Filipino Style Spaghetti – Sweet and Salty!

Filipino style spaghetti is unlike any spaghetti you’ve had before. It’s sweet, made with banana ketchup, topped with a mountain of sharp cheddar cheese and has hotdogs! Get ready to spaghetti, Filipino-style (yeah I don’t know what that means either lol).

(Looking for another Filipino noodle dish? This easy pancit canton recipe is another favourite Filipino recipe you can try.)

Just like that, Thanksgiving (American and Canadian) is over and our brain automatically goes on Christmas mode.

Filipino spaghetti is one of my all time favourite things and it typically makes an appearance on our holiday menu (or any time we have a celebration). And I’m so happy to be sharing this recipe with you.

What is Filipino spaghetti and what makes it sweet?

Unlike Italian spaghetti which is more on the acidic side because of all the tomatoes, Filipino spaghetti is sweeter; it actually has sugar in the list of ingredients.

Banana ketchup too (sometimes it’s called banana sauce here). It’s the more commonly available variety in the Philippines (Jufran, anyone?) with many considering tomato ketchup too sour.

Filipino spaghetti also has hotdogs in it (just like how Sheldon likes it!).

Filipinos are great at improv and since beef is expensive, we use the cheaper, more readily available hotdog to make the dish meatier.

What is Filipino style spaghetti sauce?

At first glance Filipino spaghetti sauce ingredients are very similar to that of regular spaghetti sauce (ground beef, tomato sauce, garlic, onions) but look closer and you’ll find:

• hotdogs
• banana ketchup
• heavy cream
• sugar

Certainly unique but very delicious!

(Though if you think about it, cream is not an out-this-world pasta ingredient. In fact I use it to make this delicious and creamy chicken spaghetti – a great recipe for leftover chicken!)

How to cook Filipino style spaghetti

What’s not unique is how to cook it. It’s easy and straightforward as can be.

Fry the hotdogs until light brown around the edges. Remove from pan and using the same pan, sauté garlic and onion until translucent.

Stir in ground beef and cook until the beef is browned.

Add back the hotdogs. Plus the tomato sauce, tomato paste, banana ketchup, heavy cream and sugar.

Season with salt and pepper. Stir to combine.

Cover and let simmer for 15 minutes.

Serve meat sauce on top of cooked spaghetti. Sprinkle with a generous helping of cheddar cheese (the more cheese, the better!).

That’s all there is to it!

What does it taste like?

Filipino spaghetti is delightfully sweet and salty.

Personally, I think Jollibee spaghetti is a really great example of how it should be done (a close second would be the spaghetti from Makati Supermarket of the 80s) but every family has its own take on the dish.

Much like how you’ll find a million and one variations of adobo.

What’s common is its place on our tables.

Whether it’s Noche Buena, Christmas Day, or New Year’s Eve; Father’s Day, someone’s birthday or graduation, you’d most likely find spaghetti being served.

It’s a great weekday meal too. Who says everyday can’t be special?

Hope you try it!

Filipino dessert recipes

Are you having people over? These Filipino dessert recipes are always a hit.

• Ube cake or Filipino purple yam cake is not only stunning; it’s also delicious.
• Brazo de Mercedes cupcakes are pretty and scrumptious too. They are easier to make than traditional Brazo de Mercedes but just as delicious.
• This yema cake recipe is a soft and airy chiffon cake, with a rich and thick yema spread filling, and yema frosting that’s stable and so easy to decorate with.
• Not in the mood to bake? This strawberry refrigerator cake (or the Filipino version of strawberry icebox cake) is the dessert for you.

Filipino Style Spaghetti

Author: Jolina

Filipino style spaghetti is unlike any spaghetti you’ve had before. It’s sweet, made with banana ketchup, topped with a mountain of sharp cheddar cheese and has hotdogs!

5 from 6 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 25 mins

Total Time 40 mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Filipino

Servings 6 people

Calories 742 kcal

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1 tbsp oil we used canola oil
• ▢ ½ lb hotdogs (about 6 pieces) sliced into ½ inch thick pieces
• ▢ 1 pc medium onion chopped
• ▢ 2 cloves garlic minced
• ▢ 1 ½ lbs ground beef
• ▢ 15 oz tomato sauce
• ▢ 2 oz tomato paste
• ▢ 4 oz banana ketchup
• ▢ 2 tbsp heavy cream
• ▢ ⅛ cup granulated sugar see notes
• ▢ salt and pepper to taste
• ▢ 1 lb spaghetti cooked al dente
• ▢ sharp cheddar cheese grated

Instructions

 

• ▢
  Using a large saucepan on medium heat, fry hotdog in oil until lightly brown around the edges. Remove from pan.
• ▢
  Using the same pan, sauté garlic and onion until translucent. Stir in ground beef and cook until the beef is browned (5-6 minutes).
• ▢
  Add the hotdogs, tomato sauce, tomato paste, banana ketchup, heavy cream and sugar. Season with salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Cover and let simmer for 15 minutes.
• ▢
  Serve meat sauce on top of cooked spaghetti. Sprinkle with a generous helping of cheddar cheese.

Video

Notes

When tasting the meat sauce on its own, it will taste very sweet. So you might end up over-seasoning it with salt to offset the sweetness. A better way is to taste the sauce with some spaghetti. It will taste sweeter than your usual bolognese – what you’re looking for is a nice sweet and salty balance.

Nutrition

Calories: 742kcalCarbohydrates: 73gProtein: 34gFat: 33gSaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 104mgSodium: 787mgPotassium: 860mgFiber: 3gSugar: 10gVitamin A: 525IUVitamin C: 7.3mgCalcium: 63mgIron: 5.1mg

Nutritional information are estimates only.

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Happy cooking!

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