January 25, 2022
Vegan Filipino Spaghetti
Filipino spaghetti is a Filipino twist on classic Italian spaghetti. Sweet and savory meat sauce is tossed with spaghetti and topped with cheddar cheese, making for a delicious and creamy pasta dish that is truly unlike any other! Typically served during holidays and at birthday parties, this dish is beloved by much of the Philippines!
Filipino Spaghetti
Have you ever tried Filipino Spaghetti?
It’s a thing in the Philippines – served during the holidays, at birthday parties, and sold at all the fast food chains – including McDonald’s! Growing up in a Filipino household, I didn’t even know what real spaghetti was. I was always under the impression spaghetti was supposed to be sweet. I remember the first time I had non-filipino spaghetti, I was so confused. Where were the hot dogs? Why wasn’t it sweet? No cheddar cheese?!!!!?! To this day, I still prefer Filipino spaghetti to classic Italian spaghetti, and even when I cook spaghetti that’s more traditional, I can’t help but add just a little bit of sugar to remind me of home ????
Unlike its original Italian counterpart, Filipino spaghetti is sweet, loaded with a meaty, sugary hotdog spaghetti sauce, then topped with cheddar cheese so it’s super creamy. It’s unique and unlike any pasta I’ve ever had! If you’re a sucker for sweet and savory dishes, you have to give Filipino Spaghetti a try!
what goes in filipino spaghetti?
Depending on the region, each family makes their version of Filipino spaghetti differently. My mom’s family is from Cebu, where I was born, my dad’s family is from Manila. I took both sides of my family’s recipes and created my own version. Here are the main ingredients you’ll need to make my Filipino spaghetti:
- Veggies: such as sweet onion, bell pepper, and carrots. Each of these adds an additional layer of sweetness and depth to the sauce.
- Garlic: lots and lots of garlic! My mom added tons of garlic to her filipino spaghetti and I cannot have it any other way.
- Sugar: I like to use coconut sugar for a slightly toasted sweetness.
- Red chili flakes: To balance the sweetness, I like to add some spice to my filipino spaghetti. A touch of red pepper flakes add the perfect heat to this dish!
- MSG: Both sides of my family would add a bit of fish sauce to their spaghetti sauce, which adds a punch of umami. Since this is my vegan version, I use MSG in place of the fish sauce and it’s a wonderful substitute.
- Banana Ketchup: The base of the spaghetti sauce! I like to use the spicy version of the brand, Jufran. Another brand I use is UFC banana ketchup. You can find either at most asian markets, and sometimes your local grocery store in the “ethnic” aisle (why do they call it that???).
- Hot dogs and ground beef: obviously since this is vegan, we’re using vegan versions of both!
- Spaghetti Noodles: for obvious reasons.
- Vegan cheese shreds: parmesan and cheddar.
Disclaimer: just because this isn’t how your family makes filipino spaghetti, that doesn’t mean this is the wrong way of making it. This is how MY family and I make filipino spaghetti. There is no such thing as “original” filipino spaghetti!
how to make vegan filipino spaghetti:
This recipe is super easy to prepare! Here’s how to make vegan Filipino Spaghetti:
1. Sauce:
sauté your veggies and garlic in a bit of oil until translucent and fragrant. Add your vegan ground, season, and continue to cook until the ground is heated through. Pour in your banana ketchup, tomato sauce, and vegan parmesan, stirring to combine. Cover and simmer so all those flavors can marry.
2. noodles:
about 10 minutes before the sauce is ready, cook the noodles until al dente according to package directions. Drain, but don’t rinse.
3. hot dogs:
while the noodles are cooking, pan fry your hot dogs in a separate skillet. Because we’re using vegan hot dogs, I find that preparing them separately and crisping them up helps them keep their texture in the sauce.
4. toss:
toss your noodles and hots dogs into the pot with the meat sauce and mix to combine.
5. serve:
serve with vegan shredded cheese and enjoy!
tools you need to make vegan filipino spaghetti:
more saucy noodle dishes to try:
- Garlic Sesame Gochujang Noodles
- Peppered ‘Beef’ Stir Fried Noodles
- Crispy Ginger ‘Beef’ Ramen Noodles
- 20-Minute Spicy Peanut Noodles
would you give filipino spaghetti a try?
I hope ya’ll love my vegan Filipino spaghetti as much as I do! If you make this dish, don’t forget to let me know how it turned out! Snap a photo and show me your noods by tagging me on Instgram using @eat_figs_not_pigs and #EatFigsNotPigs – I love seeing all your recreations of my recipes!
Til next time! XO!
Vegan Filipino Spaghetti
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil divided
- 2 cups finely diced sweet yellow onion about 1 onion
- 1 ½ cup finely diced red bell pepper about 1 large pepper
- 1 cup finely diced carrot about 1 large carrot
- 12 cloves fresh minced garlic
- 8 ounces vegan ground meat
- 1 tablespoon coconut sugar
- ¾ teaspoon red chili flakes optional
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt plus more to taste
- ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper plus more to taste
- ¼ teaspoon MSG optional
- 2 cups banana ketchup
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- ½ cup vegan parmesan cheese plus more for garnish
- 1- pound uncooked spaghetti noodles
- 8 ounces vegan hot dog sliced into ½ - inch thick pieces
- Vegan cheddar cheese shreds for garnish
Instructions
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the onion, bell pepper, carrot, and garlic, and cook, stirring often, until the onion is translucent and the garlic is fragrant, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add the vegan ground and using the back of a wooden spoon or spatula, break up into pieces. Season with sugar, chili flakes, salt, pepper, and MSG and continue to cook until completely heated through, 4 to 5 minutes.
- Pour in the banana ketchup, tomato sauce, and parmesan cheese, stirring to combine. Increase the heat to medium high. Once it reaches a simmer, reduce the heat to low, cover and continue to simmer for 30 minutes.
- About 10 minutes before the sauce is done simmering, fill a large pot with water and cook the spaghetti noodles until al dente according to package directions. Drain, but do not rinse.
- Meanwhile, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the sliced hot dogs and cook until they’re darker in color and crisped around the edges – I find cooking them in a separate skillet and getting them crispy around the edges avoids them from getting mushy in the sauce. Transfer the hot dogs and the cooked spaghetti noodles to the sauce, tossing to combine.
- Serve with shredded vegan cheese and parmesan, and enjoy!
This recipe is absolutely delicious! Reminds me of my childhood eating Filipino spaghetti except it is vegan 🙂 I definitely recommend this one!