This weeknight spaghetti with garlic, spinach and ready made marinara sauce is the easiest thing to make for dinner. It is wholesome, it's nutritious and it's delicious.
Serve with some warm garlic bread (or these garlic parmesan knots), a simple tossed salad or this Perfect Oven Roasted Broccoli for an easy weeknight dinner.
Why we love this
- It is an elevated version of a spaghetti and jar sauce recipe
- Simple ingredients like garlic, red pepper flakes and baby spinach packs a ton of flavor to this pasta dish
- Some fresh parmesan grated on top completes this dish like no other.
- It's a full dinner in itself, with no need for any other side or salad with it.
Ingredients
This pasta dish is made with just a handful of simple ingredients.
- Spaghetti - I make pasta about once a week and I love to make it with regular old durum wheat spaghetti. I just love the taste of it. If you want to make it suit your lifestyle, you can use a wholegrain, ancient grain, gluten free, or lentil pasta.
- Olive Oil - a good quality olive oil is a must in the kitchen. I love the California Olive Ranch Olive Oil and Lucini Olive Oil.
- Garlic - I would really recommend that you use fresh garlic for this recipe. But if you are really in a rush, or don't have fresh garlic at home for whatever reason, then go ahead and use garlic powder.
- Crushed red pepper flakes - this adds an element of spice to this dish and is most welcome with all the garlicky and tomato flavors in the dish.
- Spinach - I use the baby spinach that comes pre washed in a bag or a box, so i don't have to do any prep work. Just take a few handfuls and drop it into the pan. That's all.
- Marinara sauce - since this is my easy weeknight recipe, making marinara sauce from scratch is not gonna cut it. I use my all time favorite marinara sauce that I have been using for more than a decade now - Rao’s Marinara sauce and I wouldn't use any other bottled sauce. Ever.
- Parmesan - freshly grated parmesan cheese, please, all the time! I gave you the one exception to use garlic powder if needed, but this, I am sorry you cannot use the pre-grated one, it's just not worth it. You don't even have to grate a whole bunch ahead of time, just put out a block of cheese on a plate and everyone can grate some for themselves. This grater is especially fun for kids to use and is a lot safer for their little hands.
Method
Add salt to water and bring it to a boil. Add the pasta to it and let it cook.
While the pasta is cooking, heat some olive oil and add minced garlic and crushed red pepper flakes to it.
Saute until the garlic is no longer raw and then add the baby spinach.
Saute till spinach wilts. Add a little salt and pepper to season.
Pour in the marinara sauce from the jar and mix well. Let it warm up.
Now, add the cooked and drained pasta to this pan and mix it up.
Serving Suggestions
To serve, grated some parmesan over the top and served alongside some garlic bread or salad. But honestly, since this pasta dish has spinach and garlic in it, it already has a lot of flavor in it and the veggies too. So you can just put this on the table with some cheese on top and be proud of serving your family a great dinner!
Here are some other pasta recipes we love!
- Lemon Asparagus Pasta with Parmesan
- Linguine with Mushrooms in a White Wine Butter Sauce
- One-Pot Spicy Chicken and Chorizo Rigatoni
Recipe tips
Use fresh garlic as it brings a ton of flavor and elevates the pasta dish.
Use baby spinach that comes pre-washed in a bag or box, so you don't have to do anything but open the packet and dump the spinach into the pan.
Freshly grated cheese is just non-negotiable here. Do not use pre-grated cheese. It's not worth it.
📖 Recipe
Garlic Spinach Spaghetti with Marinara Sauce
Ingredients
- 16 oz spaghetti dry spaghetti
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- 5-6 cloves garlic minced
- ¼ - ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes based on your heat tolerance
- ½ teaspoon black pepper crushed
- 16 oz baby spinach
- ¼ cup parmesan freshly grated
- 32 oz Marinara sauce I use Rao's
- salt and water to cook pasta
Instructions
- Add salt to water and bring it to a boil. Add the pasta to it and let it cook for about 7-8 minutes or according to package instructions.16 oz spaghetti, salt and water
- While the pasta is cooking, heat some olive oil over medium high heat and add minced garlic and crushed red pepper flakes to it.3 tablespoon olive oil, 5-6 cloves garlic, ¼ - ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- Sauté until the garlic is no longer raw and then add the baby spinach. This will take about a minute or so.16 oz baby spinach
- Sauté till spinach wilts. Add a little pepper to season.½ teaspoon black pepper
- Pour in the marinara sauce from the jar and mix well. Let it warm up.32 oz Marinara sauce
- Now, add the cooked and drained pasta to this pan and mix it up.
- Serve with some freshly grated parmesan on top.¼ cup parmesan
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