Nothing Meghan Markle does goes without scrutiny, and this time it’s cooking pasta. On an episode of her Netflix show, With Love, Meghan, she made a one-pot pasta dish, and this method had the internet boiling in anger. Even so, tons of people on social media, from home cooks to professional chefs, decided to try out the dish for themselves and, spoiler alert, it was well-liked. Here’s how to make Meghan Markle’s one-pot pasta dish for yourself.
What exactly is the Meghan Markle one pot pasta dish?
She calls her one pot pasta dish “single skillet spaghetti,” and it’s as simple as a one-pot recipe gets. She adds all her ingredients to one pan, dry pasta included, and then pours boiling water over top to cook it. In doing so, she uses the water as a pasta sauce (no cream required) and avoids dirtying multiple dishes.
Markle says she cooks this dish for her whole family, making plenty to spare for leftovers, and her guest on her first episode, her makeup artist Daniel Martin, appeared to really enjoy the dish, saying the pasta is “So f**king good” and “So hearty but it’s not heavy. This is literally cozy.”
How can you make the pasta dish?
The recipe really isn’t hard to make and could be great for a busy family but also people who only cook for themselves. It’s also not a long dish to prepare, estimated to take about 20 minutes.
Start by boiling 4 cups (or more) of water — Meghan Markle does this with a kettle but you don’t have to. Set the stove to a low or medium temperature and allow your pan of choice to heat up. While it’s heating, zest a whole lemon, halve 1 pint of cherry or grape tomatoes, and slice up 2 garlic cloves.
Then, in your hot pan, add the tomatoes, the garlic, 1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 1/4 teaspoon salt, the lemon zest, and lastly, the star of the show, 1/2 pound dry pasta. You can add some grated pecorino now if you’d like, or you can wait until the end (or you can do both).
Add 3 cups of boiled water to the pan — try to cover the ingredients while doing so — and then cover the pan with a lid. Increase the temperature a little and let the pasta simmer for 3 minutes.
Meanwhile, chop up 3 ounces of chard and 3 ounces of kale.
At 3 minutes, stir the pasta before re-covering and allow to cook for 2 more minutes before adding in your greens and covering again. You should check and stir the pasta occasionally until its finished, around 7 or 8 minutes.
Top it off with grated pecorino and additional salt and pepper if you’d like, and then enjoy your quick, one-pot pasta that doesn’t require you to dirty up multiple pots and pans.
What are people on the internet saying?
While the internet’s initial reaction to Meghan Markle’s methods was severely negative, once people started making the dish, they generally gave it good reviews and even suggested tweaks to make the dish even better.
Food influencer and pasta lover @dannylovespasta recreated the dish on his Instagram and TikTok accounts and commended her for using water as a sauce, ultimately saying, “It is fast and the texture of the sauce is really nice” and “Meghan, I think this recipe is a keeper.” He did note that the sauce was a little “bland,” so he recommended swapping out water for a broth and sautéing the garlic and tomatoes before adding the pasta for even more flavor.
Another influencer, @nutritionbykylie, agreed that the dish was easy, fast, and delicious, and recommended adding a source of protein such as chicken or shrimp to the dish. Other TikTok users agreed to adding a protein.