.

1. BUFFALO CHICKEN

Everything tastes better with buffalo sauce. This recipe by Carissa Shaw of All in All suggests smothering spaghetti with buffalo sauce, cheese, and chicken.

2. PEANUT BUTTER

Veggie Belly

Peanut butter isn’t just for sandwiches and apple slices. A dollop of the spread—along with ingredients like sesame oil and soy sauce—can upgrade your Italian pasta. Follow this recipe on Veggie Belly for an easy and delicious vegetarian dish.

3. CINCINNATI CHILI

The Kitchn

You might not be expecting chocolate in your pasta dish, but the flavor combination can be a reality, thanks to the smoky and sweet magic of Cincinnati chili. Simply put this regional chili dish on a pile of spaghetti and top it with shredded cheese.

4. STRAWBERRIES

Pop Sugar

A high quality balsamic and tomato puree help work with the strawberries to give the pasta a uniquely sweet taste.

5. TACO FILLINGS

Taste of Home

Get rid of the shell and replace it with spaghetti. Bake your spaghetti with ground beef, taco seasoning, tomatoes, chiles, black beans, cheese, and salsa for a different kind of taco night.

6. TACO SHELLS

Foodie Crush

If you don’t want to ditch the shells, put the spaghetti inside and ditch the fork instead. Inspired by the TV show iCarly, Heidi of Foodiecrush created a recipe for spaghetti tacos.

7. HOT DOGS

While your spaghetti is still stiff and uncooked, push it through sliced hot dogs. Then, cook the whole thing for an interesting (and kid-friendly) dish. Watch how it’s done on Inspire to Cook.

8. AVOCADO

Damn Delicious

If you want a creamy pasta sauce without the actual cream, swap in avocados as a healthy alternative. Throw an avocado in a food processor with some basil, garlic, and olive oil, and you can have a delicious spaghetti sauce in minutes.

9. PIZZA TOPPINGS

Boys Ahoy

Spaghetti can be an alternative to pizza crust. Kristy of Boys Ahoy offers a recipe for a deep dish pizza made with spaghetti, pepperoni, and ground turkey.

10. HUMMUS

Half Baked Harvest

Half Baked Harvest offers up a recipe

for Mediterranean pasta that includes ingredients like hummus, cherry tomatoes, kalamata olives, and feta cheese.

11. CAVIAR

For a smokier dish, add salmon roe and lox to your pasta. Food & Wine has a simple, quick recipe for making it at home.