Meet Memphis-Style BBQ Spaghetti: The Smoky Local Legend

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If there's one thing the South can surely deliver, it's a medley of comfort foods that are alive with bold flavors. Memphis-style BBQ spaghetti is no different, and while some folks might furrow their brows at the name, it's considered a smoky local legend for a reason. Memphis' proud concoction is made with cooked-down or canned tomatoes simmered to a thick consistency, while onions and pulled smoked pork give the dish a full-bodied bite. Of course, the spaghetti noodles are also showered in Memphis BBQ sauce — the smoky ingredient you need to be adding to spaghetti — to give the dish its signature flavor. 

Memphis-style BBQ spaghetti has been around since the 1960s, and it got its start with railroad cook Brady Vincent, who used a 12-hour smoked barbecue for the base of the dish. Once it cooled, Vincent would mesh it together with the pasta and toss it straight into the pot along with other ingredients. The dish is quintessentially Memphis — the city is known for its delicious BBQ, as well as its iconic thick barbecue sauce. The city's iconic spaghetti dish and its affordable ingredients reflect locals' reputation for being resourceful. And fortunately for us foodies, the resourcefulness resulted in something delicious, which you can make at home if you need a dish to bring to Southern-style potlucks — if you can't stop by Memphis, that is.

You can definitely impress your guests with Memphis-style BBQ spaghetti without much effort in the kitchen. The dish isn't so different from other spaghetti preparations, so if you have experience with pasta, this one should be a breeze. Sauteing the aromatics, like garlic, onion, and peppers, gives the dish a nice, layered lift. From there, introduce seasonings along with tomato and barbecue sauces. 

For 12 ounces of pasta, you'll need about a cup of barbecue sauce, but feel free to build on the flavor by adding more to taste. There are plenty of pre-made Memphis-style barbecue sauces on the market that would be perfect for the dish, like True Made Foods Sauce BBQ Memphis. That said, you can definitely make your own at home, too. 

Simmering for 30 minutes will give you a light finish without losing the brightness of the tomato sauce, while also pulling deeper flavors from other ingredients. This also gives the sauce a chance to develop a more balanced taste, while letting its hidden depths shine. Toss the pasta with a generous helping of pulled pork to really give it an authentic Memphis-style experience (it's a great way to repurpose leftover BBQ pulled pork). Let the ingredients mingle for five minutes before serving, and get ready to understand why Memphis is so proud of this creation.