This sandwich-focused blog post is all about the underappreciated spaghetti sandwich. You’ve eaten one of those, right?
Some sandwiches are made with fresh ingredients and purpose-built components made specifically to be used in that particular sandwich, and sometimes sandwiches are a great way to use up any leftovers you might have. This is one of those leftover sandwiches.
Sure, you can make spaghetti specifically for sandwiching (that’s what I did for at least one version), but more likely, if you’re making a spaghetti sandwich, you’re using leftovers from last night’s pasta dish.
What is a spaghetti sandwich?
A spaghetti sandwich is the combination of bread and cooked spaghetti in a tomato sauce that might or might not have meat in it. That’s it.
Most of the people that I’ve heard talk or write (online) about spaghetti sandwiches are either using a folded-over piece of bread to place freshly cooked spaghetti and sauce into, or they are placing day-old spaghetti and sauce between soft white bread. For me personally, I think it makes the most sense to create spaghetti sandwiches from day-old leftovers just like you would with a meatloaf sandwich.
Note: the word spaghetti refers to a long, thin pasta, but in many parts of the United States (and other parts of the world), it also refers to a tomato and meat sauce-based pasta dish that commonly uses spaghetti noodles. Throughout this blog post, when I write “spaghetti,” it usually refers to the dish and not specifically the noodle.
A spaghetti sandwich is a real thing. I didn’t just make it up. There’s even a Wikipedia entry for it and everything! If you want to learn more about spaghetti sandwiches, you should go and read what The Sandwich Tribunal wrote about spaghetti sandwiches back in 2019.
A spaghetti sandwich can be simple, or it can be extremely complicated.
You can start with store-bought ingredients, or you can make everything from scratch. Today’s blog post covers four different effort-level versions of a spaghetti sandwich. We’re starting from ingredients you simply dump in a pan and spread on white bread to a version where we make the meat sauce from scratch and use homemade bread.
WARNING: this video below is NOT the type of spaghetti sandwich I’m writing about today… Shout out to Sandwiches of History for taking this one for the team.
I have written about four distinct levels of spaghetti sandwich based on the effort involved in creating them. Because of the variables involved, there are WAY MORE than four levels. For example, I didn’t make spaghetti noodles, and I also didn’t grind my own beef. You can put a bunch more or even less effort than these four versions, but I limited myself to just the examples you’ll see below because I don’t want to waste food, and I didn’t have an unlimited budget and time. But feel free to let me know in the comments if there’s a version of a spaghetti sandwich that you make, or if I missed anything glaringly obvious.
I created four different versions of spaghetti sandwiches, and also made this quick jump navigation if you want to skip around.
Quick spaghetti sandwich navigation
Click the number to jump to each spaghetti sandwich.
Or if you like looking at photos of a middle-aged bearded white dude holding sandwiches, click the photos to enlarge.
Now, apparently, we’re adults, and now we need to address adult issues.
Do you like your spaghetti sauce ladled on top or mixed in?
In your household, whenever spaghetti is served, do you mix the pasta directly in with the marinara or spaghetti sauce, or do you ladle the sauce on top of a plate of noodles?
My wife and I have differing opinions on this. She likes to mix the noodles and sauce together, and I’d prefer a big spoonful of sauce on top of my noodles and do the mixing on my plate.
I know I’m probably in the wrong on this one, but I just like the way it looks if the sauce is on top of the noodles.
Do you want your sauce mixed in with the spaghetti noodles, or would you prefer the sauce ladled on top of a bowl/plate of spaghetti? Let me know in this poll.
Loading ...When it comes to other types of pasta and/or sauces, I usually am down for dumping the pasta and some pasta water into the sauce, but for some reason, I just don’t prefer it with spaghetti. Especially because leftover spaghetti seems to absorb the sauce, making for drier leftovers.
Anyway, this all seems like it could be a ME problem. Let’s look at photos of spaghetti and then start making sandwiches.
Oh no, one more spaghetti sandwich sidetrack.
Spaghetti sandwiches in popular media
I’m sure I’ve missed a few mentions of spaghetti sandwiches on TV shows or in movies, but below are two that I found and clipped into animated photos. The first is from the series New Girl, and the second is from the long-running TV show called King of the Hill, which I also covered last year with a meatloaf sandwich.
Now that I’ve flushed all the silly spaghetti sandwich side quests out of my system, let’s discuss the four levels of spaghetti sandwiches and how you can make them yourself.
1. No effort spaghetti sandwich
This is the easiest spaghetti sandwich I could think of to make. I bought some fairly cheap white bread and a can of Chef Boyardee brand spaghetti and meatballs, and made a sandwich. I did heat up the spaghetti and meatballs before creating the sandwich, but I don’t think you’d have to if you were desperate. Or you could definitely use the microwave here for an extra low-effort heating solution.
I first tried to make this sandwich with two soft, untoasted slices of white bread with spaghetti in between. But there’s not enough structure to the bread, and everything flops out and makes a huge mess. You are better off turning this into a folded-over bread slice, turning this sort of into a spaghetti taco experience. The bread holds together much better this way.
Recommend the no-effort spaghetti sandwich?
