25 Spaghetti Recipes That Will Remind You Of Your Childhood

It is always a good idea to keep certain cooking staples stocked in your kitchen at all times. Classic items, like dried spaghetti, are almost always hanging out in our pantry, waiting to be cooked.

If you are looking for a way to make old classics new favorites, check out these 25 spaghetti recipes that will perhaps remind you of your childhood, but also inspire new, flavorful pasta creations.

This classic spaghetti pie uses a simple marinara sauce, ricotta, and lots of grated cheese. Assemble the spaghetti pie ahead of time and then pop in the oven before dinner for a quick and easy meal.

For the Baked Spaghetti Pie recipe, click here.

This southern-style casserole dish layers ricotta, Italian sausage, fresh herbs, and grated cheese. "If you plan to use commercially made sauce, just make sure it's good quality, since it'll have a big effect on this dish's flavor," says the author of Southern Casseroles, Denise Gee.

For the Baked Spaghetti recipe, click here.

Chef and television personality Bobby Flay uses ground beef, pork, and veal in his interpretation of the classic pasta dish, spaghetti and meatballs.

For Bobby Flay's Spaghetti and Meatballs recipe, click here.

Perfect in its minimalism, cacio e pepe, directly translated as cheese and pepper, is a real crowd-pleaser, great for a family meal or a dinner that doubles as lunch the next day. For that buttery taste with less fat, this version combines olive oil and butter in a 2:1 combo. A key to this dish is using freshly ground pepper, so get out your pepper mill and grind away. — Valaer Murray

For the Cacio e Pepe recipe, click here.

If it's garlicky flavor you're looking for, then this is the pasta dish for you. Or, if you just want to chase people around breathing "gaaah-lic..." on them, that's fine, too. There's nothing to get in the way of the intense flavor here; only a few ingredients that help it stand out. So if you're short on ingredients and want an easy, flavorful pasta dish, then I think this is worth a try.— Will Budiaman

For the Chicken Spaghetti with Garlicky Tomato Sauce recipe, click here.

This cold pasta salad is loaded with fresh vegetables and then tossed with nicoise olive tapenade. Make ahead and enjoy as a quick lunch or side dish with dinner.

For the Cold Spaghetti Salad recipe, click here.

The secret to this classic pasta dish is being sure to vigorously stir the pasta while adding in the eggs to keep the sauce creamy, rather than scrambled.

For the Easy Spaghetti Carbonara recipe, click here.

It is said that this unusual pasta dish was invented by farmers in the backcountry of western Liguria, who had to cook their own lunch in the fields. Potable water was not always available, and only a limited amount could be carried over long distances, so these workers developed the technique of simmering their spaghetti directly in a sauce of fresh tomatoes —which they might have plucked right from the vine — with just a little water added. — Colman Andrews

For the Fidelanza (Spaghetti Cooked in Tomato Sauce) recipe, click here.

Believe it or not you can grill spaghetti. Simply cook the pasta a little less than you normally would, by about a minute, and then toss it with garlic and olive oil. Once your grill is hot, add it to a grill basket and cook the pasta over the flame until the noodles turn a golden brown.

For the Grilled Spaghetti with a Grilled Chicken and Vegetable Skewer and a Simple Garlic and Herb Sauce recipe, click here.

Not only is kale a superfood, packed with antioxidants, including 206 percent of the recommended daily dose of vitamin A, but it also tastes great and can be used in just about any recipe you can dream up, like this lemony weeknight pasta. — Feed Me Dearly

For the Lemony Kale Spaghetti recipe, click here.

This dish is incredibly easy to make. Just add the ingredients to the pot and let it simmer for a delicious no fuss meal the whole family will enjoy.

For the No-Chop Spaghetti Puttanesca recipe, click here.

This pasta dish tastes a whole lot like macaroni and cheese, minus the macaroni, and while it certainly won't be found on the menu at an Italian restaurant any time soon, it doesn't mean it isn't delicious.

