13 Non-Pasta Sauces You Should Try On Spaghetti

There's no rule that says you have to put spaghetti sauce on spaghetti. It's just noodles, after all, and the unassuming personality it presents on the plate is the perfect canvas for embellishing with all sorts of colorful sauces beyond the usual marinara and meat mixtures. Spaghetti-style noodles also happen to be the base of global fare like ramen and stir fry, inviting the intriguing savory flavors of Asian cuisine to the table. And if you've never tried turning your spaghetti pot into a Latin-style fiesta, you've been missing out. It's high time you sauced up your options!

What are some of the most enticing non-pasta sauces you can use to top your spaghetti? The variety is limited only by your culinary imagination. I've tried everything from salsa to barbecue sauce, which are easy enough for a starting point. Alternate sauces allow clever reinventions of your humdrum spaghetti and turn your evening meals into pasta recipes that are dangerously delicious. Once you've considered fiery sriracha, tangy chimichurri, and hearty chili as spaghetti toppings, you may never go back to plain ol' pasta sauce again.

Chances are, you have an open bottle of barbecue sauce sitting in your fridge right this very minute, so it's time to consider the possibilities of using this brush-on baste as a sauce for your next spaghetti supper. This is not a one-size-fits-all topper; the four basic bases of tomato, vinegar, mustard, and mayonnaise mean you have plenty of range to suit your varying tastes. And the expansive varieties of bottled barbecue sauce that twist those simple beginnings provide a laboratory of tastes for you to tinker with. Variations from honey mustard to Kansas City-style are so distinctly different, you can craft entirely different spaghetti meals with each.

As with Italian spaghetti dishes, barbecue sauce-based spaghetti calls for deluxe toppings that help accentuate the tasting notes in the sauce. Instead of ground beef, consider using slices of spare rib meat for a heavier brown sugar barbecue sauce; for a more heat-based blend, try shredded roast or even sautéed tofu as a protein source. And a mayonnaise-based barbecue slather invites strips of grilled chicken breast to rest atop a nest of sauce-soaked spaghetti. Experimenting with thick and thin noodles will also help you fine-tune the texture that makes the most sense for each creation.

The elements of both salsa and spaghetti sauce are largely the same; tomatoes, onions, garlic all play a part in making these two sauces work, though in slightly different ways. Salsa tosses in fiery jalapeños to ramp up the heat — a welcome aspect that more mellow pasta sauces don't offer. With premium salsas to choose from at grocery stores and specialty shops, you can forego the need to chop and slice and get straight to the main event. To keep things more price-friendly, even a jar of store-label salsa has all the components you need to get something delicious stirred into your spaghetti.

It isn't just basic salsa that works to make your spaghetti better, either. Give chunky a try, see what a more picante-style sauce does for your dish, or try a salsa roja with roasted tomatoes to add even more flavor to the plate. If you're up for making your own recipe, go with a cooling pico de gallo to impart a pasta primavera-like freshness to angel hair spaghetti. Crumble a few tortilla chips on top for garnish and dinner is served.

There's a smokiness to sloppy Joe sauce that sets it apart from the general tomato-based sauces that can find a place in your spaghetti plans. Some canned sloppy Joe sauce brands even work Worcestershire sauce in the recipe to deepen the flavor. Simply drizzling a can of pre-made sloppy Joe sauce with or without crumbles will work wonders for plain noodles, though you can customize it with fresh tomatoes and diced onions to give it a bold kick. The best part of this easy non-pasta spaghetti sauce is having it at the ready in your pantry. You can shift gears at a second's notice and give your family something more supreme than the standard red sauce they're expecting.

Looking for a plant-forward replacement that holds up to the taste and texture test as well as meat versions? Try whipping up a vegan sloppy Joe sauce using lentils and tomatoes to replicate the beefiness without the beef. A sprinkle of red pepper flakes on top of your finished spaghetti bowl will add a touch of fiery goodness.

If you're a fan of Thai cuisine and you're not on a peanut-free diet, you've undoubtedly had noodles with Thai peanut sauce. It's one of the most fundamental dishes on this region's menu, and it takes the potential for topping your spaghetti into savory new territory. Thai peanut sauce is also supremely simple to conjure up; all it takes is a few tablespoons of peanut butter, some soy sauce, grated ginger, garlic, and green onions. When the peanut butter hits the warm noodles, it melts into a silken umami glaze that lets the seasonings take center stage.

