What the fork?
Spaghetti seems like a pretty safe dinner—until you see what some Americans put on it. These combinations might have you reaching for your fork, or wondering who let these people near the kitchen. Would you ask for seconds—or ask what on earth they were thinking?
Ohio: Chili, beans, onions, and a mountain of cheddar
In Cincinnati, spaghetti becomes the foundation for an entirely different dinner. A five-way piles chili, beans, chopped onions, and shredded cheddar onto the noodles. If you’ve never encountered it before, that mountain of cheese might distract you from the bigger question: Why is there chili underneath?
Vermont: Maple syrup
Maple syrup on spaghetti sounds like someone confused dinner with breakfast. But the Calderwood family at Vermont’s Echo Hill Farm says it adds a tablespoon to spaghetti sauce. It’s a small addition, rather than a pancake-style drenching. Still, would you reach for the syrup bottle?
Tennessee: Barbecue pork
Memphis found another place to put barbecue, and spaghetti made the cut. At Interstate Bar-B-Q, the dish combines pork, barbecue sauce, spices, and spaghetti noodles. It takes a familiar pasta dinner straight into barbecue territory. Honestly, this one might be easier to accept than to resist.
Hawaii: Banana ketchup and hot dogs
Hawaii’s Filipino food scene brings a sweeter approach to spaghetti. Traditional Filipino versions can combine banana ketchup, sliced hot dogs, meat sauce, and cheese. If you grew up expecting a tangy tomato sauce, that first sweet bite could be quite a surprise. The hot dogs might be the second.
JFVelasquez Floro, Wikimedia Commons
Nebraska: Dorothy Lynch dressing
Nebraska’s homegrown Dorothy Lynch dressing has ambitions beyond the salad bowl. The brand publishes a spaghetti recipe that mixes its dressing into Alfredo sauce, then adds chicken and peppers. You might happily eat every ingredient separately. Combining salad dressing and Alfredo is where things get interesting.
Alaska: Ground moose
For Alaska families cooking with wild game, spaghetti doesn’t have to start with ground beef. Moose can take its place in the sauce. The practice is established enough that state guidance uses moose spaghetti as an example of preparing traditional foods. Would you notice before someone told you?
New Jersey: Blue-crab “gravy”
Along the Jersey Shore, some Italian-American families simmer blue crabs in tomato “gravy” and serve it with spaghetti. The shells help flavor the sauce, and some families serve the crabs and noodles together. Dinner can become a hands-on project, depending on how those crabs reach your plate.
Ai Amo, Wikimedia Commons, Enhanced
Texas: Velveeta, cream cheese, and Rotel
One Texas chicken spaghetti recipe turns dinner into a wonderfully excessive cheese situation. Fredericksburg’s Rustlin’ Rob’s publishes a version combining Velveeta, cream cheese, Rotel, cream of mushroom soup, and chicken. Somewhere underneath all that creamy sauce are spaghetti noodles. You might need a second helping to find them.
Thisisthestoryofagirl, Wikimedia Commons
West Virginia: Ramps
Ramps are pungent wild relatives of onions, and West Virginia cooks have found room for them in spaghetti. Wild West Virginia Ramps publishes a recipe combining them with noodles, olive oil, chili flakes, and breadcrumbs. Their strong onion-and-garlic flavor probably makes this a questionable dinner before a first date.
The Cosmonaut, Wikimedia Commons
Florida: Hot dogs and smoked herring
At La Paix Bakery in Miramar, Haitian-style spaghetti combines hot dogs and smoked herring. The menu identifies it as a traditional Haitian breakfast option, which adds another surprise. Fish and hot dogs on spaghetti might already challenge your expectations. Eating the combination for breakfast takes it further.
Washington: Garlic mayonnaise
Seattle’s Fort St. George serves spaghetti with meat sauce and garlic mayonnaise. Yes, mayonnaise gets invited to the pasta dinner. The combination has appeared in local coverage for years, so it has some staying power. Would that creamy, garlicky addition win you over—or stop your fork halfway?
Louisiana: Pot roast and red gravy
New Orleans’ Creole daube takes spaghetti in a hearty direction. A beef roast cooks in tomato-based red gravy until it becomes tender enough to fall apart, then gets served with the noodles. If meatballs seem a little restrained, this delivers the pot-roast treatment to your pasta plate.
North Carolina: Ketchup and mustard
North Carolina cook Wendy Perry’s cafeteria-style baked spaghetti includes ketchup and prepared mustard alongside ground meat and cheese. It’s her copycat version of K&W’s dish, so those ingredients shouldn’t be attributed to the cafeteria itself. Still, her recipe puts two familiar burger condiments into a very different dinner.
Massachusetts: Lobster eggs
Lobster on pasta probably wouldn’t shock many people. Lobster eggs might get a different reaction. Judy’s Bay in Cambridge has served spaghetti with lobster-roe cream sauce and watercress. The dish sounds elegant when you order it. Finding out what “roe” means could change your enthusiasm.
pelican from Tokyo, Japan, Wikimedia Commons
Missouri: Provel cheese
St. Louis has its own answer to the cheese question: Provel, a processed blend of cheddar, Swiss, and provolone. Bartolino’s puts it on a baked spaghetti, penne, and ravioli combination. Cheese on pasta is familiar enough. This particular cheese—and three pasta shapes together—makes the plate distinctly local.
J. Vivano & Sons, Inc., Wikimedia Commons
New Mexico: Roasted Hatch green chile
New Mexico’s signature chile has found its way into spaghetti, too. Food writer Maggie Hennessy describes making pasta with roasted Hatch green chiles, garlic, and lemon after moving to the state. It gives a familiar dinner a smoky turn. Her recipe uses mild chiles, so the heat needn’t overwhelm you.
Connecticut: Sugar kelp
The Shipwright’s Daughter in Mystic has served squid-ink spaghetti with mussels and sugar kelp. That means seaweed joins the seafood on your pasta plate. The name might sound sweeter than you expect from an ocean ingredient. Would you give those dark noodles and kelp a chance?
Indiana: A layer of sour cream
Indiana food blogger Liz Berg’s spaghetti pie puts sour cream between a spaghetti crust and its meaty topping, with mozzarella finishing the dish. She favors it over the cottage-cheese version. If sour cream belongs on your baked potato, could it earn a place in your spaghetti dinner?
Miro Vrlik Photography, Shutterstock
Kentucky: Fresh-chopped garlic on chili spaghetti
Northern Kentucky’s Dixie Chili takes the chili-spaghetti idea another step with its six-way. Along with beans, chopped sweet onion, and cheddar, it adds fresh-chopped garlic. There’s already plenty happening on that plate before the garlic arrives. Would you welcome the extra punch—or stick with five ways?
Agave Photo Studio, Shutterstock
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