Spaghetti and Eyeballs

5 from 2 votes
3 Comments

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Combine spooky and scrumptious with this creepy Spaghetti and Eyeballs dish! It’s the perfect dinner for Halloween night!

Bowl with Spaghetti and Eyeball meatballs.

Halloween night is always a battle to make something fun yet filling for my kids before they go out trick-or-treating and eat their weight in Kit Kats. Enter Spaghetti and Eyeballs. Fun, frightening, spooky, ‘gross’, yet delicious! With a little preparation from me (that was honestly fun, it’s like an art project) and boiling some noodles, we have a silly, spooky dinner!

Ingredients Needed for Spaghetti and Eyeballs

This recipe makes homemade meatballs with spaghetti, these are the ingredients:

  • Lean ground beef- this makes the bulk of the meat ball, and the bulk of the eye.
  • Onion- grated, adds flavor to the meatball, essential!
  • Panko breadcrumbs- when added to the meatball, it bulks up the texture.
  • Parmesan cheese- this gives the meatball a great flavor.
  • Eggs- eggs bind the meat together making the meat able to form a ball.
  • Garlic- crushed, another flavor enhancer.
  • Milk- adds moisture and richness as well as works as a binder for the meat.
  • Salt- essential flavor.
  • Oregano- this is that quintessential ‘Italian’ flavor you associate with meatballs. It has a slightly sweet peppery bite.
  • Pepper- essential flavor.
  • Spaghetti sauce- pick your favorite! Or make your own! We have a great recipe you might like.
  • Green olives with pimento- these look like little eyes! EW! Perfect! Tuck these into the pasta!
  • Mozzarella cheese slices- these will be cut into circles to make the white part of the eye which will lay on top of the meatball.
  • Black olives- these will be cut into small circles and placed within the white eye (mozzarella) on top of the meatball, to form the complete eyeball.
  • Spaghetti noodles- boil your noodles and form nests around your plate to complete the creepy look.
Ingredients to make Spaghetti and Eyeballs including ground beef, tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, onion, eggs, garlic, parmesan cheese, panko bread crumbs, green olives, black olives, milk, spices and spaghetti pasta noodles.


How to Make Spaghetti and Eyeballs

To Make the Meatballs:

  • Combine beef, onion, Panko, Parmesan, eggs, garlic, milk, salt, oregano, and pepper in a bowl and mix (it’s easiest to mix with your clean hands).
  • Form the meat into balls, a little smaller than a golf ball.
  • Spray bottom of an Instant Pot with cooking spray and add spaghetti sauce.
  • Place the formed meatballs over the sauce, layering them if necessary. It’s okay if they touch, but you don’t want to squish them.
  • Place lid on Instant Pot and switch valve to “sealing”. Press “manual” and set to high pressure for 7 minutes. After you hear the timer go off, allow to slow release for another 5 minutes and then do the quick release (you do this by carefully switching the tab to “venting”). Remove lid from Instant Pot, stir.

To Assemble the Spaghetti and Eyeballs:

  • Make your spaghetti according to package instructions.
  • Combine noodles, sauce, and meatballs.
  • Form “nests” of noodles by twirling noodles in a serving ladle with a fork and then placing in a serving bowl.
  • After meatballs have cooled slightly, cut out circles of mozzarella cheese and place one circle on each meatball, creating the start of an eyeball. Place one black olive slice over the cheese circle, completing the eye.
  • Gently place meatballs randomly over the spaghetti. Add green olives over the top, to taste.
Cut black olives and circle cutter cutting out circle mozzarella cheese.

What to Serve with Spaghetti and Eyeballs

Why not make dinner a spooktacular feast? Get your eyes out of the pasta and look at our Halloween Food Ideas post! It is full to the brim with ideas for Halloween dinner from fun beverages like Butterbeer, to spooky little appetizers like Halloween Deviled Eggs, to dessert, our Harry Potter themed Pumpkin Pasties is a must try!

Halloween Dinner with spaghetti and eyeballs, spider Cesar salad, mummy garlic bread and shrunken head green punch.

More Halloween Recipes

Halloween is my favorite holiday, so it goes without saying that I have some great recipes to go with it:

Pumpkin Juice
Dinner in a Pumpkin
Soup in a Pumpkin
Pumpkin Bundt Cake
Pumpkin Mousse
Halloween Charcuterie Board
Halloween Cake Pops
Pumpkin Roll

Spaghetti with olives and meatballs shaped like eyeballs.

Spaghetti and Eyeballs

5 from 2 votes
Combine spooky and scrumptious with this creepy Spaghetti and Eyeballs dish! It's the perfect dinner for Halloween night!
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Dinner, Main Course
Cuisine American, Italian
Servings 6 servings

Equipment

  • Instant Pot Pressure Cooker

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Combine all ingredients (except spaghetti sauce) until well mixed. Mixing together with your hands works great.
    Hand mixing ground beef meatball mixture in a bowl.
  • Form into balls using hands or small ice cream scoop. You want them to be slightly smaller than a golf ball.
    Ice cream scoop with meatball mixture in a bowl.
  • Spray bottom of Instant Pot with cooking spray and add spaghetti sauce.
    Sauce in an instant pot.
  • Place meatballs over the sauce, layering them if necessary. It's OK if they touch, just don't squish them too much.
    Meatballs in instant pot sauce.
  • Place lid on Instant Pot and switch valve to "sealing". Press "Manual" and set to high pressure for 7 minutes. After you hear the timer go off, allow to slow release for another 5 minutes and then do the quick release (you do this by carefully switching the tab to "venting"). Remove lid from Instant Pot, stir.
    Cooked meatballs in an instant pot with a wooden spoon.
  • Cook noodles and drain according to package directions.
    Colander with cooked spaghetti noodles.
  • Combine noodles and sauce. Mix until well combined.
    Bowl with mixed spaghetti and meatballs.
  • Form "nests" of noodles by twirling noodles in a serving ladle with a fork and then placing in a serving bowl.
    Hand twirling spaghetti noodles in ladle to make nests.
  • After meatballs have cooled slightly, cut out circles of mozzarella cheese and place one circle on each meatball. Place one black olive slice over the cheese circle.
    Cut black olives and circle cutter cutting out circle mozzarella cheese.
  • Gently place meatballs randomly over the spaghetti. Add green olives over the top, to taste.
    Spaghetti and Eyeball shaped meatballs with green olives.

Notes

Instant Pot Note: We use a 6-quart Instant Pot brand pressure cooker that we bought in 2016. Different or newer versions may be more sensitive to the “BURN” notice. If you are concerned about the burn notice, please refer to this article: “What Does ‘Burn’ Mean on My Instant Pot?

Nutrition Information

Calories: 411kcalCarbohydrates: 15gProtein: 28gFat: 27gSaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 141mgSodium: 1513mgPotassium: 911mgFiber: 3gSugar: 8gVitamin A: 850IUVitamin C: 12.7mgCalcium: 171mgIron: 4.5mg

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About the author

Erica Walker

Erica lives in Boise, Idaho with her husband, Jared, an attorney, and her three beautiful girls. Beyond the world of recipes, she loves adventuring with everything from kayaking, to cruising, to snowboarding and taking the family along for the thrill ride.

More about Erica Walker
5 from 2 votes

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Comments

  1. 5 stars
    My family will be all over this!! They love anything fun and delicious!! Spaghetti is one of our favorites, but making it more festive will be the perfect Halloween dinner!