Although we do love topping our pasta with simple red tomato sauce, occasionally, it’s fun to experiment. And from carbonara to clam sauce, there’s a lot out there when it comes to creative sauces for spaghetti!
If you’re looking for homemade spaghetti sauce recipes that will leave you feeling full, content and happy, take a peek at the recipes below.
They’re sure to spice up your dinner and satisfy your family and friends.
Spaghetti alla Carbonara
Carbonara is a popular Italian pasta dish originally from Rome. Traditionally, it’s made with egg, cheese, pepper and pancetta or guanciale, an Italian cured meat from the pork jowl or cheeks. Though the recipe doesn’t always call for a specific sort of cheese or noodle, chefs tend to use Pecorino Romano and spaghetti. You’ll also find carbonara made with noodles like linguine or rigatoni. Because of its creamy flavor, people often think there’s cream in the dish. But in reality, there’s not! The thick sauce comes to life because of the mixture of egg yolks and cheese.
If you’re interested in giving a recipe for carbonara a try, go for this one from Serious Eats. As the recipe headnote mentions, pasta with carbonara is a simple and easy dish. The challenge is to make sure you combine the ingredients in such a way that the sauce has a silky and smooth texture (and that the eggs don’t get accidentally scrambled in the process). This recipe uses mostly yolks rather than whole eggs for a silky and rich texture and flavor. It also opts for a mixture of Pecorino Romano and Parmigiano-Reggiano as the cheeses, so that the end result isn’t too salty. When it comes to homemade pasta sauce recipes, the ingredients for carbonara are great to keep on hand when you’re looking to mix up your spaghetti routine.
Carbonara Variations
- Add clams
- Add herbs (like parsley, sage, or basil)
- Change up the cheese (with gouda, goat, or anything else you have on hand)
- Make it spicy with chili flakes
- Include veggies like wilted spinach or mushrooms
- Add pancetta or bacon
- To make it fancy, add caviar
Pesto Pasta
Depending on who you ask, many chefs have their own unique touch they like to put on pesto. Typically, pesto is made with fresh basil leaves, garlic, raw pine nuts, Parmesan and extra virgin olive oil. It’s a famous dish in the summertime when fresh basil is flourishing and meat sauce seems too heavy for the dinner table. The fun thing about pesto is that you can customize it based on your own specific tastes. You can add lemon or use different nuts, maybe even drizzle in a bit of honey with mint for a sweeter pesto. We’ve even seen pesto made from strawberry stems in an effort to waste less in the kitchen!
Bon Appétit makes what they call BA’s Best Pesto, and they say that the key to this classic recipe is to add the basil at the end (instead of blending the ingredients together all at once). In doing so, the basil will maintain both its color and its flavor. After the pesto is created, it’s added to pasta in a big bowl with butter, seasoned with salt, and topped with grated Parmesan cheese.
If you make a large batch of pesto, you can spread it on sandwiches or top your chicken with it. You can also freeze your pesto in ice cube trays to have it on hand for a delicious and simple weeknight meal.
Once you get the hang of traditional pesto (we promise, it’s easy!) you can explore pesto variations like our own recipe for Hemp Pesto. This creative alternative to traditional pesto calls for fresh basil leaves, Hulled Hemp Seed, grated Parmesan, minced garlic, salt and extra virgin olive oil. You can serve it on pasta, rice, cold salads or as a spread or dip.
Pesto Variations
- Add mint and honey for a sweeter pesto
- Add other nuts, like walnuts or pistachios
- Use sunflower seeds as a base
- Make it spicy with arugula or garlic (or both!)
- Create a thick pesto with almonds
- Try pesto rosso (sun dried tomato pesto)
- Add red peppers for a beautiful color
- Make it a German-style pesto by adding buttermilk, sour cream, and herbs like sorrel
Cacio e Pepe
Cacio e Pepe hails from classic Roman cuisine and means “cheese and pepper.” It’s a simple dish that calls for (yep—you guessed it!) cheese, pasta and black pepper. If you find yourself gravitating towards red sauce and looking to branch out to a dish that won’t require too much time or energy, consider Cacio e Pepe. Not only is it tasty in its minimalist simplicity, but it’s a good spaghetti dish to serve for a big family or a large group gathering when you’re looking for a new go-to.
