Sprucing Up The Basics: Spaghetti and Meat Sauce

Zachary Sarmoen

As I’ve spoken with my friends who have told me they are stuck cooking and eating bad food because they don’t have the money or time to put together something better, I’ve realized the importance of the small and easy ways to spruce up my everyday basic meals .To me, food is an important means of self expression, and can be a way for students, and everyone, to practice self-care and take ownership over their lifestyle. After all, nobody wants to be stuck eating pasta with ketchup or spam and cheese sandwiches, college student or not.

One of the easiest dishes to make as a college student is spaghetti with meat sauce—it can be made in bulk, it can be stashed in the refrigerator, it has protein, it tastes good, it pairs well with most sides you may have leftover in your fridge, and it’s relatively cheap to make with the main ingredients being a pack of ground beef, some spaghetti, and a jar of store-bought sauce. Unfortunately, for the sake of time and money, many students may limit the ingredients to just those three essentials, leaving out much of the flavor and, in turn, the enjoyment. For all my peers who think they have to eat flavorless spaghetti, athletes hosting pasta parties, and students looking to recreate the taste of a home cooked meal, here is my step by step recipe for an elevated college student-style spaghetti with meat sauce—and an easy-to-make cheesy garlic bread (you may as well make a lot of food if you are already cooking)—that is still time and budget friendly.

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef (85-15)
1 whole yellow onion diced
Salt and black pepper to taste
Red pepper flakes to taste
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or butter
3 teaspoons minced garlic or garlic powder
2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 jar store-bought marinara sauce
1 lb spaghetti
1 French baguette
6 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
Frozen vegetables of choice (optional)

Instructions

Pasta

Fill a pot about ⅔ full with water (any higher and you risk it bubbling over) and bring it to a boil
Once the water is boiling, add your pasta and stir frequently
Once the pasta begins to soften, remove a piece every minute, let it cool, and try it. Once it is just slightly below your liking, remove the pasta from the heat and drain it (residual heat and adding the pasta to the sauce will both continue to soften the pasta)

Meat Sauce

Heat a saucepan with a thin layer of oil/butter to medium heat (the oil should slightly bubble but not pop or splatter)
Add the diced onion to the saucepan, stirring semi-frequently to prevent burning
Season the onions with a pinch of salt
Once the onions have softened and started to brown slightly, raise the heat to medium-high and add the ground beef to the pan
Break the beef into small-medium sized chunks, and season with garlic, Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes (optional)
Once the meat has browned on the outside (some red on the inside of bigger chunks is ok at this point — the meat will cook more in the sauce), pour in the jar of marinara sauce and bring it to a simmer (slight bubbling)
Add a package of frozen vegetables to the sauce (optional)
Let the sauce simmer for 10 minutes, then turn off the heat
Season with additional salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes to taste

Cheesy Garlic Bread

Set your oven to the broil setting (on high) or to 425 degrees fahrenheit
Cut the baguette into thirds and then slice each piece in half
Coat each piece in a light layer of olive oil or butter (helps seasonings stick to the bread)
Season each piece of bread with garlic and a sprinkle of Italian seasoning
Cover each piece with a layer of mozzarella cheese
Bake in the oven until the cheese is melted and started to brown

Special Tips/Tricks

Trader Joe’s sells baguettes for $2, spaghetti for $1, and marinara sauce for $2.
Do not buy an expensive jar of sauce (no more than $3) — the meat and seasoning flavor the sauce plenty.
When you have a mostly empty jar of sauce, add a little bit of water to the jar, close it and shake it, and then pour the watery sauce in. This will ensure you do not waste any sauce, and add some moisture to the sauce while it simmers.
Costco, along with other large grocery stores, sells frozen baguettes (which are delicious) for an easy to make bread option that will not go bad—they take about ten minutes to cook in the oven.
Many grocery stores also sell frozen cubes of minced garlic and many herbs that can be useful for recipes like this one, so you do not have to take time to cut your own garlic and herbs.
If you are already cooking something on the stove (like pasta), take the opportunity to prepare something in the oven, either for that meal or to store for the future. You are already taking time to cook; be efficient!
If you are storing leftovers, freeze them unless you are planning to eat them in the following day or two, in which case refrigeration is ok.

It is probably not realistic to expect a college student to make homemade marinara sauce or bake their own bread regularly, but there is no reason an average dinner cannot be somewhat gourmet. The addition of some fresh ingredients to integrate with the store-bought ones can go a long way, not only with this spaghetti and meat sauce recipe but with all quick college meals. For college students, getting a handle on culinary basics can be vastly helpful for building confidence in the kitchen, preparing to host important dinners and events, and for simply minding one’s own wellbeing. Sometimes, a dish as simple as spaghetti, or any pasta, with meat sauce, can be the first step to achieving these goals.