This Espagueti con Carne Molida (Puerto Rican Spaghetti) recipe is a delicious, popular dish made often for lunch or dinner. It’s inexpensive, making it perfect when feeding a large family and cooks in 30 minutes!
Weeknight meals can be especially challenging due to time and sometimes even creativity. You know, that daunting thought “what do I cooked for dinner tonight?” This recipe takes care of both dilemmas for you!
This is not your typical bowl of spaghetti. The ground beef is flavored with Puerto Rican staples like sofrito, sazon, oregano, and garlic.
Add chopped onions, peppers and tomato sauce for a bold and savory sauce. The meat is very comparable to Puerto Rican carne molida (Puerto Rican Picadillo).
Once your meat sauce is cooked, this recipe is a breeze! Cook up a pot of spaghetti, mix in the meat sauce and you’re done!
Note: If you’re wondering about other easy one pot meals, consider these other delicious meals too: Tallarín Saltado (Peruvian Stir fry), Sudado de Pollo (Colombian Chicken Stew) and Sopa de Salchichon (Puerto Rican Salami Soup).
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Reasons to Love this Recipe
- Affordable – when money is tight but you still have to feed a large family, coming up with a delicious filling dinner that everyone will love can be daunting.
- Quick and Easy to Put Together – quickly cook the ground beef, cook the spaghetti, combine everything together and your dinner is ready!
- Pasta – don’t have spaghetti in your pantry or prefer different pasta? Penne, rigatoni, and ziti are also great in this dish.
- Leftovers – if you have any leftovers, try reheating this recipe in a skillet. For some reason, heating this dish in a skillet is so much better than reheating it in the microwave.
Ingredients
- Ground Beef – use 80/20 or 73/27 lean meat to fat ratio ground beef. These blends are right in the sweet spot of having enough fat to keep the meat moist but yet flavorful.
- Sofrito – is a key ingredient in Puerto Rican spaghetti and adds a ton of flavor.
- Sazon – this dish would not be a complete without sazon con annatto. The combination of spices in sazon, elevates this spaghetti dish.
- Peppers and Onions – not only add incredible flavor to the meat sauce but excellent delicious texture.
- Garlic – no other ingredient adds such savoriness to a dish as garlic does. Do not skip out on this ingredient!
- Tomato Sauce – although you can use regular tomato sauce, using a sauce like “Hunts Garlic and Herb” works even better.
- Pasta – use your favorite spaghetti brand or whatever other pasta you prefer.
See my recipe card below for a complete list of the ingredients with measurements.
SUBSTITUTIONS AND VARIATIONS
Can I Use Ground Chicken or Pork Instead?
- Use whatever ground meat you prefer and follow the same instructions as you would for ground beef.
What Other Pasta Other than Spaghetti Do You Recommend?
- If you do not like spaghetti or prefer a different pasta, try penne, macaroni or ziti.
Like Spaghetti Spicy?
- Add in some chili pepper flakes when preparing the ground meat.
Instructions (¿Cómo Preparar Espagueti?)
Step 1: Add 1 tablespoon of oil to a large pot and heat over medium heat. Add the ground beef and using a spatula or potato masher, break up the beef to cook evenly. Add ½ a cup of water and break apart again. Cook for a few minutes until beef has browned.
Step 2: Add the onions and peppers, stir into the meat. Cook until the onions are translucent. (Lower the heat if the beef starts to burn and add a few tablespoons of water if needed)
Step 3: Once the onions have cooked, add the sofrito, garlic, oregano and sazon. Stir well to combine into the meat.
Step 4: Add the tomato sauce, salt and pepper to taste and stir. Lower the heat if needed to medium low. Cook for 20-25 minutes semi-covered with a lid.
Step 5: While the sauce is cooking, cook the spaghetti per the box instructions and then drain in a colander.
Step 6: Once the sauce is done, taste for salt and pepper and add more if needed.
Step 7: Add the meat sauce a little at a time to the spaghetti and incorporate well. Continue adding more of the sauce until the spaghetti is combined well with the sauce.
Step 8: Once enough of the meat sauce has been added to the spaghetti, you can reserve the rest for serving on top of individual servings. Or you simply add all of the sauce now to the pasta if you prefer.
What to Serve with Espaguetis con Carne
Traditionally, we like to serve this dish with a tossed salad on the side and a few slices of toasty bread.
However, you do not need to go for the extras, this dish is delicious and filling all on its own.
Recipe FAQs
Unless you’re used to having Puerto Rican Spaghetti, probably not. Puerto Rican Espaguetis uses Puerto Rican staples such as sofrito and sazon, changing the flavor completely from what you may be used to, however, non the less delicious!
Absolutely! This is a great make-ahead dish. Prep and cook the day before to get a step ahead of cooking for your family.
I wouldn’t recommend it as the pasta will become mushy. You can, however, make the meat sauce ahead of time and freeze it in a freezer safe container or bag. Defrost it in your refrigerator the night before you’re ready to have it. Cook the pasta, reheat sauce, combine, and serve.
If you have a few minutes to spare, reheat in a pan or skillet for the best flavor, tossing in between heating. You can also heat in the microwave for a few minutes or until heated through.
Eat this dish within 4 days of cooking.
Other Beef Dishes You Will Love
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📖 Recipe
Espagueti con Carne Molida (Puerto Rican Spaghetti)
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- ¾-1 lb spaghetti
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 red or green bell pepper chopped
- 2 tablespoon sofrito
- 5 cloves garlic peeled and minced or use 5 teaspoons pureed
- 1 packet Sazon with Annatto found in the Latin section of grocery store
- ½-1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 24 ounces tomato sauce I prefer to use a flavored tomato sauce
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- parmesan cheese for serving, optional
Instructions
- Add the oil to a large pot and heat over medium heat. Add the ground beef and using a spatula or potato masher, break up the beef to cook evenly. Add ½ a cup of water and break apart again. Cook for a few minutes until the beef has browned.
- Add the onions and peppers, stir into the meat. Cook until the onions are translucent. (Lower the heat if the beef starts to burn and add a few tablespoons of water if needed)
- Once the onions have cooked, add the sofrito, garlic, oregano and sazon. Stir well to combine into the meat.
- Add the tomato sauce, salt and pepper to taste and stir. Lower the heat if needed to medium low. Cook for 20-25 minutes semi-covered with a lid.
- While the sauce is cooking, cook the spaghetti per the box instructions.
- Once the sauce is done, taste for salt and pepper and add more if needed.
- Add the meat sauce a little at a time to the spaghetti and incorporate well. Continue adding more of the sauce until the spaghetti is combined well with the sauce.
- Once enough of the meat sauce has been added to the spaghetti, you can reserve the rest for serving on top of individual servings. Or you simply add all of the sauce now to the pasta if you prefer.
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