This Halloween season, serve up this Halloween Monster Spaghetti recipe for the perfect Halloween dinner that your kids will love.
No kids? Your friends will shower you with thanks for sharing this fun and easy Halloween eyeball pasta recipe with them at your annual Halloween party.
Offer some to your boss at your next harvest pitch-in work event, and you'll be thanking this Halloween spaghetti recipe for getting you that promotion!
Here's the scoop on how to create this Halloween Monster Spaghetti Recipe. Get ready to make this best spooky masterpiece, step by step.
Halloween Monster Spaghetti Recipe
Whether prepare this recipe using our delicious homemade marinara sauce or jarred sauce, spaghetti noodles or the linguine you already have in the cabinet, we won't judge!
Either way, this Halloween spaghetti and eyeballs dish will be your new favorite spooky meal.
Ingredients
- 3 cups marinara sauce (homemade ingredients below)
- 8 oz pkg spaghetti (3 ½ cups cooked pasta), spinach, edamame, or regular
- optional: green gel food coloring, for regular spaghetti
- 3-6 quarts water to boil
- 6 oz can of black olives
- 7.5 oz pkg Mini Babybel mozzarella rounds
Marinara Sauce
- 2 (28-oz) cans whole tomatoes
- half a yellow onion, diced
- 8 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 tablespoon olive oil
- ⅓ cup basil, preferably fresh sliced
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 sprigs basil
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- optional: pepper to taste
Instructions
Cooking the Sauce
- Heat a large pot on medium. Add a little olive oil (not from the 4 tbsp) and the diced onion with the sea salt. Cook until slightly clear, about 10 minutes.
- Stir in the minced garlic and let sit for about 30 seconds.
- Crush the tomatoes by hand as you add them to the pot, for desired chunkiness.
- Add bay leaf and sprigs of basil, bringing the sauce to a gentle simmer.
- Partially cover with a lid and cook until reduced. Thicken to your liking, typically an hour or so.
- Season to taste with the sea salt and pepper. Discard the bay leaf and basil sprigs.
- Add a drizzle of olive oil and fresh basil.
Cooking the Pasta
- Use a large pot to boil 3 to 6 quarts of water. More water means more evenly cooked pasta.
- Once boiling, add a pinch of salt and your package of spaghetti.
- Begin checking and stirring often at 2-4 minutes until noodles are al dente.
- Drain with a colander.
- Optional: if dying regular spaghetti, in a large zip lock bag, add 2 tablespoon of water and about 10-20 drops of gel food dye. After inserting slightly cooled pasta, seal the bag and shake to blend the color until well combined.
Serving
- On separate bowls, plates, or one large serving platter, dish out desired portions of pasta.
- Ladle a smooth round layer of marinara sauce on the noodles.
- Add slices of mozzarella, black olive slices, and slices of the red wax from the mini cheese wheels as monster eyeballs.
Tips and Variations
- To thicken the marinara sauce, continue cooking on low until the water has mostly evaporated. Make sure to stir often so not to burn.
- Don't break your dry spaghetti in half. It only takes a few seconds in boiling water for it to become flexible enough to fully submerge by pressing with a spatula or spoon.
- Resist the urge to add oil to your pasta water, instead using extra water to give the pasta room to move without sticking.
- Don't add salt until water is boiling!
- Tomato paste can be used instead of canned tomatoes, in a pinch, but will result in a runnier spaghetti sauce.
- Craving a one-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people eater? Use drops of purple food coloring instead of green for perfectly purple noodles.
- Another option is traditional Italian squid ink spaghetti, which is naturally black with an authentic taste better than black gel food coloring.
- Any Mini Babybel cheese rounds are fine if the mozzarella version is playing hard-to-get, or really any piece of cheese cut into shape.
- Pepperoni, salami, or mini pepperonis make great spooky eyeballs sans red wax. In fact, you can make eyeballs using cream cheese stuffed green olives, pimentos, nori, strategically placed parmesan or Italian seasoning ... get creative!
Nix the Meatballs for Spooky Spaghetti with Eyeballs
Going meat-free to fight the holiday bulge before it starts? No meatballs or meat sauce needed for this monster pasta, and you won't even miss them.
Need to save for Black Friday? Plant-based meals not only offer may health benefits but can help your budget too.
More than a Great Halloween Pasta Recipe, Based on Reader Interactions
Think this is just a Halloween recipe? This eyeball spaghetti dinner is a great Halloween meal, but it is so much more!
The green pasta and red pasta sauce are the perfect festive colors for a creepy Christmas celebration.
The black olives and creamy white mozzarella can even provide "seeds" for a hilarious watermelon-themed pasta dish at a summer potluck.
And any self-respecting Pastafarian would be thrilled with this spooky dinner offering, any time of year!
Food for Thought
If you're looking to create your new favorite Halloween dish from simple spaghetti ingredients, look no further than our Halloween Monster Spaghetti recipe!
Enjoy as a spooky Halloween dinner or the next day as fun Halloween leftovers at work.
This creepy cute carb monster is perfect for Halloween time, but you'll want it all the time! So be sure to save this printable recipe card for later.
Halloween Monster Spaghetti Recipe
What better fun Halloween meal than spooky spaghetti with eyeballs?
Ingredients
- 3 cups marinara sauce (homemade ingredients below)
- 8 oz pkg spaghetti (3 ½ cups cooked pasta), spinach, edamame, or regular
- optional: green gel food coloring, for regular spaghetti
- 3-6 quarts water to boil
- 6 oz can of black olives
- 7.5 oz pkg Mini Babybel mozzarella rounds
Marinara Sauce
- 2 (28-oz) cans whole tomatoes
- half a yellow onion, diced
- 8 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 tablespoon olive oil
- ⅓ cup basil, preferably fresh sliced
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 sprigs basil
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- optional: pepper to taste
Instructions
Cooking the Sauce
- Heat a large pot on medium. Add a little olive oil (not from the 4 tbsp) and the diced onion with the sea salt. Cook until slightly clear, about 10 minutes.
- Stir in the minced garlic and let sit for about 30 seconds.
- Crush the tomatoes by hand as you add them to the pot, for desired chunkiness.
- Add bay leaf and sprigs of basil, bringing the sauce to a gentle simmer.
- Partially cover with a lid and cook until reduced. Thicken to your liking, typically an hour or so.
- Season to taste with the sea salt and pepper. Discard the bay leaf and basil sprigs.
- Add a drizzle of olive oil and fresh basil.
Cooking the Pasta
- Use a large pot to boil 3 to 6 quarts of water. More water means more evenly cooked pasta.
- Once boiling, add a pinch of salt and your package of spaghetti.
- Begin checking and stirring often at 2-4 minutes until noodles are al dente.
- Drain with a colander.
- Optional: if dying regular spaghetti, in a large zip lock bag, add 2 tablespoon of water and about 10-20 drops of gel food dye. After inserting slightly cooled pasta, seal the bag and shake to blend the color until well combined.
Serving
- On separate bowls, plates, or one large serving platter, dish out desired portions of pasta.
- Ladle a smooth round layer of marinara sauce on the noodles.
- Add slices of mozzarella, black olive slices, and slices of the red wax from the mini cheese wheels as monster eyeballs.
Notes
Happy haunting ghouls!
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