Do I recommend this No-effort spaghetti sandwich? No, I do not. It’s edible, and I did eat it, but everything in that Chef Boyardee can is so soft and just not great in flavor or texture. The only way I would recommend this version would be if you feel strongly nostalgic about canned spaghetti or canned ravioli from your youth and you’re attempting to recreate that feeling. Otherwise, you can put just a tiny bit more effort for a much better return on investment.
NOT RECOMMENDED
2. Low-effort spaghetti sandwich
This level of spaghetti sandwich requires noodles (that you need to cook), store-bought sauce, white bread slices, and room-temperature butter. To me, this feels like college student cooking that is really easy to accomplish with very few heat sources and effort involved.
Basically, cook some noodles per the package instructions. While the noodles are cooking, pull your butter out of the fridge. Strain the noodles after they finish cooking and then add them back to the pot or a pan. Pour on some of the sauce and stir around a bit to warm everything up.
While the noodles and sauce are warming, spread some of that softened butter on 1 or 2 slices of bread and get ready to sandwich. I say one or two slices because you can either use the folded-over-bread-slice method, or you should be able to create a regular spaghetti sandwich from the two slices of bread with the butter facing inward.
Mom would serve us spaghetti with sliced and buttered slices of white bread. My brother would always turn the bread into a spaghetti sandwich.
I made this quote up, but I have totally seen very similar quotes online.
The butter really makes a difference in my opinion, and choosing your favorite sauce causes a massive improvement in the flavor and texture over the level 1 effort sandwich that uses canned spaghetti and meatballs. For some people, I would imagine that this version of the sandwich would bring along a big nostalgic feeling that reminds them of meals they ate in their youth.
Recommend the low-effort spaghetti sandwich?
Not really. I only recommend this version if you are nostalgic for spaghetti and buttered bread. In my household growing up, we didn’t do a lot of bread, but if I did, it would have been toasted bread instead of untoasted white bread, so for me, this doesn’t really hit any sort of food memory, and I would instead recommend toasting the bread if you want to go just a tiny bit above low-effort.
NOT RECOMMENDED
3. More effort spaghetti sandwich
This version of a spaghetti sandwich elevates the sauce component by adding cooked ground beef to the store-bought marinara. And it also uses store-bought Texas toast or garlic bread to bring crunch and buttery goodness to the experience.
The main difference in the spaghetti sauce in this version comes from the addition of ground beef that’s browned in a pan with just a bit of salt and pepper before the store-bought sauce is dumped in. If you buy your favorite sauce, this is an extremely easy way to make spaghetti, and it’s probably how most spaghetti sauces are made in home kitchens across the country. It’s easy, it’s consistent, and the addition of meat brings a lot of texture and interest to the finished sauce.
Recommend the more-effort spaghetti sandwich?
Yes. I think this is the version that most people would have the tolerance to make at home. I think this is a really good option that honestly isn’t too difficult to make. This is likely the sweet spot with good return on investment, as long as you are happy with the store-bought sauce you selected.
The store-bought garlic bread might be a bit too thick, so you might be able to find a brand with thinner slices at your store. If you’re skilled with a knife, I guess you could slice the garlic bread to create two slices out of one piece, but that seems like it could end badly.
RECOMMENDED
4. Extra effort spaghetti sandwich
Ok, calling this level of spaghetti sandwich “extra effort” makes it sound like it’s a lot more complicated than it really is. Making your own sauce from scratch isn’t that difficult, and turning bread into garlic bread also isn’t that difficult. We could make it harder, but as I said before, I don’t have unlimited time or energy, so I left this one as the highest effort level.
First, to get ready for this level of sandwich, I suggest you have a nice pasta night with your family, friends, or any enemies you want to invite over, and then we’ll use the leftover spaghetti to make the finished sandwich.
Homemade meat sauce
Just like the Level 3 spaghetti sandwich, this part starts with ground beef that’s sauteed until it’s almost fully cooked, and then all the ingredients are dumped into the pot.
After the ground beef, this is just my wife’s marinara recipe, which we’ve made quite a few times, and it works great with or without meat. Basically, you cook the beef, then add diced onion, minced garlic, tomato paste, chicken stock, and seasonings like salt, pepper, brown sugar, chili flakes, and fresh basil near the end.
I also simmer this sauce for an additional 30 minutes longer than the base marinara recipe, just to make sure the beef is very tender, and everything is thickened and ready for a bowl of pasta.
Here’s my spaghetti with meat sauce recipe. As I said above, it’s an alternate version of my wife’s marinara recipe, so if you want to go meatless with your spaghetti and sandwiches, that’s a good option.
Homemade ground beef spaghetti sauce
Need a great, flavorful recipe for your next spaghetti night? Just add pasta, and you're ready to go.
Get RecipeSoft potato bread loaf
This is the highest effort spaghetti sandwich on my list, so I felt like I needed to make the bread from scratch. This is one of my favorite soft white bread recipes, and if you’ve baked before, it’s not very difficult.
I like to use a small Pullman square pan with a lid to bake this recipe, but you can also use a regular 4 x 8-inch pan to achieve similar results. Your slices just won’t be as square as mine.
