Gluten Free Spaghetti Two Ways

Do you love spaghetti? I love Italian food of all kinds, but in our house one person has a gluten intolerance. This is one of my favorite pasta dishes and is a meal my whole family will willing eat. It is one of my favorite gluten-free recipes. I’ve adapted my mother’s recipe for pasta sauce (which naturally has no gluten) and I serve it two ways, both are perfect for a gluten-free diet. This is the perfect meal for busy weeknights.

I like the spaghetti sauce over roasted cauliflower. My husband prefers the sauce served over gluten free noodles. I use Trade Joe’s brown rice noodles, but they also have lentil noodles. These are good alternatives to traditional pasta and are some of the best gluten-free pastas I have found. They have a classic pasta taste. It’s not much more work to make both, which I do.

I’ve tried the zucchini noodles and roasted zucchini, but it’s too watery for my taste no matter how I try to cook it. You can try this recipes with any fresh vegetables you like.

Ingredients

• 1lb ground beef (you can also use ground turkey)
• 1 yellow onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 2 teaspoons of olive oil (for sauce)
• 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1 14 oz can fire roasted tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 bay leaf
• salt & pepper
• Dash of sugar
• Head of Cauliflower with more olive oil
• Brown rice pasta (optional)
• Parmesan cheese (optional)

Steps to Make

1. Heat olive oil in pan that is large enough to hold all the ingredients (5 qt plus). Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
2. Dice onion and garlic and add to oil. Saute for 3-5 minutes.
3. Add ground beef and brown. Add 1 cup of water after the ground beef is browned because it helps you to break up the ground beef into finer/smaller chunks. You can do this with a potato ricer instead of water.
4. Once meat is broken up, add both cans of tomatoes, oregano, bay leaf, a dash of sugar, salt and pepper (to taste).
5. Simmer for 30 minutes to an hour, depending on how much time you have.
6. While that cooks, cut up your cauliflower into bite size chunks. Spread the cauliflower out onto a cookie sheet and drizzle or spray with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast for 30 minutes.
7. (optional) If you prefer to use gluten free pasta, bring water to a rolling boil in a stock pot. Cook the gluten free noodles to al dente according to the product packaging.

If you are pressed for time you can also make the sauce in a crock pot and let it simmer all day on low. It’s better if you saute the onions and brown the beef and then transfer that to a crock pot unless your pot lets you do this, like the instant pot.

This sauce is even better the next day!!

If you are pressed for time you can also make the sauce in a crock pot and let it simmer all day on low. It’s better if you saute the onions and brown the beef and then transfer that to a crock pot unless your pot lets you do this, like the instant pot.

Are you looking for other easy to make healthy dinner recipes? If so, check out these gluten free chicken parmesan, chicken lettuce wraps with extra veggies and an easy roast chicken recipe.