This One Secret Ingredient Makes the Best Spaghetti Ever! PLUS Easy Garlic Bread
Jan 28, 2026
Printable recipe below! Today, we're sharing Shannon's family's secret spaghetti recipe, a true comfort food passed down through generations. We'll show you how to make a delicious spaghetti sauce that's homemade and absolutely incredible along with a cheesy garlic bread recipe.
Used in this video:
Camp chef camp stove
Mesquite wood spatula
Rode wireless Go 2 mic: https://amzn.to/3seAQ7X
Cowboy Hat: Chazhatz.com
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Printable Recipe: https://kentrollins.com/blogs/beef/nanas-spaghetti
https://kentrollins.com/blogs/dessert/garlic-bread
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0:00
Today, y'all are in for a treat because
0:02
we are sharing Shannon's family secret
0:04
recipe for the best spaghetti ever.
0:07
It has been in the family forever, but
0:09
there is a secret ingredient that is so
0:11
simple, but it really [music] makes all
0:13
the difference.
0:13
Yeah. Let's And this is what it is.
0:15
No, you can't show them yet. They got to
0:17
watch the video.
0:18
Okay.
0:23
When we're talking about having
0:25
spaghetti, I didn't just have it at home
0:26
or Shannon have it at her family's
0:28
house. We cook this a lot on [music] the
0:30
wagon that ranches. Usually it was
0:32
something that I knew I could throw
0:33
together that was good and hearty that
0:35
was going to fill people up cuz what
0:36
does that pasta have in it?
0:38
Carbohydrates. And them cowboys is
0:40
working hard and they are burning a lot
0:42
of calories. So we'd have it and I
0:44
remember one time up there in New Mexico
0:46
on the bail ranch and a good friend of
0:48
ours Rim was there and he said I know I
0:50
ain't supposed to ask Kim but he said
0:52
what are we having for supper? And I
0:53
said spaghetti with garlic bread. and he
0:56
said, "Oh, well," he sat down there and
0:59
he he took his first bite and he said,
1:01
"Well, I didn't know it was going to
1:02
taste like this. Ours never tastes like
1:04
this." So, we ended up cooking spaghetti
1:06
probably three, four times in that
1:08
fiveweek period. Cowboys love it. But
1:10
it's something that's really just a
1:12
classic that's easy to prepare, don't
1:14
take much time, and this is a recipe
1:16
that you'll want to do over and over at
1:18
your house. So, first thing we need to
1:19
do is brown up us some 8020 ground
1:23
chuck.
1:26
I like that sizzle.
1:29
And
1:30
I really think there's a lot of people
1:32
out there that have commented to me and
1:34
said, "Well, I like to use like 9010,
1:38
which is 90% lean, 10% fat." Folks, I'm
1:42
thinking that fat is giving me some
1:44
flavor. I ain't wanting something that's
1:45
going to fill the skillet halfway up
1:47
with grease. I prefer 8020 brown chuck
1:50
every time I'm going to use some kind of
1:52
burger meat.
1:56
Well, you can see somebody's hard at
1:58
work. Lulu, who has a brand new haircut,
2:01
knows we have a mouse problem. So, where
2:04
is that snouser? And he's supposed to be
2:06
bred to be a rodent dog. And here you
2:08
are just waiting for handouts. And Duke
2:10
is over taking a nap. So, we're going to
2:13
season this up a little with some of our
2:15
original. Now,
2:16
now, can I say this is not how Nana did
2:19
it. She did not season at all, but just
2:21
go ahead.
2:24
We'll get that browned up really well.
2:27
Probably probably got it over medium
2:29
heat.
2:34
Tilted that little skillet over. Pushed
2:36
all that ground beef to one side. Drain
2:38
[music] any grease that you might have
2:40
in there. Turn it down to about a medium
2:42
low heat. And next thing is
2:46
the tomato sauce in these little small
2:48
cans.