This traditional Cacio e Pepe recipe from Gimme Some Oven takes 20 minutes to throw together using just four ingredients: pasta, butter, freshly cracked coarse black pepper and freshly grated Pecorino or Parmesan cheese (or a mix of both). For extra flavor, you can sauté a couple cloves of minced garlic in the butter, too. We love this recipe because it proves that simple can often be the most wonderful and tastiest way to go.
Cacio e Pepe Variations
- Add butter for a boost of flavor
- Use multiple types of cheese
- Add seasonal produce like tomatoes or kale
- Add fresh or dried herbs
- Sprinkle crushed red pepper flakes to the final dish
- Include browned spicy sausage, bacon, or shrimp
Clam Sauce
One of the most beloved sauces in Italian households is clam sauce. It can be white clam sauce, with clam, olive oil, lemon juice, parsley and garlic or red sauce served with a thin tomato base. Clam sauce is often served alongside linguine, though it great with spaghetti, too. We love that this dish can be served in the winter, often for the Feast of the Seven Fishes Italian celebration on Christmas Eve, or for a special summer dish eaten outdoors.
If you’ve yet to try making clam sauce, you’re in for a treat! This recipe for spaghetti with clam sauce from Erren’s Kitchen is made with an indulgent white wine sauce of clams and clam juice, butter, olive oil, lemon zest, fresh parsley, salt and pepper.
Give this dish a try during the week or save it for a slow Sunday supper, paired with a glass of crisp white wine.
Clam Sauce Variations
- Make it a red clam sauce with tomatoes
- Use other herbs instead of parsley
- Try it with other noodles (like squid ink linguine)
- Experiment with different types of clams or good canned clams if you’re in a hurry
- Add more butter for silkiness
- Serve with crusty bread
- Add anchovy fillets
- Top with grated citrus
- Mix in some mushrooms
Bolognese
Whereas traditional red sauce can be seen as a tomato sauce flavored with fresh herbs, carrots and onion, bolognese sauce is meat based. It originated in Bologna, Italy and has a hearty meat base that’s beautifully enhanced by ingredients like wine and heavy cream or milk. Folks tend to have their favorite noodle when it comes to serving bolognese. It can be mixed with tagliatelle, lasagne, pappardelle, fettuccine and of course, spaghetti.
Our own Chef Billy Parisi starts his recipe by creating homemade noodles with Bob’s Red Mill Semolina Pasta Flour. From there, he crisps up some Italian bacon (pancetta) then adds blended onions, celery, carrots and garlic, followed by ground pork, ground beef and Sangiovese wine. After it cooks for a bit, the sauce is simmered in pureed tomato, beef stock, bay leaves and a Parmesan cheese rind for at least 60 minutes.
The result is a red-hued meat sauce like you’ve never had! Leave it to Chef Billy to put his own fantastic twist on a classic sauce.
Bolognese Variations
- Experiment with the type of wine you use
- Try using more tomatoes for a heavier tomato taste
- Add pancetta for a wonderful smokey flavor
- Make your bolognese with ground turkey instead of pork and beef
- Explore the different tastes of fresh tomatoes versus canned tomatoes
- Freeze some sauce and use it with other noodles
- Add bay leaf to the sauce
- Add a pinch of finely grated nutmeg
- Make your sauce in the slow cooker
Other Pasta Sauce Ideas to Explore
In addition to the variations listed above, here are some more pasta sauce ideas you can use to make your spaghetti night more interesting!
- Alfredo sauce (vegan or regular)
- Lobster or shrimp pasta sauce
- Mix seafood and sausage
- Add beans like chickpeas or cannellini beans to the sauce
- Add capers for a salty bite
- Throw in some charred brussels sprouts or broccoli
- Toss your spaghetti with roasted cherry tomatoes
- Turn your pasta into a lasagna or explore out-of-the-ordinary noodles
- Grow some fresh basil on your windowsill to give your pasta a farm-fresh taste
- Incorporate lamb into your sauce for something new
- Try one pot pasta for an easy weeknight meal
- Throw leftover veggies into your noodles for something simple and delicious
Whether you’re making a turkey bolognese or a red clam sauce with extra butter, we hope this article has inspired you to try something new in the wide world of pasta!
Do you have any spaghetti pasta recipes or sauce variations you and your family love to make? Feel free to share them with us in the comments below!