Taking your spaghetti in a more Asian-Pacific direction doesn't have to stop at the sauce. Steam pea pods, carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower and toss them together with a can of garbanzo beans for a Thai dish that's rich in plant-powered nutrients, including a solid amount of protein from the peanuts and the beans. Strips of freshly-grilled or sautéed chicken will also do nicely thrown into the bowl, and even shredded rotisserie chicken is a welcome guest at this spaghetti shake-up.

If you're looking to add a little brightness to your spaghetti situation, a splash of Italian dressing is one of the easiest makeshift sauces to bring to the table. The quintessential herbs found in other Italian sauces are included in the bottle, along with tangy vinegar and neutral oil that helps the sauce stick to the noodles. With so many store-brand Italian dressings ready for the role, you could go with your favorite or reach for something entirely new to give the experience a dedicated flavor all its own. Of course, if you have a treasured recipe for Italian dressing, it can absolutely hold the place of honor in the spaghetti kettle. Consider serving the spaghetti bare and letting everyone add as much or as little dressing as they like to their plates.

At a loss for what toppers you can include in this basic spaghetti combination? Try fresh broccoli florets, shredded carrots, and tomato slices to make a sprightly spaghetti salad brimming with intriguing bits and bobs to nibble on. Don't forget a sprinkling of fresh herbs to put a fine point on your refreshing spaghetti spin-around; parsley, cilantro, and basil are all perfect candidates to get the job done.

Things get hot and saucy around the table with a shaker of sriracha as part of your spaghetti place settings. The brilliance of red pepper, garlic, and vinegar are a wake-up call for sleeping spaghetti in need of new energy. The popularity of sriracha means it's an easy purchase at your favorite grocery chain, though it isn't terribly difficult to blitz your own bowl in the blender with a simple-to-follow sriracha recipe. This allows you to control the heat and infuse the finished product with extra flavor based on your personal taste. Up the brown sugar or garlic or pull back the vinegar if you choose — moves you can't easily make with a bottled version.

Since heat this intense is a matter of personal taste, sriracha is a great sauce to toss lightly into the pot to give the noodles a light coating while leaving the bottle at the table for individualized addition if your diners choose. Rather than chicken or beef, think about flaky bits of your favorite steamed fish becoming part of your sriracha spaghetti scene.

Who doesn't love a simple spaghetti dressing that provides a sauce and topping all in one? Whether you use your favorite homemade chili, a freshly-made carton from a kettle at the deli, or a can from the grocery store, the mix of tomatoes, beans, and ground beef are an ideal partnership for making spaghetti more appealing. In reality, it's practically the same ingredients you use in traditional meat sauce: beans, tomatoes, tomato sauce, and chopped peppers. The main difference is in the seasoning blend, which leans into earthier essences like paprika and cayenne instead of garlic and oregano. The good news is that it's easy to switch over to chili from meat sauce without too much protest from your family!

If you're looking for a meat-free version, try a simple three-bean vegetarian chili recipe that takes out the beef while ramping up the flavor. For a sturdier version of a ground beef chili, substitute steak for your protein; it's a great way to use up leftover cuts without having to repeat a basic steak dinner.

Maybe you've only had Baja sauce on your burrito or chimichanga, but that should be enough to tell you it's a white sauce that's light years away from Alfredo. The piquant cream cheese and mayonnaise partnering clings to spaghetti while offering a spaghetti sauce that's both elegant and playful. With a bit of cumin, a squeeze of lime juice, and just a touch of jalapeño or green chile tossed in for good measure, it's a solid recipe that lets you reinvent the idea of a classic spaghetti dinner as a Latin pasta that doesn't shy away from novel tastes that come with a touch of familiarity.

When deciding what to add on top, think about what you'd find on the usual Baja sauce-topped entrées at your favorite Mexican food restaurant. Black olives, diced tomatoes, and sliced green onions are perfectly pleasing options that balance the richness of the sauce with their own perky freshness. And if the dish feels more like a side than a main, you can always cook up some mini tacos or taquitos as accompaniments.