2:51
Now, I know some of you are already
2:52
saying, "I thought you wasn't supposed
2:54
to use tomato sauce or tomato based
2:56
products in cast iron."
2:59
Now, you can be using tomatabased
3:01
products or acidic foods in cast iron if
3:05
your cast iron skillet is seasoned very
3:07
well and you clean it very well after
3:09
that use and you reseason [music] it
3:11
every time. So, now we're going to add
3:13
some cans of water to our mix.
3:20
Pot's pretty full there, Kent.
3:23
Yeah, but it's going to be just right.
3:25
Gonna be just a fit, ain't it, Mage?
3:27
Mate said when you get something that
3:29
full, accidental splashes occur on the
3:32
concrete and he cleans it up. So, we're
3:34
going to let it simmer, stirring
3:36
occasionally
3:38
till it warms [music] up really well.
3:42
Now, Kent,
3:43
wa,
3:44
you know, you can't have spaghetti
3:47
without cheesy garlic bread.
3:49
Oh, you got that right. So, um, this
3:53
recipe is not a family recipe, but it
3:56
came from
3:57
They are our family.
3:58
Well, they're they're just not our
3:59
family. A friend of ours, um, with when
4:02
we were in Branson, Missouri cooking at
4:04
Silver Dollar City, she made this one
4:06
day and I was thinking, "This is the
4:08
weirdest thing I've ever heard of."
4:10
So, so good. another and maybe this is
4:14
you always say I'm a weird northerner
4:16
because I'm from Northern Nevada,
4:18
[laughter] but uh maybe this is a weird
4:20
northerner thing that I've never heard
4:21
of and all of you watching like Yeah,
4:23
we've had this all the time. It's not a
4:25
big deal. Mayonnaise is the base.
4:28
Yes.
4:29
Have you had this before?
4:30
Uh I had it on hot dogs. We used to do
4:32
hot dog buns like this.
4:33
Oh, really? Yeah. Oh, no, no, no. But
4:35
like the garlic bread version.
4:37
Huh? No.
4:38
Yeah. So Dollar City,
4:40
right? Okay. So maybe it isn't a thing.
4:42
But anyway, let's start off with I'm
4:44
going to hand you 3/4 cup of mayonnaise.
4:47
Of course, we prefer Dukes. We've tried
4:50
a lot of you recommended Blue Plate.
4:52
That was pretty good. We're still Dukes
4:54
fans.
4:57
Okay, what's next?
4:58
Minced garlic.
5:01
All right,
5:01
I'm going to add a little pepper.
5:07
Little salt.
5:11
It smells good already. [music]
5:12
I mean, it's the garlic, man. Okay. My
5:15
favorite ingredient, Italian seasoning.
5:17
Oh, yes, ma'am.
5:19
And then I'm going to have you add in
5:21
the grated [music] Parmesan cheese,
5:23
about a/2 cup. And if you guys followed
5:26
us, you know, all of our recipes in
5:28
printable form, we always list on our
5:30
website, so you [music] don't have to
5:31
sit here and write all the ingredients
5:32
down as we're doing it.
5:35
That's looking good. Yeah.
5:36
Uh-huh. Now, do you butter that bread or
5:38
do you just put this on it?
5:39
I mean, you could. Butter is never going
5:41
to hurt anything, but I don't.
5:43
This smells so good.
5:45
I know.
5:46
So, I've cut a loaf [music] of French
5:48
bread in half lengthwise.
5:52
So, please let me know. Have you heard
5:54
of this? Have you tried this?
5:55
Is this something that y'all done? And
5:58
um
5:58
do you have any other favorite like
6:00
ingredient that you put on your
6:02
Me? I would. Now, did you do you have
6:05
onion powder in this?