For the Orange Spaghetti recipe, click here.

This traditional Italian spaghetti dish is made with good quality olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper. The dish is a simple, yet delicious way to prepare pasta for dinner.

For the Spaghetti Aglio e Olio recipe, click here.

This pasta with fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil makes a simple and delicious weeknight dinner. If you aren't a huge garlic fan, you can always omit the garlic from the sauce and, "you can simply rub the mixing and serving bowl with some raw garlic to get just a hint of the flavor," says special contributor Jessica Chou.

For the Spaghetti alla Checca recipe, click here.

You cook the crabs in olive oil with garlic for this dish, and then blanket them in crushed tomatoes, more garlic, basil, and red pepper flakes to create the spicy crab sauce. Top spaghetti with the finished product and you have one outstanding seafood pasta.

For the Spaghetti and Crabs recipe, click here.

This spaghetti recipe uses avocado to get that creamy, decadent taste without the heavy cream, making it both delicious and a little bit healthier than classic creamy pasta dishes.

For the Spaghetti with Avocado Sauce recipe, click here.

This rich pasta dish is rich, spicy, and delectable. If you aren't a huge seafood fan or can't find fresh shrimp, you can always swap the shrimp for chicken.

For the Spaghetti with Cajun Cream Sauce & Shrimp recipe, click here.

Sweet cherry tomatoes and tangy, herbal gremolata combine with a flavorful tomato sauce in this classic pasta dish. Topped with some freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, it makes for a wonderful main course for lunch or first course for dinner. — Jonathan Benno

For the Spaghetti al Pomodoro recipe, click here.

This is a classic dish of spaghetti dressed with clams steamed in white wine, seasoned with garlic and red pepper flakes. Traditionally, this dish is made with small clams (about the size of an adult fingernail), served in the shell. Any variety of small clam, such as New Zealand cockles or Manila clams, will work; the latter are particularly nice because they are plump. — Cesare Casella

For the Spaghetti with Clams recipe, click here.

This New World version of spaghetti aglio e olio is as simple as the original, but it's spiced up with jalapeños instead of red pepper flakes. As the jalapeños pan-fry, they become mellow, smoky, sweet, infusing the oil and the pasta with all their spunkiness. — Viviane Bauquet Farre

For the Spaghetti with Olive Oil, Garlic, and Pan-Fried Jalapeños recipe, click here.

This is the classic ragù of Bologna, the city where I was born and raised. It is also the ragù that coated the homemade tagliatelle my mother would make on Sundays. This ragù, however, is also terrific over rigatoni, penne, and spaghetti. — Biba Caggiano

For the Spaghetti with Ragù alla Bolognese recipe, click here.

This simple spaghetti dish is just as good without pancetta. For vegetarians, add more asparagus and try topping the dish with a poached egg and shaved Parmesan, pecorino, or Grana Padano. — Jessica Chou

For the Spaghetti with Shaved Asparagus and Pancetta recipe, click here.

This twist on a classic spaghetti and meatballs dish uses the lighter ground turkey instead of beef or pork. Cook the turkey meatballs in the homemade marinara to keep them from drying out.

For the Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce and Ricotta Turkey Meatballs recipe, click here.

This dish is made super creamy with fresh goat cheese, which pairs perfectly with fresh tomatoes for a light and summery pasta dish. — Jane Bruce

For the Spaghetti with Tomatoes and Goat Cheese recipe, click here.

The sauce for this easy pasta recipe gets a pleasantly nutty background flavor from a secret pantry ingredient: anchovies. That's right. Anchovies not only add natural salt to the sauce but also give it a bit of a protein boost. If you've ever bought a jar of anchovies to make Caesar salad dressing from scratch, and couldn't figure out what to do with the rest, use them to flavor pasta sauces and cut down on salt. For this sauce, I didn't have to put any salt into the sauce, and it tasted delicious. — Will Budiaman

For the Whole-Wheat Spaghetti with Heirloom Tomatoes recipe, click here.