Roasted Tomato and Garlic Spaghetti

This easy pasta recipe is ready and waiting to change your life! Roasted Tomato and Garlic Spaghetti lands on your table in 20 minutes with cherry tomatoes and a luscious-yet-simple sauce the whole family will love.

I am super excited to share this dish with you – a lightning fast weeknight meal that delivers major flavor from simple ingredients – spaghetti, cherry tomatoes, and garlic. The secret to pull this together is an easy emulsified sauce.

Normally, we learn that oil and water don’t mix, right? Unless you throw caution to the wind and rapidly boil them together for several minutes, in which case magic happens. The resulting light sauce delivers the flavor of olive oil in a way that doesn’t merely coat, but clings to the pasta.

In addition to infusing the spaghetti with rich flavor, the sauce enhances the roasted tomatoes and garlic without drowning them, so this dish is a wonderful way to enjoy pasta without feeling heavy or weighed down!

This recipe has been in my back pocket for years, ever since I dog-eared a particularly delicious-looking page in the now-defunct magazine Cooking Light (R.I.P.!). Over time, I’ve adjusted ratios and realized a few efficiencies, like making the sauce in the same pot as the pasta. Less washing up –> always better.

The resulting dish deserves frequent appearances on the dinner table – mine and yours. It’s something the whole family will enjoy!

Roasted Tomato Spaghetti: Ingredients

You’ll just need a few simple ingredients to make this spaghetti, many of which you probably have on hand already:

• Cherry or grape tomatoes: I sometimes splurge on mini San Marzanos, which are so flavorful, or it’s fun to use an heirloom mix, especially in late summer when they’re plentiful!
• Garlic: a few cloves, sliced into thin little medallions. No need to mince or finely chop – yay!
• Spaghetti: obviously! It would also be great with another kind of pasta, so feel free to experiment.
• Olive oil, salt, and pepper: pantry staples!
• Bonus: fresh basil and Parmesan cheese. These aren’t strictly necessary but are easy and add a nice finishing touch.

You’ll also need a sheet pan or oven-safe skillet, a big pasta pot, and some tongs for tossing everything together. Nothing more special than that!

Roasted Tomato Spaghetti: How To Make It

This is a meal that feels totally gourmet but is so easy to make, it feels like a little secret. You’ll follow a few basic steps, and be ready to serve in 20 minutes tops:

1. Crank the oven up to 450 and roast the tomatoes, garlic, and a drizzle of olive oil. If you’re worried about heating up the kitchen, take heart – you’ll only need the oven for about 10 minutes.
2. While the tomatoes get roasted and wrinkly and gorgeous in the oven, boil water to cook the pasta. Be sure to reserve some of the pasta water before draining – it’s the starchy basis of the magical sauce you’ll make next!
3. Next, boil a combination of pasta water and more olive oil in the same pan you used for the pasta. Yes – for this recipe, oil and water do mix, and I promise you’ll love the results!
4. Add cooked pasta, tomatoes, garlic, salt, pepper, basil, and Parm to taste. Toss it all together, grab a fork, and dig in!

What To Serve With Spaghetti

Spaghetti is such a classic and crowd-pleasing dish; there’s no need to get fussy with the sides! I love to serve this with a simple side salad or veggie and call it a day. Here are some ideas:

• A classic Italian Garden Salad: use any lettuce, and whatever combo of extra tomatoes, cucumber, carrots, and bell peppers you have on hand. Throw together your own Italian dressing while you wait for the water to boil!
• 5-Minute Arugula Parmesan Pine Nut Salad: the flavors go really well with this pasta and it’s also easy to throw the whole salad together in the time it takes water to boil.
• Balsamic Spinach Salad with Sea Salt: same as above!
• Spinach Salad with Nectarines and Pecans.
• Roasted Lemon Pepper Asparagus: easy to pop in the oven alongside the tomatoes – they’ll take nearly the same amount of time.
• Of course garlic bread is always a good idea!
• This is filling as-is, but if you want to add extra protein, it makes a lovely side to chicken breast or a small steak!

If you try making this Roasted Tomato and Garlic Spaghetti or any other recipe on the blog, please rate it and leave a comment below. I love hearing from you, and other readers will benefit from your experience!