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Backpacking Stove
Dinner

Simple Spaghetti

Simple Spaghetti: a sourced backpacking stove recipe with measured ingredients and cooking instructions. Check ingredient storage instructions before your trip.

Community rating
Added October 9, 2026
Source: Recipe: Wikibooks contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/); extracted from linked revision; camping suitability and safety notes added. Photo: Original uploader was 酒池肉林 at zh.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0; https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spaghetti_served_with_meat_sauce.jpg; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/. Photo illustrates this dish on its source recipe page; not a Wild10 cooking-test photo.
Simple Spaghetti

Photo: Original uploader was 酒池肉林 at zh.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0. Source-recipe food photograph; not a Wild10 cooking-test photo.

Serves: 4
Difficulty: Medium

Ingredients

  • •For 4 servings:
  • •2.25 L (10 cups ) water
  • •8 oz (224 g ) spaghetti
  • •2.5 cups (24 oz) pasta sauce (optional but recommended)
  • •Salt (optional but recommended)
  • •Vegetable oil (optional but recommended)

Instructions

  1. 1On a stovetop, bring the water to a boil on high heat after adding salt and vegetable oil (see tips below).
  2. 2Reduce heat to medium and add the pasta.
  3. 3While the spaghetti is cooking, pour desired amount of sauce into pan and set stove to medium.
  4. 4Set a timer for 7 minutes. When the timer goes off, fish out a strand of spaghetti and bite into it. What you're going for here is al dente, meaning that the pasta is just soft enough to eat: no longer crunchy in the middle, and not mushy and over-done. A more traditional (but messy) way to see if the spaghetti is done is to throw some strands onto a wall. If they stick to the wall, then the pasta is ready to eat.
  5. 5When the sauce begins to bubble, reduce the heat to its lowest setting and cover.
  6. 6Once the pasta is ready, carefully drain it through a colander into a sink.
  7. 7Serve sauce over pasta in bowls.

Camp tips

  • • Adding salt to the cooking water enhances the pasta flavor and to allows the water to boil more quickly. Adding vegetable oil to the cooking water helps prevent the spaghetti from sticking together.
  • • Try adding herbs or fruit (such as pineapple tidbits) to the water before it boils to keep with the pasta after straining for extra flavor and texture.
  • • Before cooking the sauce, consider sautéing some finely minced onions, garlic , ground beef (or pork / sausage / veal /etc.), cheese ( parmesan / mozzarella /etc.), mushrooms , or anything else that catches your fancy. Then add the sauce.
  • • In a pinch, you can make plain spaghetti and add ketchup if you do not have any pasta sauce available.
  • • The following foods go well with spaghetti and can be served together: Broccoli (or other vegetables ). Garlic Bread Meatballs Pineapple (or other fruits ) tidbits ( boiled , grilled , or fried ) Shredded and/or grated cheese Tomato , alfredo , or other sauces (can choose one, the other, or mixed together)
  • • Cooking is about experimentation—never be afraid to try anything once!
  • • Use potable water, wash hands, and pack out scraps. Never cook inside a tent. Check local fire restrictions.

Food safety & trail facts

Use potable water, wash hands, and pack out scraps. Never cook inside a tent. Check local fire restrictions.

Planning a trip? Open the Trip Planner — your saved favorite meals can be pulled into the generated menu.

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