Cowboy Spaghetti
Cowboy spaghetti is a hearty, one-skillet pasta dish loaded with crispy bacon, ground beef, and a rich tomato-based sauce with just the right amount of spice. Quick to make and packed with bold flavors, it’s an easy dinner option that brings a smoky, cheesy twist to traditional spaghetti.
Servings: 4
Calories: 992kcal
Ingredients
- ½ pound bacon, cut into ½ inch diced pieces (yield approximately ¾ cup cooked bacon)
- 1 pound ground beef, 85%-15% fat content
- 1 cup yellow onion, diced
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 15 ounces tomato sauce
- 14.5 ounces fire roasted diced tomatoes
- 10 ounces diced tomatoes with green chilies, Rotel original brand
- 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce
- ½ pound spaghetti noodles, cooked and drained according to package directions
- 1 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided (1 cup mixed into the sauce and ½ cup to garnish)
- 2 tablespoons finely sliced green onions, scallions
Instructions
- To a large skillet, over medium heat, add the diced bacon and cook for 12-14 minutes or until the bacon is crispy. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the cooked bacon pieces to a paper towel lined plate. Drain off all but 1 tablespoon of the bacon grease from the skillet and return the skillet to the stove top.
- Turn the heat to the skillet up to medium-high and add the ground beef, diced yellow onion, minced garlic, salt and black pepper. Cook for 5-6 minutes or until no pink remains in the ground beef. If excess fat in the skillet, you will need to drain most of it before adding the remaining ingredients.
- To the skillet of cooked ground beef, add the tomato sauce, fire roasted diced tomatoes, diced tomatoes with green chilies, worcestershire sauce and hot sauce. Stir to combine.
- Bring the sauce to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the sauce reduces and thickens slightly.
- While the sauce is simmering, cook the spaghetti noodles in a large pot of boiling water, according to package directions, until al dente. This should take 9-11 minutes. Drain the noodles.
- Add the drained noodles, 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese and bacon to the skillet of cowboy spaghetti sauce. Toss to fully combine all the ingredients.
- Top the skillet of cowboy spaghetti with the remaining ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese and sliced green onions as garnish. You can cover the skillet with the lid for 1-2 minutes or just until the cheese melts if desired before serving.
Notes
- The fire roasted diced tomatoes add a nice smoky flavor to the sauce for this cowboy pasta however, you can certainly substitute a can of plain diced tomatoes if desired.
- If you prefer more heat, or spice, in your cowboy spaghetti sauce, you can substitute a can of the HOT Rotel diced tomatoes with green chilies.
- For additional heat, or spice, you can increase the amount of hot sauce added to the spaghetti sauce.
- It is best to shred your cheddar cheese by hand, from an 8 ounce block, as I find that it melts much nicer than the bagged pre-shredded cheeses that contain added ingredients to prevent clumping.
- You can substitute the shredded cheddar cheese for a cheddar-jack blend or pepper-jack cheese as both these options are smooth melting cheeses that will pair well with the other flavors of this cowboy pasta.
Nutrition
Calories: 992kcal | Carbohydrates: 63g | Protein: 47g | Fat: 61g | Saturated Fat: 25g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 23g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 160mg | Sodium: 1776mg | Potassium: 1136mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 1436IU | Vitamin C: 21mg | Calcium: 422mg | Iron: 6mg