I Made Too Much Spaghetti and Need Ideas for Dinner

Updated on August 12, 2017
D.N. asks from Chicago, IL
15 answers

I know we have a lot of moms with great food recipes and ideas so help me with this one please. We had chicken parmesan with spaghetti the other day. Well, I made too much and have a big bowl of plain pasta in my fridge. I don't know where my mind was when deciding how much to cook. I don't want to have regular spaghetti again. And I don't want it to go to waste. I have fresh green beans, some broccoli, corn, and a bag of frozen mixed veggies I usually cook with rice. How can I make a great tasting dish with out making it really salty or ending up blah. My husband is allergic to shrimp now, otherwise I would make a scampi or something similar. I do need to mention we are "chickened" out this week as we have had it 3 times. I am hoping to make a one dish meal.

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C.C.

answers from New York on

Look online for "vegetable alfredo sauce". Basically dumping every vegetable you have into a cream sauce and tossing it with the pasta. And done!

3 moms found this helpful

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E.B.

answers from Honolulu on

We love roasted vegetables with pasta, and with the broccoli and/or beans, you have a great start.

To roast green beans so that they're not floppy and sad, preheat your oven to about 425 degrees, and while it's heating up, put a sheet pan in so that the pan gets as hot as the oven. I usually line mine with foil to make clean up easier. Cut the tops and tails off of the beans and toss them in a bowl with a little olive oil (just so they glisten, not so much that they drip with oil). Salt them lightly. We actually sprinkle ours liberally with Montreal Steak seasoning. Then when the oven and the pan have preheated, quickly dump the beans onto the pan, spreading them quickly so they're not heaped up. Roast about 15 to 20 minutes until they're slightly charred. Chop them in half and toss with the pasta while they're still really hot. A little more olive oil, some parmesan cheese, and you have a great meal.

Or you can roast the broccoli florets in a 425 oven. Toss them with a little olive oil. No need to preheat the pan with those. They're delicious with pasta, a sprinkle of olive oil and some parmesan cheese.

To reheat the spaghetti, bring a pot of water to boil, and just put the cooked noodles in the water for about a minute. Drain as usual.

If you've got any tomatoes, roast them along with the broccoli. Just chop the tomatoes into rough chunks.

Or you can chop up the noodles, and stir fry them with the frozen mixed vegetables, add soy sauce, for a pasta vegetable stir fry. No meat needed.

ETA: the roasted green beans are delicious as a snack, by themselves. But it's essential that they be dropped on a screaming hot pan, not just stuck in the oven on a room temp pan.

4 moms found this helpful

D.B.

answers from Boston on

I have a bunch of go-to recipes for frittata (quiche without the crust), and one is for leftover spaghetti! Mix up eggs and cheese (your choice of what kind - anything that goes with eggs is fine, like cheddar or swiss) and throw in the veggies you like, even some tomato sauce if you have some to use up, and mix as if you were making an omelet. Add the spaghetti - you don't have to cut it up. Pour into a grease pie pan or oven-safe skillet (cast iron is fine) and bake in a 350 oven until it's set in the middle - somewhere between 40-50 minutes probably. A knife inserted in the center should come out clean, not real wet. Cut in wedges like pie. You can cook the fresh green beans/broccoli on the side if you want and use the frozen stuff in the frittata. Or just use up the fresh ones and save the frozen ones for later. Leftovers refrigerate well and you can just heat up a wedge or two for lunch tomorrow or the next day.

2 moms found this helpful
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H.W.

answers from Portland on

First, kudos to Elayne for the phrase "floppy and sad"... love it! I'll have to try those beans some time.

My favorite go-to for using up leftover pasta is a little off the beaten track, but I like it. I will open up a can of refried beans, warm them up with a little water to make them smooth and saucy, add spices (usually chili powder and oregano), and toss the noodles with that. Then top with chopped black olives, cheese (sometimes I'll put a few dollops of chevre on it, warn in the microwave and toss to coat), chopped tomatoes and cilantro... add a few splashes of your favorite hot sauce...done. If I have canned black beans handy, I'll rinse and strain them, put a bit of olive oil in a pan to heat, cook the beans with chili powder, cumin and oregano and then add a bit of water... once they are all heated up, mash them and serve the same way. You can also add the cheese directly into the beans if you like.

This recipe would also be good with an addition of corn, or if you just want to do salsa instead of the tomatoes and cilantro, that's fine too. Onions and garlic at the beginning of cooking would also make it tasty. (I can't eat them, that's why they aren't listed.)

1 mom found this helpful
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M.C.

answers from Chicago on

You could make something like beef tips and noodles, beef stroganoff, or swedish meatballs since you are sick of chicken and can't do shrimp. Mushrooms would go great in all of these and you could do sides with the broccoli or green beans.

1 mom found this helpful

D.P.

answers from Philadelphia on

My husband's family makes a spaghetti pie. Cook 1 lb. of ground hamburger or turkey and drain. In a large bowl mix 1 can each of cream of chicken soup, cream of mushroom soup and tomato soup. Add ground meat and spaghetti and mix all together. Grease baking dish and add mixture. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. You also add in any left over veggies you have. Bake at 350 for about 20 min. or until the cheese is melted. It is a crowd pleaser. My son who wont eat things unless each individual part is separate such as a stir fry will tear this up.

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H.M.

answers from Dallas on

Make chicken spaghetti minus the chicken. And you can add your veggi's in with it too probably and it would be really good!

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M.6.

answers from New York on

http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/23/Dr_Pepper_Spaghe...

My kids love this! Plus, you can get a bonus meal out of it depending on how much you have left for noodles. One dish meal, it doesn't taste exactly like spaghetti per se, doesn't have chicken, and is a one pan meal! Serve your vegies on the side.

Good luck!

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M.D.

answers from Pittsburgh on

You can always just pop it in the freezer, and when you are ready to have spaghetti again, take it straight from the freezer and put it into boiling water for 1 min, and it's ready to eat.

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B.S.

answers from Los Angeles on

linguine al cecca - blanched tomatoes a little olive oil a little sea salt a little fresh basil a garlic clove cut in half marinate in Tupperware for 2 hours.

S.G.

answers from Los Angeles on

I would add pasta sauce and cottage cheese, top with mozza and bake it.

T.F.

answers from Dallas on

Pasta salad with veggies?

B.C.

answers from Norfolk on

Well my mom use to add left over spaghetti into scrambled eggs for dinner the next night.
Just about any left over will work mixed in with scrambled eggs - cut up some hot dogs or sausage or leftover chicken if you want to add a meat into it.
A clam sauce over spaghetti is good, or alfredo with chicken will work too.
Make some lo mein with it.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/233446/lo-mein-noodles/

You could make Vietnamese noodle soup (or add some to almost any soup).
Pasta is pretty versatile!

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M.G.

answers from Portland on

This is my go to recipe when I have pasta and nothing to add to it.

http://www.annies-eats.com/2011/07/06/the-simplest-tomato...

It tastes really good - must be the butter!

I love the roasted veggie ideas from Elena - never thought to roast green beans.

We had the tomato sauce with spaghetti yesterday, as a side to haddock. We've had corn (cob) with that before - yum.

I'm not much of a cook .. but that's a quick and easy meal.

T.D.

answers from Springfield on

i just made eggplant parmesan if you want to ditch the chicken and have a similar dish. alfredo is a favorite one here too. you could freeze it and use it later, you could add ground beef to tomato sauce and have spaghetti, or toss in a bunch of sauteed peppers, onions, broccoli and butter and have a simple meal too.

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