Name: Young Sheldon's Spaghetti and Hot Dogs
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 1 min
Yield: 2
Cuisine: Main Dish
Ingredients: 1 Cup Marinara Sauce; 3 Tablespoons Ketchup; 2 hot dogs; Spaghetti

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My kids are OBSESSED with The Bing Bang Theory sitcom spinoff Young Sheldon. Throughout the series there are regular references to Sheldon’s mom’s Spaghetti and hog dogs. It’s his favorite meal, it’s everyone’s favorite family meal – it’s Mary Cooper’s signature dish. While I can’t say it sounds super delish to me, the kids were asking to try it – and it turns out there isn’t really a recipe for it – did the show make it up? Is spaghetti and hot dogs really a Texas thing? Please enlighten me and let me know if my version isn’t correct or you make it another way in the comments! I grabbed some ingredients at Costco and made up a kid-friendly super quick, super easy recipe – this uses stuff you probably have on hand – to make my version of Mary Cooper’s Spaghetti and Hot Dogs.

I am pretty sure we’ve watched the Young Sheldon series no less than twice and there are at least SEVEN seasons so suffice to it is a LOT of episodes! It’s kind of fun though – I grew up watching sitcoms and I’m not sure if it’s that my kids are just aging into them (10 and 11 year old boys) or that media is just changed and migrated away from traditional sitcoms – but it’s a cute series (except the ending, we prefer earlier seasons!). If you haven’t watched with your kids, I def recommend checking out a few episodes of Young Sheldon and they’ll really get a kick out of the spaghetti and hot dogs for dinner then!

Young Sheldon‘s Spaghetti and Hot Dogs Recipe

Scroll down to see my notes on the ingredients, suggested substitutions, etc. Let me know how you make your version of Young Sheldon‘s Spaghetti and Hot Dogs!

Young Sheldon's Spaghetti and Hot Dogs

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Additional Time: 1 minute

Total Time: 1 minute

4 Ingredients!! On the poplar TV series Young Sheldon, Mary Cooper's famous spaghetti and hot dogs is a family favorite! We've re-created it with this quick, easy, cheap, kid-friendly Young Sheldon Spaghetti and Hot Dogs recipe using pantry items we picked up at Costco - but you can substitute with any items you have on hand.

We used Rao's Marinara, Heinz Organic Ketchup, TWR Hot Dogs and Whole Foods 365 Angel Hair. But you can use any brands/substitutes for these - it's very flexible!

Ingredients

1 Cup Marinara Sauce
3 Tablespoons Ketchup
2 hot dogs
Spaghetti

Instructions

Boil water, add spaghetti
2 minutes before the spaghetti is done, add hot dogs to boiling water
Drain, return spaghetti to pot, separate hot dogs
Mix marinara and ketchup, add to spaghetti
Slice hot dogs, add to spaghetti
Cook on low for 2-3 minutes, stirring, until hot, and serve.

Notes

Increase the amount sauce if you use a lot of spaghetti. This is super flexible as you can see - the ketchup sweetens up the marina a bit - you can omit that if you don't feel you need/want it or you are using as sauce that has been sweetened already (my marina does not have added sugar).

Ingredients

I used ingredients that were pre-made. There’s nothing about spaghetti and hot dogs that screams health food, so let’s not pretend it’s something its not. This is picky kid friendly, busy mom realistic, filling, and cheap. I made it all in one pot, because less to clean…obviously lol!

You can adjust the ingredients as you see fit based on your kids appetite, and what you have available. Honestly, it’s just four ingredients. I grabbed most of mine at Costco, but you can use whatever you normally buy, or have, or can afford!

Marinara Sauce
Ketchup
Spaghetti
hot dogs

Sauce: You can use any kind of jar pasta sauce your family likes – marinara is the basic simple sauce and we buy the Rao’s Marinara from Costco (I’m a HUGE fan of Rao’s but you do you).

Ketchup: This is optional. Basically, this just adds a little sugar. The Rao’s sauce I use doesn’t have added sugar, and so I used a little of the Heinz organic ketchup from Costco to sweeten up the sauce. If you’re trying to cut down sugar, don’t have it on hand, you prefer to just add a little sugar or your think your sauce doesn’t need it…then omit it.

Spaghetti: I used angel hair. Because it cooks in 4 minutes and that’s better than waiting 8 minutes lol! But any kind of spaghetti or pasta will work. Whatever your family prefers for the win!

Hot Dogs: I bought the mini hog dogs from TWR at Costco last week and used those because that’s what I had on hand that wasn’t frozen – but use any brand, any kind, whatever you normally buy or have on hand is perfect. You can substitute for chicken sausage, veggie dogs, etc.

Let me know what you think of the Mary Cooper’s Sheldon’s Spaghetti and Hot Dogs if you make it – and PLEASE drop adaptations and changes below! I welcome ideas to make it better (or make it more adult-oriented)!

Some more Costco recipes and instructions that might be helpful in the kitchen:

Costco Garlic Rosemary Rack of Pork Cooking Directions

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Young Sheldon’s Spaghetti and Hot Dogs Recipe

Young Sheldon‘s Spaghetti and Hot Dogs Recipe