The Meghan Markle Pasta Recipe from her Netflix series With Love, Meghan has gone absolutely viral (some haters and some home chef’s loving the tasty simplicity). I took a stab at the recipe and the result is a delicious summer pasta featuring cherry tomatoes, garlic, and spaghetti, creating a simple, no-drain dish with minimal cleanup.
Ok, let’s talk about this Controversial One Pot Pasta
A one-pot recipe is my jam (I love this One Pot Alfredo (a more decadent pasta dish), this One Pot French Onioin Pasta, or this One Pot Chicken Caprese Orzo). What’s not to love about a delicious meal that requires minimal clean up. Yes, I cook for my job, but that doesn’t mean I don’t gravitate toward simplicity.
One pan recipes are my roots! This Healthy One Pot Pasta recipe is an APOP original, that is family favorite in my house and so many of you love it too. That’s why when I heard about Meghan Markle’s One Pot Pasta I had to try (and yes I know it’s Meghan of Sussex..).
The internet is surely divided over Meghan’s creation. The hate is mostly coming from her not following traditional Italian ways of cooking. YOU GUYS, it’s not meant to be a Michelin star restaurant dish. It’s a one pot meal that any home chef can tackle on a busy weeknight. Be grateful it’s as easy as it is!! And by the way, Martha Stewart has a very similar recipe that doesn’t seem to get any hate, so I don’t know why we are up in arms about Meghan’s recipe.
The pasta features fresh cherry or grape tomatoes that we’ll cook and let ‘burst’ in the pan to get all those wonderful juices into a sauce. From there we’ll cook down Lacinato kale flavored with plenty of garlic and fresh lemon juice and zest. The result is a fresh and light pasta that I think you’re going to want to add to your weekly rotation for busy nights!
Recipe Ingredients
- Tomatoes – Grape or cherry tomatoes. We’ll cook these down and they’ll contribute to the pasta sauce.
- Noodles – I’ve only tried this recipe with spaghetti noodles, but I would like to believe any shape noodle would work fine, you may just need to adjust the water ratio.
- Lemon – We’ll use the lemon juice and lemon zest.
- Lacinato Kale – Chopped with large kale stems removed.
- Parmesan – This’ll get incorporated into the sauce and feel free to add more on top.
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Substitutions and Variations
Sub any leafy greens in place of the kale – try baby spinach, swiss chard or rainbow chard. Add sundried tomatoes, roasted eggplant , french green bean or zucchini. Enjoy a richer flavor? Add a tablespoon or two of butter to the sauce. Want a more tomato forward sauce? Whisk in a tablespoon of tomato paste with the bursted tomatoes to amp up the flavor.
Some of the complaints over Meghan Markle’s pasta recipe is that it lacks depths of flavor. Instead of water, cook your noodles in broth (vegetable broth, chicken broth or beef broth.)
How to Make This Recipe
1. Bring water to a boil (I do this in a tea pot).While the water is heating bring a large skillet to medium heat and add oil. Once fragrant, add the halved tomatoes. Sauté with salt. After a few minutes, add the minced garlic. Allow garlic to become fragrant and stir to avoid burning.
2. Add the uncooked spaghetti to the skillet, top with lemon zest the lemon, lemon juice and then add the boiling water. Stir everything together. Let the pot come to a boil (this will take just a second since your water is already hot) then cover.
3. Remove the cover after a 2-3 minutes and give it another stir (to avoid noodles sticking). Add the chopped kale and cover for another 2-3 minutes.
Test the noodles — if the water is low and the noodles need to cook more, add more boiled water.
4. Once the noodles are al dente, grate parmesan cheese into the pasta and turn off the heat. Stir together. Season with salt + pepper to taste and enjoy!
PRO TIPS
- Be sure to stir the noodles when you first add them to the pan and a few times as the pasta cooks. Since everything is getting cooked in one pan we want to ensure each strand of spaghetti doesn’t clump together (particularly, I find chickpea noodles or other gluten free pasta noodles tend to stick together more).
Recipe FAQs
Store any leftover pasta in an airtight container for 3-4 days. It reheats well; but I do recommend covering it with a paper towel/splatter guard to avoid the sauce getting all over your microwave. Make it as a quick weeknight dinner and enjoy leftovers for lunch the next day! If you find up the noodles have soaked up the sauce, add a drizzle of olive oil before reheating.
You should end up with a sauce covering your noodles, but not a liquidy broth. It will also depend on the type of noodles you use depending on how much they absorb. If you have excess liquid in the pan at the end of the recipe, simmer on low until most of the liquid has been cooked off and your sauce has thickened.
I went with minimal ingredients in the original recipe, but red pepper flakes, torn basil leaves, grated parmesan cheese or even toasted bread crumbs on top of the finished product would all be delicious options.
Serving suggestions
This light pasta dish would go well with a side salad like this Spinach Quinoa Salad or a Mango Caprese Salad for fresh summer flavors.
If you want to add a protein, consider a simple grilled chicken breast or perhaps shrimp (similar vibes to my One Pot Garlic Lemon Shrimp Pasta). Serve some crusty bread or this Pesto Focaccia on the side.
More Recipes You’ll Love
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Meghan Markle’s Pasta Recipe
Equipment
- deep skillet
- Measuring cups and spoons
- knife and cutting board
- Zester
- tea kettle or sauce pot
- Rubber Spatula
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 cups baby tomatoes
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 8 oz spaghetti noodles
- 2 ½ cups water
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced
- 2 cups Lacinato kale, chopped
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan, or more to taste
- salt & pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Bring water to a boil (I do this in a tea pot).
- While the water is heating bring a large skillet to medium heat and add oil.
- Once fragrant, add the halved tomatoes. Sauté with salt. After a few minutes, add the minced garlic. Allow garlic to become fragrant and stir to avoid burning.
- Add the uncooked spaghetti to the skillet, top with lemon zest the lemon, lemon juice and then add the boiling water. Stir everything together.
- Let the pot come to a boil (this will take just a second since your water is already hot) then cover. Remove the cover after a 2-3 minutes and give it another stir (to avoid noodles sticking). Add the chopped kale and cover for another 2-3 minutes.
- Test the noodles — if the water is low and the noodles need to cook more, add more boiled water.
- Once the noodles are al dente, grate parmesan cheese into the pasta and turn off the heat. Stir together. Season with salt + pepper to taste and enjoy!
Nutrition
Notes
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I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. It’s my passion to create dishes that can be shared with others. Tell me something you loved or just say hi!
The internet would probably tell me i have bad taste in authentic Italian pasta… but I loved this one, soooooo
the freshness of this one!! It’s so good. Would be perfect with summer vegetables from the farmers market 🙂
Megan Markle? I think APOP marvelous. Excellent pasta dish.
One pot – heck yeah!! Very tasty.
Oh I just loved this recipe. I watched Meghan’s show and thought it was lovely and relaxing. The spaghetti felt like the most successful recipe I could make from it and I’m so happy to have found this recipe. I can’t wait to use garden tomatoes soon.