The History of Spaghetti and Meatballs | Food: Now and Then | NowThis

Chef Boyardee was a real person, and he's one of the reasons America is obsessed with spaghetti and meatballs. If you thought Italy's streets ran red with spaghetti and meatballs, you're probably not alone. You're still wrong, but you're not alone. Believe it or not, the classic dish of spaghetti and meatballs is an American invention. But if it makes you feel better, the evolution of spaghetti and meatballs does sort of start in Italy. Italian meatballs aren't even called meatballs, they're called pulpettes. Those dripping red balls of meat we're used to? Forget about it. Italians are more likely to eat meatballs plain or in soups. They even can be made out of fish or turkey. In fact, meat was super expensive in Italy in the late 1800s, so it was rarely eaten. But when 4 million Italians came to America in the late 19th century, meatballs started to morph. Food got a whole lot cheaper. Ground beef was at a perfect price point to stock up and feed meatballs to everyone in the family. The traditional version of an Italian meatball has equal part meat and breadcrumbs. In America, we changed all that. Meatballs started to have way more meat and mass. They went from the size of golf balls to as big as baseballs. The specific sauce for spaghetti and meatballs is a take on a marinara sauce from Naples. It was made with garlic, oil, and tomatoes. But Italian immigrants couldn't find fresh tomatoes to make a sauce, so they had to make do with canned tomatoes. All these ingredients were the start of America's favorite pasta dish. Spaghetti and meatballs probably made its first appearance in New York or New Jersey in the late 1800s. There are two theories behind how spaghetti and meatballs were married together. Anglo-Americans were used to having a starch to accompany their proteins. That much hasn't changed. Early Italian restaurants in the U.S. started getting these requests from their diners. They decided to combine their meat dishes with pasta to satisfy guests' meaty carb cravings all at once. Spaghetti was also one of the only Italian ingredients in American grocery stores. So some think the spaghetti and meatball combo became a natural choice for Italian immigrants who wanted a taste of home. Spaghetti and meatballs even got more popular when Chef Boyardee came to America. He opened up his own Italian restaurant, and it became one of Cleveland's top eateries. His signature dish was a cook-to-order spaghetti with a savory sauce and a tangy cheese. Diners even wanted to learn how to make it at home, so he assembled take-out orders with directions, the original meal kit. After the take-out business grew, he decided to put his pasta in a can. Chef Boyardee Food Company was born. Today, spaghetti and meatballs is celebrated in Italian-American restaurants and homes across the country. Whether it's your nonna's favorite recipe or your favorite Chef Boyardee flavor, spaghetti and meatballs is the ultimate comfort food. And hey, you may even see it here or there in Italy to comfort the tourists, too.