Meghan Markle’s “very easy” dinner is a single-skillet spaghetti demonstrated in the first episode of With Love, Meghan. Here is the reproducible reconstruction, with the sourcing caveat that the exact quantities come from Good Housekeeping’s test kitchen rather than an official Netflix recipe.
Meghan Markle’s “very easy” family dinner is a single-skillet spaghetti dish demonstrated in the first episode of Netflix’s With Love, Meghan. The method cooks the dry pasta, tomatoes, garlic, lemon, and greens together in one covered skillet, then finishes the meal with Parmesan.
There is an important qualification for anyone looking for the exact recipe: the quantities below come from Good Housekeeping’s test-kitchen reconstruction of Markle’s on-screen demonstration. They are not presented as an official recipe published by Netflix or Markle.
What Meghan Markle made on With Love, Meghan
The dish is essentially a vegetable-rich one-pot pasta. Rather than boiling spaghetti separately and combining it with sauce afterward, the recipe starts the uncooked pasta directly in a large skillet with tomatoes, garlic, lemon zest, and boiling water. As the pasta cooks, its starch helps create a light sauce.
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Secondary coverage reports that Markle presented the spaghetti as a family dinner and said leftovers could go into children’s lunchboxes. That supports the “easy family meal” context, but it does not independently establish that every member of her family loves the dish. The title’s “everyone in her family loves it” wording should therefore be understood as editorial framing of how the meal was described, rather than verified evidence of every family member’s preference.
Reconstructed single-skillet spaghetti recipe
Yield: 4 servings
Total time: about 25 minutes
Source note: These yield and timing figures are from Good Housekeeping’s reconstruction, not official episode specifications.
Ingredients
- 1 pint yellow cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 pint red cherry tomatoes, halved
- Kosher salt
- Olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 12 ounces spaghetti
- Zest of 1 lemon
- Swiss chard, with the stems sliced and the leaves roughly chopped
- Lacinato kale
- Baby arugula
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
Method
- Heat the water. Boil about 3 1/2 cups of water. A saucepan works, while an electric kettle is a convenient shortcut if you already own one.
- Start the vegetables. In a large skillet, combine the halved tomatoes, a little kosher salt, olive oil, and chopped garlic.
- Add the dry pasta. Place the uncooked spaghetti on top of the tomato mixture. Add the lemon zest and sliced Swiss chard stems.
- Pour in the water. Add enough boiling water to cover the pasta by approximately 1 inch. The amount may vary slightly with the width and depth of the skillet, so add enough liquid for the spaghetti to cook without remaining exposed and dry.
- Cover and cook. Cover the skillet and cook until the spaghetti is close to al dente. Stir and reposition the strands as they soften so they cook evenly and do not clump together.
- Add the greens. Add the kale, chopped Swiss chard leaves, and baby arugula. Continue cooking until the pasta is tender and the greens have wilted.
- Finish with cheese. Stir in or scatter over the grated Parmesan, then serve hot.
Why the one-pan technique matters
The appeal is not simply that the recipe uses familiar ingredients. Its defining feature is the cooking sequence. The spaghetti absorbs seasoned water while the tomatoes soften and release juice. That means there is no separate pot of pasta water to drain and no second saucepan for a sauce.
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The method does require more attention than a conventional boil-and-drain pasta recipe. Spaghetti may stick together before it softens, and the correct liquid level depends on the skillet’s size and shape. Keep the pan covered while the pasta cooks, stir periodically, and adjust with a small amount of hot water if the liquid disappears before the noodles are tender.
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Use the right skillet
A 12-inch deep skillet with lid is the most useful piece of equipment for this recipe. The pan needs enough surface area for the spaghetti to lie across it and enough depth to hold the tomatoes, greens, and water without overflowing. A lid is also important because the reconstruction specifically covers the pan during cooking.
Choose a large lidded skillet with room for the pasta to soften and be stirred. Do not assume that Markle used a particular brand or model; no product identification is established here. The recommendation is based on the demands of the technique, not celebrity endorsement.
