Garlic and lemon sauce are mixed with pasta. Such a simple yet tasty dish.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 35 mins |
| Additional Time: | 15 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 5 mins |
| Servings: | 12 |
| Yield: | 12 muffin bites |
Ingredients
- 6 ounces spaghetti
- 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
- cooking spray
- 1 ½ cups grated Parmesan cheese, divided
- 1 ½ cups tomato-based pasta sauce
- 12 (1 ounce) cooked meatballs
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook spaghetti in the boiling water, stirring occasionally, until cooked through but firm to the bite, about 7 minutes. Drain and toss in a bowl with olive oil, then refrigerate until cool, about 15 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray.
- Toss cooled spaghetti with 1 cup Parmesan cheese. Divide spaghetti between the prepared muffin cups, arranging noodles in each cup to create “nests” for the meatballs.
- Top each nest with 1 tablespoon pasta sauce, 1 meatball, and 1 more tablespoon pasta sauce, respectively. Sprinkle remaining Parmesan cheese over the tops of each nest.
- Bake in the preheated oven until pasta and meatballs are heated through and cheese melts, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool slightly before transferring muffin bites to a serving platter.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 198 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 17 g |
| Cholesterol | 33 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 11 g |
| Saturated Fat | 4 g |
| Sodium | 317 mg |
| Sugars | 3 g |
| Fat | 9 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I added a beaten egg white to spaghetti to help insure the nests held their shape. Guests were so impressed with these!
The spaghetti, meatball, and ricotta, birds nests turned out beautifully. Picture attached of the masterpiece!
Served at room temperature. Not too bad but better warm. Easy and fast to make
If you wanted an easy serving for a group, this may work for you, but personally I’d rather just serve the meatballs over the spaghetti.
I did not use olive oil, but I did mix an egg with my cooked spaghetti and sprayed my muffin tin with cooking spray. I tried to twist the pasta when I put it in the tin, but wasn’t sure what I was doing. They came out of the tin really well. It was good and a great way to use frozen meatballs.
I only liked them, but my daughter loved them. They were too oily for me either that or the olive oil I used was headed toward the expired status. They are super cute and fun to make. We made them for dinner instead of an appetizer, and I would say a serving is at least two, three for growing teenagers. We will make these again since they are so easy and I will replace that olive oil.
I made pretty much as the recipe was written except for my cheese sprinkle on top. Spaghetti didn’t really stick together In a nest. Greasy on the bottom from something. Maybe the prepackaged meatball. Too large in a regular muffin pan to eat as a bite sized appetizer. Purchased a spicy tomato basil sauce but still seemed to be missing something. Also used a larger shredded parm for the top. Sprinkled with chopped fresh basil. I doubled the recipe as I thought it would go over well. NOT. I had 14 left. 12 oz. spaghetti made way more than 24 apps. 1 jar of sauce was adequate.
Loved them. I made 6 in large muffin tins, using 2 cooked Ikea Swedish meatballs in each. So easy and so tasty!
Used fettuccine Noodles (that’s what I had on hand) Took the advice of using one egg to keep everything together. Used flexible/silicone cupcake pan. Family love them which means add this to the rotation
Unique treat that went over well. Used plenty of vegetable shortening and spun the noodles when nesting and had no problem getting them out of the pan. Will definitely do this again
Once I out pasta in the muffin tin I just used my fingers and kinda twisted it. I think it helped keep the pasta muffins together after baking it.
My kids do not eat pasta sauce of any kind. I subbed in a bit more cheese and some Italian seasoning. It turned out pretty well. I was worried about burning so it didn’t take quite as long to bake.
Grandchildren & their parents are coming for a “spring break” visit. Everyone loves spaghetti & meatballs, but I wanted to find something a little different. These Muffin Bites were the ticket! I used a regular cupcake tin muffin – bites were a bit smaller, but worked just as well. Cooked spaghetti until Al Dente and followed the recipe as written. I read the reviews and decided to use the suggestion of twirling the spaghetti with a fork on a spoon . . . that worked well & made it easy to place the “nests” in the tin. Had left overs and followed the reheating suggestions as per the recipe – they turned out just as tasty as the first evening. LOVE THEM!
We did like these. The spaghetti turned out very dry and brittle. It’s like leaving cooked noodles in a pot on the kitchen counter and leaving it there for about 5 hours then putting it in the oven to reheat it. This recipe sounds like a fun idea but it just doesn’t work out.
My guests loved it and I will definitely make it again!
Followed the advice of other reviewers, added an egg to the spaghetti and used parchment muffin liners. They came out beautifully. Only baked for 15 minutes and they held together and weren’t too crispy. Best of all – Kids loved them.
Did the egg trick and that helped with the nests…made them first time using large meatballs and large muffin tins…were quite a mouthful for finger food. Remade them today with mini tins and smaller meatballs. Found that twirling the spaghetti on a three tine fork made for very nice “nests”….no problem getting them out of pans….used actual Crisco to grease the pans…lightly grease the pans.
1. Spaghetti nests came out crunchy. I used the mini-pans so the nests could be picked up and eaten and that worked but the crunchy part was still not desirable. 2. Second time I put some foil around the whole muffin pan in the hopes that it would not be crunchy. It did not work. Nests were too soft to pick up. It look great but we all agreed (6 adults), not worth the effort of making the small meatballs, gathering sauce, and cooking spaghetti and then forming the nests. Once I am into 3 pans, it better be worth it and it was not. I really wish it had worked out.
Spaghetti could be crispier for an appetizer.
You definitely have to do something to make it easier to get the little brutes out of the cooking tray as they all stick very badly no matter how much cooking oil you grease the pan with! Cutting up bits of baking paper is too tedious to line the muffin tins but the suggestion of the egg and coconut fix works pretty well!
So good! Next time I’m doubling it. I added an egg like I saw a few people suggest, and they popped right out of the pan. I put 2 store bought meatballs in each and baked them according to the instructions on the bag.