6:06
No, but you could. Onion powder, a
6:08
little Well, I don't think you need to
6:09
add garlic powder. A little smoked
6:11
paprika would work well. And I'm not
6:14
going to do it today, but you could even
6:15
top it after you spread this on with a
6:17
little additional shredded cheese like
6:18
mozzarella or [music] more parmesan
6:20
would.
6:21
I would probably sprinkle some red
6:22
pepper flakes on it, too.
6:23
Oh, do you want me to do that?
6:24
I think it would.
6:25
When I run back in the house, I will add
6:28
some red red pepper flakes. So, what
6:30
we're going to do, preheated oven at
6:32
375°. [music]
6:33
You're going to cook this for about 12
6:35
to 15 minutes till it toasts, gets nice
6:37
[music] and bubbly.
6:40
That is going to be some kind of that
6:42
tasty.
6:42
Okay, I'm going to go bake this. I will
6:44
add your red pepper flakes and we will
6:46
be back for the taste [music] test.
6:48
I'll keep stirring. Well, we have us a
6:51
light simmering going on. So now it is
6:53
time to add two packages
6:58
of spaghetti mix.
7:03
Does this meet your approval, Dooker?
7:08
Smell of this. Does it meet your
7:10
approval? Okay. I just want to make sure
7:12
cuz you're quality control.
7:18
Going to get this stirred up, mixed
7:20
really well.
7:22
I wished y'all get back cuz I don't want
7:23
none of this hot splash on y'all. Back
7:25
off. Quality control is always hard at
7:28
work. It's a dangerous job, ain't it, M?
7:31
Okay, Kent, it's time to reveal the
7:33
secret ingredient.
7:35
There it is, Shen.
7:37
Are you shocked?
7:38
Yes, I'm very shocked. I am.
7:40
I told you it was simple, but it it does
7:43
it. I have never seen something like
7:46
this in my life. So, I'm really looking
7:48
forward
7:50
to trying this out. So, little sprinkle.
7:53
Try to get it incorporated over.
7:55
Just gives it like a more depth of
7:57
flavor. I don't know.
7:59
Well, how long has it been since you had
8:01
this, though?
8:02
Actually, it's been a little bit. It's
8:03
been a minute.
8:04
Been a minute. Here goes the second
8:05
package of brown gravy mix that I know a
8:08
lot of y'all didn't see coming. I sure
8:10
sure didn't. We're going to let this
8:12
simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes to
8:14
thicken. I'll see you back on the other
8:16
side because I know I'm ready to taste
8:19
this and find out about brown gravy in
8:21
spaghetti sauce.
8:30
[applause]
8:32
Hey Sean, you ever heard that test where
8:34
if you throw spaghetti on the wall and
8:36
it sticks, it's done.
8:40
It don't like much, but it ain't done
8:41
yet.
8:47
[music]
8:58
[music]
9:12
[music]
9:13
Well, there you go, sugar.
9:15
It's all done.
9:16
Uh,
9:17
look at this bread. First of all, like
9:19
this is amazing. It's got a little crust
9:21
on it from that parmesan.
9:24
But I'm anxious to see what you think
9:25
about Nana's secret.
9:28
Well, you go ahead.
9:29
No, I want you to
9:31
And make sure you get some of that good
9:33
sauce.
9:34
And then I want like an honest reaction.
9:36
I don't know how you're supposed to eat
9:38
this. I think this is how people do it,
9:40
but they use a
9:41
I never feel like spaghetti is a first
9:42
date recipe.
9:48
Now I just want just a little.
9:50
Give it the sauce. Yeah.
9:58
It's very rich. Yeah.
10:01
Right. Cuz you now do you taste the
10:03
brown gravy but not necessarily. You
10:04
No, but I think that gives it its rich
10:07
It's like a
10:09
You added a beef pot roast juices to it.
10:12
You know what I mean? It's
10:13
it's I mean it's nothing like
10:16
life changing, but you're like And the
10:18
more you sit there, you're thinking, you
10:19
need this. That's a pretty good
10:22
spaghetti.