Optional equipment: An electric kettle can speed up the initial water-boiling step, and a fine Parmesan grater is useful for finishing the dish. Neither is essential. A generic one-pot pasta cookbook is also not necessary for this specific recipe, since no official cookbook tied to the dish has been verified.
Where to watch the recipe’s source
The dish appeared on the Netflix series With Love, Meghan, a 2025 TV-PG reality and lifestyle program starring Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. The series focuses on cooking, gardening, hosting, and lifestyle ideas. Availability and subscription terms can vary by country and change over time, so check Netflix’s current listing in your region.
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Watch With Love, Meghan on Netflix if you want to see the on-screen demonstration and the broader context in which Markle presented the meal.
Do not confuse it with Netflix Tudum’s pasta salad
Netflix Tudum has published recipes inspired by the series, including a separate pasta salad. That recipe is not the same as this single-skillet spaghetti. The pasta salad uses cooked and cooled pasta with peas, greens, feta, herbs, and vinaigrette, while the dish discussed here cooks dry spaghetti directly in the skillet with tomatoes, garlic, greens, lemon, and water.
Tudum also identifies As ever as Markle’s lifestyle brand developed in partnership with Netflix. As ever may be relevant to broader With Love, Meghan entertaining and lifestyle coverage, but the available reporting does not establish that a particular As ever product is an ingredient, required tool, or necessary part of this spaghetti recipe.
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Practical adjustments for home cooks
- Use a wide, deep pan. A cramped skillet makes it harder to submerge and separate the spaghetti.
- Add liquid carefully. The reconstruction calls for enough boiling water to cover the pasta by about an inch, but a very wide skillet may need more evaporation allowance than a narrower one.
- Stir as the pasta softens. The strands are most likely to clump during the first few minutes, before they can be fully moved through the liquid.
- Watch the greens. Kale and chard stems need more cooking than tender arugula, which is why the stems enter earlier and the leaves go in later.
- Check doneness rather than relying only on the clock. The approximately 25-minute total is a reconstruction estimate. Pasta thickness, pan material, heat level, and the amount of water can all change the timing.
- Season at the end as needed. Parmesan adds salt, and the recipe already includes kosher salt, so taste before adding a large amount of extra seasoning.
The bottom line
Meghan Markle’s easy family dinner is best understood as a reconstructed single-skillet spaghetti recipe from With Love, Meghan, not as a formally published celebrity recipe. The useful idea is the one-pan technique: cook dry spaghetti with cherry tomatoes, garlic, lemon zest, boiling water, and greens, then finish with Parmesan. For the most reliable result, use a wide 12-inch skillet with a lid and treat the stated quantities and 25-minute timing as Good Housekeeping’s reconstruction.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is Meghan Markle’s one-pot dinner?
It is a single-skillet spaghetti made with red and yellow cherry tomatoes, garlic, lemon zest, Swiss chard, lacinato kale, baby arugula, and Parmesan. The dry spaghetti cooks directly in the skillet with boiling water rather than being boiled separately.
Is this an official Meghan Markle recipe?
Good Housekeeping’s test kitchen reconstructed the recipe from Markle’s on-screen demonstration. The quantities, four-serving yield, and approximately 25-minute timing are not identified as official Netflix or Markle recipe specifications.
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What pan do you need for the one-pot spaghetti?
Use a wide, deep 12-inch skillet with a lid. It needs to hold the spaghetti, vegetables, greens, and enough water to cover the pasta by about an inch while allowing room for stirring.
Where can you watch Meghan Markle make the spaghetti?
The spaghetti appeared in the first episode of Netflix’s With Love, Meghan. It should not be confused with Netflix Tudum’s separate pasta salad inspired by the series.
The Bottom Line
It is a reconstructed one-skillet spaghetti dish demonstrated on With Love, Meghan. The method is genuinely convenient, but the exact quantities, four-serving yield, and 25-minute timing come from Good Housekeeping’s reconstruction—not an official Netflix or Meghan Markle recipe. A wide, deep 12-inch skillet with a lid is the key equipment.
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