10 Italian-Approved Spaghetti Recipes You Can't Resist

If you're a fan of pasta, especially the classic and beloved spaghetti, get ready for these 10 Italian-approved spaghetti recipes.

With its long, thin strands, spaghetti is incredibly versatile! You can pair them with a variety of sauces and ingredients to create delicious dishes.

From traditional favorites like Spaghetti Carbonara and Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe to inventive twists like Spaghetti all'Assassina or Spaghetti alla Puttanesca bursting with Mediterranean flavors, there's something for every pasta lover.

Each recipe is carefully curated to be easy to follow, ensuring that home cooks of all skill levels can recreate authentic Italian flavors in their own kitchens.

So get ready to discover 10 spaghetti recipes that will make your Italian food cravings impossible to resist. Buon appetito!

1

Lemon Spaghetti Recipe

Lemon spaghetti is an easy, quick and delicious lemon pasta recipe. A light and fresh main dish, perfect for summer.

In our recipe we preferred a pasta sauce made with lemon juice and zest, with NO CREAM.

Usually, for this recipe, we use spaghetti, which goes better with this lemon sauce, taking up all its aroma. In place of spaghetti you can even use linguine or tagliolini.

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2

Spaghetti all’Assassina (Crispy Spicy Burnt Pasta from Bari)

Spaghetti all’Assassina is a bold and incredibly popular pasta recipe from Puglia, particularly from the city of Bari in Southern Italy. Made with just a few simple ingredients—tomato passata, tomato paste, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, and chili pepper—this dish is anything but ordinary.

While it may look like classic spaghetti with tomato sauce, what sets Spaghetti all’Assassina apart is its unique cooking method.

Instead of boiling the pasta, you cook the raw spaghetti directly in a pan with a bit of tomato sauce. Then, just like risotto, you gradually add a hot broth made of water, tomato paste, and salt—a technique Italians call “risottare.”

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3

Easy Authentic Cacio e pepe recipe

This authentic Cacio e Pepe recipe is made in minutes with only three simple ingredients: Pecorino Romano Cheese (Cacio), black peppercorns and pasta. A triad of simple but strong flavors that come together in this recipe, perfect for any occasion.

A dish prepared with few traditional Italian ingredients, simple and genuine, which has its roots in the world of sheep farming and quality raw materials.

If you’re here it’s because you want to make the best cacio e pepe recipe you’ve ever had! So, for this Italian recipe absolutely NO oil, NO butter and NO cream!

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4

Spaghetti Aglio e Olio Recipe

Spaghetti Aglio e Olio recipe is very simple to make. You need just few genuine ingredients for a guaranteed success!

This recipe in Italy is called" Aglio Olio e Peperoncino." Yes, because chili pepper is the other key ingredient in this recipe. In fact, it's one of the traditional Italian dishes that has to be spicy. You can't remove the chili pepper, otherwise you make another dish!

Spaghetti aglio e olio is a pasta recipe born in Campania, a region in southern Italy. This recipe is a classic example of Italian cuisine that uses only a few simple ingredients.

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5

Traditional Italian Spaghetti Carbonara

Spaghetti Carbonara is one of the most famous pasta dishes from Roman cuisine.

This traditional Italian Carbonara recipe is made with just five simple ingredients: spaghetti, crispy guanciale, black pepper, Pecorino Romano, and eggs.

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6

Spaghetti with Clams Recipe

Spaghetti with clams is a typical dish of the Neapolitan tradition that has now become a symbol of Italian cuisine in the world!

A great classic, easy and fast-to-make, made with spaghetti, clams, garlic and extra virgin olive oil.

Like any traditional recipe, there are many versions: with vegetables such as zucchini, with tomatoes for a tasty red variant, or flavored with bottarga.

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7

Authentic Amatriciana Recipe (Pasta all'Amatriciana)

Amatriciana is one of the most famous pasta dishes served in Roman trattorias and restaurants. Because of this, many assume it originated in Rome. In reality, the Amatriciana recipe comes from Amatrice, a small town in the Rieti area of central Italy.

This classic dish features spaghetti or bucatini tossed in a rich Amatriciana sauce made with peeled tomatoes, guanciale, chili pepper, and Pecorino Romano cheese. No garlic or onion—ingredients sometimes found in the Roman version—are used in the original Amatriciana recipe from Amatrice. Another key difference? The traditional recipe calls for spaghetti, while the Roman adaptation often uses bucatini.

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8

Authentic Italian Pasta Puttanesca Recipe

Pasta Puttanesca is a classic Italian dish known for its bold, savory flavors and simple ingredients. This authentic puttanesca recipe originates from Southern Italy and features al dente pasta tossed in a rich, briny sauce made with tomatoes, garlic, olives, capers, and anchovies.

The combination of these ingredients creates a perfect balance of salty, tangy, and slightly spicy flavors, making pasta puttanesca a favorite among pasta lovers worldwide. Quick to prepare and packed with Mediterranean flair, this dish is ideal for a cozy dinner at home or for impressing guests with its robust and unforgettable taste.

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9

Easy Pasta with Tuna and Tomato Sauce

Pasta with Tuna is a great classic of Italian tradition, a quick and appetizing seafood first course. It's perfect for a family lunch or an informal dinner with friends.

If you love fish and want to bring something simple but really tasty to the table, Tuna Pasta is the perfect choice!

The taste of tuna and the intense flavor of tomato come together to create a delicious sauce.

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10

Spaghetti allo Scoglio (Italian Seafood Pasta Recipe)

Spaghetti allo Scoglio is a classic Italian seafood pasta dish, loved across Italy. This flavorful recipe features a mix of fresh shellfish—mussels, clams, shrimp, and squid—cooked in a light cherry tomato sauce that brings out the taste of the sea.

You can use spaghetti, as I did, or go for linguine, which also pairs beautifully with seafood sauces. In Southern Italy, especially in Neapolitan cuisine, paccheri is another popular option for this dish.

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