Inverting the cooked loaf and letting it cool upside down on a cooling rack is important if you want square slices. Letting the loaf rest right side up will cause the top of the loaf to sag downward. I can’t find a photo, but it has definitely happened to me, and ever since, I have rested it upside down, and it doesn’t sag.
I like to slice my bread as needed, but you can slice the whole thing, and a loaf like this will make 6 to 8 sandwiches, depending on how thick you slice it. To create Texas toast-style slices, I shoot for right around 3/4 to 1 inch thick.
Soft potato bread sandwich loaf
Do you need some soft, sliced white bread for grilled cheese or a BLT? Then this is the bread recipe for you.
Get RecipeHomemade garlic toast or Texas toast
This recipe creates really good toast that works great beside a bowl of pasta. But it turns out, this also works for a good sandwich. I first shared this recipe back in 2022 for my chicken-fried steak sandwich.
As long as you have butter and olive oil, you can also adjust this toast technique to accommodate whatever seasonings you have in your kitchen at the time. If you’re out of dried parsley, use other herbs. If you don’t have garlic cloves on hand, leave them out, and the toast will still come out just fine.
Here’s my stand-alone Texas toast recipe, but I have the same instructions and technique in the full spaghetti sandwich recipe below.
Texas toast
Want some great buttered toast with a garlicy kick? Turn your next slice of bread into Texas Toast with this recipe.
Get RecipeSpaghetti sandwich cooking process
Basically, the recipe for my Texas toast takes place in the oven on a preheated sheet pan. The sheet pan is what will darken the edges of the bread and toast things up, so you flip the bread at the halfway point.
Once the toast is turned Texan, it makes sense to keep the sandwich building and cooking process in the oven since it’s already preheated. Add cheese to both slices of bread, top one slice with a pile of leftover spaghetti, and then grate or shred some parmesan on top of the spaghetti. Place the pan back in the oven until the cheese is melty, and then complete the sandwich.
This is a good version of a spaghetti sandwich that you could make with store-bought white bread and sauce if you want. I do suggest turning the white bread into garlic bread using my Texas toast recipe, and I also think the addition of cheese makes a big difference in turning the sandwich into something special.
Recommend the extra-effort spaghetti sandwich?
Yes, I do recommend this version even though it might be more effort than most people want to invest. It’s really tasty, and you can adjust things to create a slightly less effort version by purchasing the bread and even making an easier version of the meat sauce.
This is my penultimate version, though, so I created a recipe if you want to try it yourself. The recipe does give some options for using your own choice of sauce and choice of bread if you’d like to be a bit easier on yourself.
RECOMMENDED
Spaghetti sandwich photos and recipe
With the addition of homemade garlic bread, a great meat sauce, and a bunch of cheese, this version of the spaghetti sandwich kicks ass.
I’ve added a few photos of the sandwiches I made, and then the full recipe is just below. Keep scrolling and read all the photo captions that I wrote up. Let me know if I’ve swayed you into becoming a leftover spaghetti sandwich fan in the comments, or hit me up on social media with all your spaghetti photos from your next pasta night!
Surratt's super stellar spaghetti sandwich
Is your body missing carbohydrates? Do you want to eat a sandwich that tastes like a warm, comforting hug? If you answered yes, this is the spaghetti sandwich for you. This recipe requires cooked spaghetti noodles and sauce. This is my favorite recipe for homemade ground beef spaghetti sauce, but you can use store-bought if you prefer.
Ingredients:
Texas toast- 3 tablespoons butter
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1⁄4 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1⁄8 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1⁄8 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1⁄8 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 slices of soft white bread, sliced 1 inch thick
- 2 slices Texas toast (from above)
- 1⁄4 to 1⁄3 cup low moisture mozzarella, shredded
- cooked spaghetti and sauce (my favorite recipe)
- 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated or shredded
Directions:
Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees F (190 C).
Place a baking sheet or cookie sheet into the oven while it is preheating. The pan being hot is helpful for the toasting process.
Melt the butter in a small bowl in the microwave for 30 to 45 seconds. Add olive oil, garlic, parsley, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper to the bowl with the melted butter and stir to combine
Using a pastry brush or spoon, paint the melted butter on both sides of all of the pieces of bread.
When the oven is heated, remove the pan and add all of the slices of bread. Put the pan back into the oven.
Cook the bread for 6 minutes, and then remove the pan from the oven and flip each slice over.
Cook for an additional 6 minutes until the toast is brown and toasted on both sides.
Remove the pan from the oven and do not turn off the heat. Add shredded mozzarella to both slices of bread.
Top one slice of bread with a large pile of cooked spaghetti and sauce. Cover with a bit of grated or shredded Parmesan cheese and place the pan back into the oven for 3 or 4 minutes or until the spaghetti is warm and the cheese has melted.
Remove the pan from the oven, close the sandwich, and serve.
Check back next week
Next week, I’m turning another one of my mom’s non-sandwich recipes into a really tasty chicken sandwich that’s very easy to cook. You can serve it over rice or mashed potatoes, or sandwich it for even more fun. Check back and see what I come up with.
