Simple One Pan Spaghetti & Meat Sauce Recipe Anyone can cook!

Presenter / Channel

• Rick (Bagard Chef)

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Ingredients (with quantities/substitutions mentioned)

Base one-pan bolognese / spaghetti

• Onion, diced (white onion mentioned; “segments” are used for dicing)
• Garlic (optional): “squash” and mince as desired
• Bell pepper, diced
• Celery, diced (also mentions “any veg” can be used)
• Olive oil or canola oil (or “use whatever you want,” including any oil type)

Meat & flavor

• Beef mince (can be frozen or fresh; frozen just needs breaking up)
• Bacon (optional): adds smoky flavor (homemade mentioned; “normal bacon” works)
• Stock cube (UK “world famous” stock cube), crumbled
• Dried oregano: about 1 teaspoon
• Black pepper (use white pepper instead if preferred)
• Salt (to help break down fluids)
• Tomato paste/puree: a couple of tablespoons
• Sugar: about 1 tablespoon (white or brown)
• Red wine: about 1 cup (alcohol cooks off)
• Whole canned tomatoes (or chopped tomatoes “with the juice”)
  • Cutting trick: snip/open with scissors in the can
• Water: about 2 cups (from the kettle)

To finish / serve

• Fresh basil: “run a knife quickly over that basil,” then stir through
• Parmesan: optional (“go really posh”); stir in or serve on top

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Equipment / Preparation

• 1 pan for the whole recipe (one-pot method)
• Lid (used for simmering and then cooking pasta)
• Chopping board + knife (dice onion/veg; mince garlic if using)

Prep notes

• Dice onions using segments (avoid “stupid parallel cut”)
• Dice pepper and celery
• Break up frozen mince (no need to thaw)
• Crumble the stock cube
• Add tomato straight from the tin (use scissors to open/snip)

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Step-by-step Method (timings/temps/technique cues)

1) Prep vegetables

1. Dice onion using segments; dice other veg: pepper and celery.
2. Optional garlic: squash, then mince to taste.

2) Start the base in the pan

1. Heat a pan with oil (olive/canola/any).
2. Add onions and garlic.
3. Add pepper and salt.
4. Cook gently/steadily until some color appears (no need for a screaming-hot pan).

3) Add aromatics

1. Stir in diced pepper and celery.
2. Add dried oregano (~1 tsp).

4) Brown / break up the meat

1. Add beef mince (can be frozen—just break it up in the pan).
2. Stir/turn so the mince cooks (for about a minute).
3. Stir in bacon (optional).
4. Crumble in stock cube and stir through.

5) Simmer veg + build flavor

• Cook 5–6 minutes, gently turning so flavors meld and the veg softens.

6) Add tomato paste, sweetness, and wine

1. Stir in tomato paste/puree (2 tbsp) and cook for about 1 minute.
2. Add sugar (~1 tbsp); stir.
3. Add red wine (~1 cup); cook until it reduces (alcohol cooks off).

7) Add tomatoes + simmer

1. Add canned tomatoes with juice.
2. Add ~2 cups water.
3. Simmer ~15 minutes:
   • Put on lid, turn down heat.
   • Stir/turn during simmer to prevent sticking.

8) Cook spaghetti in the sauce (one-pot)

1. At this stage, the sauce/meat has cooked about 20–22 minutes total (as stated).
2. Add spaghetti on top (don’t overload; just enough sauce to support it).
3. Put lid back on and cook pasta per packet timing (roughly ~10 minutes mentioned).
4. After a couple minutes, the sauce should be absorbed; then turn spaghetti into the sauce and keep cooking until done.

9) Finish with basil + parmesan

• When spaghetti is close to ready:
  • “Run a knife quickly over” basil, then stir through.
  • Optional: stir in parmesan or serve with it.
• Turn off heat / flame off.

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Tips, “don’t do this,” and variations

Cutting / technique tips

• Onion cutting: Use onion segments for dicing; the presenter discourages “parallel cut” approaches.
• Taste and adjust: No rigid rule—use the recipe as a structure.
• Frozen mince: Fine—break it up and cook from frozen.
• Bacon optional: Adds smoky flavor; you can omit.
• Oregano timing: Add early so the oils/fats release flavor (don’t just dump it on top of all the juice).
• Sugar: Balances tomatoes (about 1 tbsp).
• Tomato shortcut: Use scissors to cut/snip tomatoes in the can.

Variations mentioned

• Use any veg (pepper/celery are examples).
• Bacon or no bacon.
• Finish with parmesan (“go really posh”).
• Optional alternative sauce briefly mentioned: “Jara sauce” / jar sauce (presenter chooses the tomato paste + whole tomatoes route in the main method).

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Plating / Serving

• Serve one-pot spaghetti straight from the pan.
• Top with (or mix in) parmesan and stir through basil.
• Do a quick taste test: spaghetti should be slightly firm, and the sauce should be flavorful and thick.

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Sources

• No external sources cited beyond the presenter’s mention of “taste and adjust” in the video/channel description.
• Presenter: Bagard Chef (Rick)