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Skillet Cowboy Spaghetti Recipe

Skillet Cowboy Spaghetti is a deep skillet recipe that will serve a crowd, bursting with flavor, loaded with protein, and will quickly become a family favorite recipe.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time50 minutes
Total Time1 hour
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: best spaghetti, Skillet Cowboy Spaghetti, spaghetti
Servings: 6
Calories: 754kcal

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 6 strips of bacon diced
  • 1 medium yellow onion diced
  • 1 pound ground beef (I like 80/20)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon pepper
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1½ teaspoons cumin
  • 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
  • 15 ounces kidney beans (1 can)
  • ½ can corn drained
  • 2 tomatoes large, diced
  • 4 ounces diced green chilies (1 can)
  • 15 ounces tomato sauce (1 can)
  • 12 ounces spaghetti noodles
  • 2 cups shredded pepper jack cheese
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions

  • Cook the bacon. In a large oven-safe skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat, sauteing until nice and crispy. Remove the bacon from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside.
  • Saute the onion. Add the onion to the pan and saute until translucent.
  • Brown the beef. Add the beef to the pan and season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, cumin, and smoked paprika. Cook the beef until browned and cooked through, breaking it apart as you go.
  • Build the sauce. Stir in the kidney beans, corn, tomato, diced green chilis, and tomato sauce.
  • Simmer. Bring the sauce to a boil and then reduce the heat to low. Let it simmer while you cook the pasta.
  • Cook the pasta. Cook the spaghetti per the package’s instructions (don’t forget to salt the pasta water). Drain the spaghetti, reserving 1 cup of pasta water.
  • Preheat the oven. While the pasta is cooking, preheat the oven to 400°F.
  • Put it all together. Stir the spaghetti into the sauce along with the bacon. Stir in half of the pepper Jack along with the cheddar cheese. Cook until the cheese has melted into the sauce. If the sauce has a hard time adhering to the pasta, stir in a bit of pasta water to loosen it up.
  • Bake. Sprinkle the pasta with the remaining cheese and bake for 10 minutes or until the cheese is nice and bubbly.

Notes

Change up this recipe:
  1. Swap some of the diced tomatoes for diced fire-roasted tomatoes for extra heat or even some red pepper flakes
  2. Add in some rinsed black beans for a heartier dish
  3. Chop some green pepper or red peppers to add some veggies to the dish
  4. Sprinkle a small amount of chill powder or a dash of hot sauce for an even more robust flavor

Nutrition

Calories: 754kcal | Carbohydrates: 68g | Protein: 48g | Fat: 32g | Saturated Fat: 16g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 114mg | Sodium: 1279mg | Potassium: 1165mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 1493IU | Vitamin C: 15mg | Calcium: 485mg | Iron: 7mg