I’ve Been Making Jamie Oliver’s Easy Spaghetti Recipe for Over 15 Years

I first came across Jamie Oliver’s Classic Tomato Spaghetti when I was thumbing through his 2009 cookbook, Jamie’s Food Revolution. I was an editor at a cooking website at the time, and browsing new cookbooks hot off the presses during a coffee break was one of my favorite things to do.

This recipe caught my eye because homemade spaghetti always seemed so labor-intensive and not something anyone would make for just themselves (I lived alone). But reading through the ingredients and directions, I could tell neither of these things were true of this recipe. It quickly became one of my top ten dinners, and it’s still something I make on a regular basis. 

This recipe is so simple that I memorized it pretty quickly, and I can make it by heart, using ingredients I almost always have on hand. It only takes about fifteen minutes to put together. It’s just as easy to scale down to serve one or two as it is to scale up for as many people as you’re game to invite over.

Plus, it’s always fun when a recipe teaches you new things—I learned from this recipe that you can dice up basil stems for more flavor, and that I enjoy the heat a pepper brings to spaghetti. This recipe is the reason I now add a little cayenne pepper to pretty much everything I make.

How I Make Jamie Oliver’s Classic Tomato Spaghetti

To whip this up for dinner, all you do is slice some garlic and a red pepper, dice the basil stems, then toss it all in some olive oil in a pan to cook on the stovetop. Once the garlic starts to brown, you add the canned tomatoes and basil leaves, cook that on high for a minute, then toss in the cooked spaghetti. Sprinkle it with a little Parmesan, and that’s all there is to it!

I don’t change much about this recipe when I make it, but there are a few things that are helpful to know. The recipe says it takes 30 minutes to make, but you can easily cook the pasta while you’re making the sauce and have the whole thing done in about 15 minutes.

It also says it serves four, which, based on the amount of spaghetti it calls for, is true, though this makes it a spaghetti that’s pretty light on the tomatoes. I prefer to halve the amount of noodles but keep everything else the same—this way it makes two servings, a bit heavier on the tomatoes.

This recipe is also super easy to make as a meat sauce if you want to add cooked ground beef with the tomatoes. And one more pro tip: sometimes grocery stores don’t carry red chilies, but dried ones work just fine and are easier to keep on hand. Simply let it soak in hot water for 15 to 30 minutes to rehydrate before cooking, or swap for red pepper flakes. I hope you enjoy this one as much as I have and that it becomes one of your faves!