My Honest Review of Meghan Markle’s One-Pot Pasta Recipe

As Meghan explains, this technique “allows all the starch to stay in the pan, which gives it this creamy quality without all the cream.” A quick culinary science lesson: Pasta is primarily made of starch, and as it cooks in boiling water, some of the starch molecules are released into the hot water. The less water you use, the starchier the water will be.

Anyone who’s ever added a splash of pasta water to a sauce knows just how magical that liquid can be. It’s starchy, flavorful and essential for creating a silky-smooth sauce. That’s why so many of our pasta recipes recommend reserving a bit of this cooking liquid before draining the noodles — or using tongs to transfer pasta directly from pot to sauce — so you always have some of that liquid gold ready to go.

With this one-pot pasta method, the starchy cooking liquid is built in from the start, which means the final dish should be naturally glossy and luscious. But of course, I had to try Meghan’s recipe myself to see if it really lived up to the hype.

While you can find other recipes from With Love, Meghan on Netflix’s website, the single skillet spaghetti is missing. For that reason, I pressed pause (a few times) and jotted down my own recipe based on what Meghan demonstrated on screen. Check out my version of Meghan’s single-skillet spaghetti here.

Meghan doesn’t specify ingredient amounts on the show, so I just added an amount of salt and olive oil that felt good. I did, however, measure out the 3½ cups of water exactly — Meghan is very specific about that — and while it didn’t fully cover the pasta, it worked out just fine.

I did notice that my pasta needed a bit more time to cook than Meghan’s seemingly did. That might be because her water seemed to hit a rolling boil the moment it hit the skillet, whereas mine took a bit longer to regain heat. (It’s worth noting that Meghan does keep the stove on after pouring in the boiling water, so the pasta continues to cook.) If you’re trying this recipe at home, don’t hesitate to test a strand of spaghetti to see if it’s perfectly al dente or needs another minute or two to cook.

When I removed the lid and added all the greens, the dish looked a little soupy at first. But the liquid — a gorgeous, rich red — was clearly infused with flavor from the tomatoes. (I definitely recommend using high-quality tomatoes here, by the way, to take the dish to the next level!) The liquid itself was really flavorful and delicious.

As the pasta sat — long enough for me to grate some cheese and snap a few photos — the sauce thickened beautifully, coating the pasta noodles in a tomato-rich glaze you’ll want to scoop up with a spoon. All in all, I can’t say anything negative about this dish. The recipe worked exactly as promised. It was simple, flavorful and easy to follow — and honestly, it tasted great.

Tina (she/her) is the food producer of the Hearst Lifestyle Group.  She comes to Hearst with 10 years experience in the world of food styling for editorial, digital and television platforms. When she’s not cooking in her tiny Brooklyn kitchen, she can be found enjoying a beer at a local brewery, hiking in a national park or enjoying an afternoon at the beach.