10:23
I want to just try a bite of this bread
10:24
right here.
10:26
I mean, bread,
10:28
them red pepper flakes.
10:29
Cheers.
10:30
Cheers. Love you.
10:36
That right there is some kind of fine
10:38
dining. I'll tell you.
10:39
And here, I know there's a lot of you
10:41
out there that do not like mayonnaise.
10:44
Or if you're cooking for a mayonnaise
10:46
hater, just make it because you can't
10:48
taste the mayonnaise. You don't know
10:50
what it is.
10:52
It just makes it creamy. M
10:54
[clears throat]
10:54
I mean, talk about easy meal,
10:58
throw together, family favorite. I hope
11:02
my family's not upset that I shared the
11:04
secret recipe.
11:05
Yeah. But we also need y'all to comment
11:07
down here. Let us know what was your
11:10
favorite. Like if you went to grandma's
11:11
house and she cooked something or your
11:13
aunt or something like that, what was
11:15
your favorite dish that you remember
11:16
when you were little that just you just
11:18
thought, "Man, that hung the moon right
11:20
there." Leave us a comment. We might try
11:22
to figure it out and cook it. Now, as
11:24
always, everything we used, the
11:26
printable recipe, we link it right below
11:28
the video. Um, I think you hit show
11:30
more, it'll drop all that down, links to
11:32
it. Super easy. And don't forget, if you
11:35
haven't heard, this year, [music] we are
11:37
starting a new podcast. And so, it's so
11:41
much it it's so hard for us to share all
11:43
of the good stories and the behind the
11:45
scenes in [music] just our cooking
11:47
videos. So, we thought, hey, let's start
11:49
a podcast. It's a great way for you to
11:51
tell more cowboy ranch stories, [music]
11:53
just life behind the scenes. So, in
11:56
addition to our every Wednesday cooking
11:58
video, we're going to add another video
12:00
in the week, which will be our podcast,
12:01
but you can take us also anywhere you go
12:04
on your favorite podcast platform like
12:06
Spotify or Apple as well.
12:08
Yeah. And do me a favor, be sure and
12:10
share with your friends and neighbors.
12:11
Give us a like. And there's a lot of
12:13
people been telling me, "Hey, I didn't
12:14
know I got unsubscribed. I don't know
12:16
what's going on." So, make sure that
12:18
you're subscribed to the channel so you
12:20
get notified when these great videos
12:21
come out. And it's such a pleasure to
12:24
have you on this side of the camera.
12:25
It's a little different, but
12:27
I had to share the recipe.
12:28
But it is with pride, honor, and
12:30
privilege that I tip my hat to all the
12:32
service men and women and all the
12:33
veterans that have kept that old flag of
12:35
flying in there. Reach them arms out
12:36
there, sugar.
12:37
Oh, we do a hug.
12:38
We're going to give them a big old hug.
12:40
God bless you each and everyone and
12:42
we'll see you down. I'm reminiscing
12:44
about the favorite recipe ever.
12:47
Let's What was that? Let's do that
12:49
again. Okay.
12:50
No, just Yeah.
12:52
God bless you each and everyone and
12:54
we'll see you down the home. I
12:56
I want to say something.
12:57
Just best spaghetti trail.
12:59
God bless y'all each and everyone and
13:01
I'll see you down the best spaghetti
13:03
[music] trail ever.
13:05
That was better.
13:06
Sort of like a spaghetti western.
13:08
[laughter]
13:13
Today we're sharing Shannon's family.
13:17
That's hard word,
13:18
isn't it?
13:19
Yes.
13:21
You got a wild [music] hair there.
13:23
Get around here. Dooker, besides cheese,
13:27
Dooker probably loves pasta as good as
13:30
anything in the world. And he just he
13:33
don't never miss a bite. Woo. Whoop.
13:37
Snout.
13:37
Just a little bit for him.


