One-Pan Spaghetti with Cherry Tomatoes and Basil
The pasta that made "one-pot" famous: dry spaghetti, halved cherry tomatoes, sliced onion, garlic, basil and olive oil all go into one wide pan with cold water and boil for about 10 minutes into their own glossy sauce. Meatless, 25 minutes.
Edited by JP Lambiase
Change the estimate
Swaps change the price only: cook any meat to its own safe temperature. Where these numbers come from
The trick behind this recipe came from Italy and was made famous by an American magazine. Wikipedia says Nora Singley, one of Martha Stewart's recipe developers, learned it from an Italian cook in Apulia (Puglia) in 2011, and that *Martha Stewart Living* published it in 2013, when it went viral; in 2025 Food & Wine counted it among "the 25 recipes that changed how America cooks" (citing Food52, 2015, and Food & Wine, 2025). Tasting Table says Singley was traveling near Puglia when she stopped in the town of Peschici at a restaurant a fellow chef had recommended, where the cook put pasta, sauce ingredients and water into one pot together (Hope Ngo, April 28, 2022:). The food blog Lottie + Doof posted the magazine recipe on June 18, 2013, noting that dinner took under 20 minutes. The Americanized part is the packaging: an Italian cook's quick supper became a magazine "one-pan pasta" and then a whole American genre of one-pot dinners.
Why it works the kitchen science
Starch stays in the pan
Cooking the pasta in just enough water means the starch it releases is not poured down the drain; it thickens the water, oil and burst tomatoes into a creamy sauce.
Everything cooks together
The onion and garlic soften and the tomatoes collapse in the same 10 minutes the pasta takes, so the sauce and pasta finish at once.
🧰 You'll need 5 items
Everything the steps call for. Tick off what you have before you start.
Pans and pots
Tools
Step by step
- Step 1
Use a wide 12-inch straight-sided sauté pan or braiser at least 3 inches deep, or a wide 7-quart Dutch oven; the pasta should lie flat. If your spaghetti is longer than the pan, break it in half.
- Step 2
Put the pasta, tomatoes, onion, garlic, pepper flakes, basil sprigs, olive oil, salt, pepper and water in the pan.
- Step 3
Bring to a boil over high heat, about 5 minutes, turning the pasta with tongs as it softens so it does not clump.
- Step 4
Keep at a brisk boil, stirring and turning the pasta every minute or so, 9 to 11 minutes, until the pasta is al dente and the water has nearly all cooked down into a glossy sauce.
- Step 5
Taste and adjust the salt and pepper, pull out the basil stems and serve right away with torn basil, a drizzle of olive oil and plenty of Parmesan.
One-Pan Spaghetti with Cherry Tomatoes and Basil
Serves 6 · about 9 cups · 25 min total
- 1 lb spaghetti or linguine (454 g)
- 1 lb cherry or grape tomatoes (454 g), halved, or quartered if large
- 1 large onion, thinly sliced (about 2 1/2 cups, 250 g)
- 8 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 1/2 to 3/4 tsp red pepper flakes (1/4 tsp for children)
- 3 sprigs basil, plus torn leaves to serve
- 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to serve
- 2 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 6 cups cold water
To serve
- Freshly grated Parmesan (about 2/3 cup, 60 g)
Equipment: 7-quart Dutch oven, Skillet, Chef's knife and cutting board, Measuring cups and spoons, Tongs
Method
- Use a wide 12-inch straight-sided sauté pan or braiser at least 3 inches deep, or a wide 7-quart Dutch oven; the pasta should lie flat. If your spaghetti is longer than the pan, break it in half.
- Put the pasta, tomatoes, onion, garlic, pepper flakes, basil sprigs, olive oil, salt, pepper and water in the pan.
- Bring to a boil over high heat, about 5 minutes, turning the pasta with tongs as it softens so it does not clump.
- Keep at a brisk boil, stirring and turning the pasta every minute or so, 9 to 11 minutes, until the pasta is al dente and the water has nearly all cooked down into a glossy sauce.
- Taste and adjust the salt and pepper, pull out the basil stems and serve right away with torn basil, a drizzle of olive oil and plenty of Parmesan.
Adapted from "One-Pan Pasta," *Martha Stewart Living* (June 2013), as posted "adapted slightly" by Lottie + Doof (June 18, 2013; 12 oz linguine, serves 4). The magazine's own recipe page no longer opens (it returned "Page Not Found"), so we follow the Lottie + Doof copy, scaled by a third to 1 lb of pasta for 6. The 6 cups of water is the same scale-up of the 4 1/2 cups in that recipe; the boil time is the same 9 to 11 minutes. Estimated cost: about $8.80 for the pan, about $1.47 a serving (prices.json's fresh tomato price; with typical cherry tomato prices, about $1.70). lottieanddoof.com. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (3)
Tips
- Estimated cost: about $1.47 a serving, about $8.80 for the pan; about $1.70 at typical cherry tomato prices.
- Keep turning the pasta, especially in the first 3 minutes; that is when it sticks together.
- If the water is gone but the pasta is still firm, add hot water 1/4 cup at a time.
- Add a drained can of white beans in step 2 for more protein (our suggestion; the original has none).
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Never cook pasta without a big pot of boiling water. Folklore: this recipe and its many copies cook pasta in a small amount of water on purpose.
- The method comes from Puglia. Documented as Nora Singley's account through Wikipedia (citing Food52) and Tasting Table; the year (2011) comes only from Wikipedia, and the town (Peschici) only from Tasting Table.
- Martha Stewart invented one-pot pasta. Folklore: Wikipedia says the technique was learned from an Italian cook and "popularized" by Martha Stewart in 2013; we found no source claiming she invented it.
- Break the spaghetti. Folklore in Italy as a sin; here it is only about fitting the pan.
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