It may never have occurred to you that nachos-style spaghetti is a possibility, but that just means you have a tasty new discovery waiting to be made. Creamy queso sauce makes a fun inclusion in your spaghetti plans and is readily available in the Mexican food aisle. Thin it down with milk if necessary and present your pickiest eaters with mac and cheese in an avant-garde shape they won't be expecting! You can also turn it into a full-blown queso dip with taco-seasoned ground beef to bring even more flavor into the picture.

Another possibility: Rather than simply serving spaghetti with a dollop of queso on top, you can create a baked spaghetti version by stirring queso into your spaghetti and laying it in a casserole dish. Sprinkle grated cheddar and Monterey Jack over the top and spread one can each of roasted tomatoes and sliced jalapeños, then bake for 30 to 40 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Then, bring your homestyle Mexican-Italian spaghetti bake to the table with nacho toppings in dishes for your diners to complete their own personalized nacho spaghetti plate.

The creamy-spicy pop of yum yum sauce is a favorite in Asian restaurants as a spread and dipping sauce that tastes great on just about anything. So why not get a bottle and give it a squeeze over your spaghetti to see what kinds of magic it makes over pasta? It has the peppy zest of ketchup, the dreamy creaminess of mayonnaise, a kick of paprika, and a tricky spice from hot sauce, with a little apple cider vinegar tingle — in other words, all the best things you could mash together to make a tabletop sauce that spaghetti would love to wear? These easy-to-mix elements are likely lurking in your kitchen, waiting to become a handcrafted yum yum sauce to make tonight's spaghetti yum-yum-yummier.

The playful personality of yum yum sauce gives you the freedom to toss whatever you like on top of your sauced-up spaghetti. Try stir-fry veggies, fried shrimp, chicken strips or nuggets, slices of beef, or crumbled-up hamburger and see what works best. For a more distinctly Asian dish, have wontons or fried noodles on hand to add crunchy texture and a nutty flavor that helps the other elements sync up.

The creamy comforting texture of stroganoff sauce usually adorns bow-tie pasta or egg noodles, but there's nothing stopping you from using spaghetti as your base instead. True, stroganoff is more of a mushroom gravy with a generous dollop of sour cream stirred in for luxurious good measure. But since it's traditionally used as part of a pasta dish, it isn't too far a reach to replace those noodles and refresh your dinner options. You may need to adjust the quantity since distribution over flatter pasta is a different prospect than spreading stroganoff over strands of spaghetti, but that's an easy adjustment to eyeball.

Usually, strips of beef are used as a protein in stroganoff, which means you can easily recreate a standard stroganoff to serve as your sauce. There's no reason you couldn't experiment with chicken instead, or leave the protein out entirely and give your family a fully vegetarian version of spaghetti stroganoff to spin their dinner forks into. And if you have a mixed crowd to please, serve the beef or chicken on the side so everyone can do their own thing.

Noodles may not be a staple in the Indian culinary heritage, but that doesn't mean you can't use them as a resting spot in place of rice for a buttery tikka masala. Using spaghetti lets you incorporate a different texture to your starch element for this sumptuous global favorite. With cayenne, turmeric, and curry cast incredible warmth into the pot and coating your spaghetti in a robe of soft orange sauce, the unexpected global flavor is bound to be a savory surprise. To give it a test run, check out the jarred versions of this soothing sauce on your next shopping trip. You can find name brands and store label selections to sample until you land on one you like best.

Though the best-known version of this dish may be chicken tikka masala, other takes that use tofu, garbanzo beans, and even strips of plant-based meat are sure to satisfy as partners in your nouveau spaghetti game. Toss whatever you choose into the sauce and spoon it over a twist of spaghetti on each plate, then adorn with sprigs of herbs for garnish.

Bring a dash of South American tingle to your spaghetti bowl by using vibrant chimichurri as a green sauce that provides a different flavor experience than the more-familiar pesto. You may be more used to seeing this chutney-like mix of parsley, oregano, and vinegar served over steak, chicken, or fish, but it's herbaceous boldness and vivid color are a great stand-in for basil-based Italian green sauce and will nicely adorn any protein form you choose to include on the menu as well.

If you're not sure how to conjure up a fresh batch, a simple chimichurri recipe will get you going in the right direction. Of course, store-bought chimichurri is a perfectly suitable option, and you can choose from dry-spice and ready-to-eat jarred versions to get the balance right. And if you happen to have a favorite restaurant that makes a mean chimichurri, ask if they'll let you buy a bit so you can dress up your homemade spaghetti creations.