Name: Savory Beef Wrapped Spaghetti
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 2
Ingredients: ½ lb. ground beef; 1 small egg; 1 tsp garlic paste; 1 tsp Italian herbs, divided into 2 portions; ¼ cup panko breadcrumbs; 1½ cup tomato sauce; 5 oz. capellini noodles; ½ cup onion, finely chopped; 1 cup mozzarella cheese, grated; Salt and pepper, to taste; Olive oil, as needed

*This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure to learn more.

Jump to Recipe

Spaghetti and meatballs are such a classic comfort meal, but sometimes something that has been a classic for so long just needs to be shaken up a bit.

That is what happened with this recipe here — a classic made in a new way! All the classic ingredients for spaghetti and meatballs, just prepared a bit differently and in less time.

With this recipe, you will be able to cook all the ingredients at once in the oven, without the mess that usually occurs when making spaghetti and meatballs.

What Is Beef-Wrapped Spaghetti?

This is a smart way to recreate your favorite classic dish. Instead of cooking all separately, you will have it all made in one baking dish!

The recipe itself truly holds up to its name — you take a portion of seasoned ground beef and use it to wrap spaghetti.

Does This Taste The Same As Classic Spaghetti And Meatballs?

In the terms of flavor, you will have it all with this recipe — it will taste just like traditional spaghetti and meatballs!

I have come across more than a few different recipes where recipe creators just use plain ground beef, but I wasn’t happy with that since I knew we would all end up with just a bland piece of ground beef.

I wanted to be sure that I created a supreme recipe everyone will love (and one that will taste close to the classic dish), so I seasoned my ground beef just as I would my meatballs, and even used the same ingredients that go into meatballs!

The sauce for the beef-wrapped spaghetti is the same sauce I usually use for my meatballs. With all this said, I assure you that this recipe will have the same flavor we all know and love — true spaghetti and meatballs!

Which Pasta Should You Use?

The traditional recipe is made with spaghetti, but for this recipe, they may be a bit too thick and may stay too firm in the middle section where the pasta is wrapped with beef.

So, instead of plain spaghetti, use a thinner pasta like capellini. Capellini will cook faster, so you will avoid that firm pasta center!

Also, use quality pasta — this is the most important part of all pasta dishes. You cannot use cheap pasta and expect amazing results!

Is This Easy To Make?

As said already, this is easier to make than classic spaghetti and meatballs. With the classic recipe, you have to make all the components separately — make and cook meatballs, prepare a sauce from scratch, and cook your spaghetti.

With this recipe, all the ingredients are cooked in a single dish without any need to cook them separately. So, to me, this is easier to make!

My Top Tips

Use capellini instead of plain spaghetti to ensure the pasta is cooked all the way through and the middle section won’t be too firm.
Shape the beef into a flattened or oblong shape instead a round meatball. This will help your pasta cook more evenly, as there will not be too much mass around the pasta.
To enrich the flavor, you can add some red wine to the sauce — I also like to add thinly sliced mushrooms.
Before baking all, make sure you brown the ground beef on all sides. This way you will get more flavor, pus the beef will stay firm and survive the oven baking!

Savory Beef Wrapped Spaghetti

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 50 minutes

Servings: 2

Ingredients

½ lb. ground beef
1 small egg
1 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp Italian herbs, divided into 2 portions
¼ cup panko breadcrumbs
1½ cup tomato sauce
5 oz. capellini noodles
½ cup onion, finely chopped
1 cup mozzarella cheese, grated
Salt and pepper, to taste
Olive oil, as needed

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2. Prepare the beef and spaghetti; in a bowl, combine the ground beef, egg, garlic paste, breadcrumbs, and first portion of Italian herbs.

3. Stir until well combined.

4. Divide pasta into two parts. Do the same with ground beef.

5. Wrap each portion of spaghetti with a portion of beef, making sure they are tightly wrapped.

My tip to hold it all in place is to tie the spaghetti with kitchen twine — this will ensure they do not scatter around while you try to wrap them in beef.

6. Heat some oil in a large skillet. Cook the beef until browned on all sides.

If you do not have a large skillet, then divide the beef into four portions and break the pasta in half before wrapping it with the beef to create four pasta bundles, then brown the meat.

7. Transfer the spaghetti and beef to a baking dish.

8. Prepare the sauce; heat some olive oil in a skillet. Add onions and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until translucent.

If you like your Italian food chock full of garlic, you can add some minced or finely chopped garlic here.

9. Add the tomato sauce and remaining Italian herbs, then simmer for another 5 minutes.

10. Assemble the dish; pour the tomato sauce over the spaghetti bundles, top with shredded mozzarella, and cover the dish with aluminum foil.

11. Bake the spaghetti for 45 minutes. If needed, add some water during the cooking time.

12. Once the pasta is cooked, remove it from the baking dish and serve warm.

Notes

If you’d like, you can garnish with some sliced green olives!