National Spaghetti Day - January 4 - Fun Facts and Recipes (2024)

It’s time to learn a bit about National Spaghetti Day. This tasty food holiday is celebrated yearly on January 4. Time to cook up a batch of your favorite spaghetti sauce!

If you need a recipe for sauces to go with spaghetti, keep reading to find a list of delicious pasta sauce recipes. I even have a basic spaghetti recipe included at the bottom of the page.

Let’s dive in and learn more about National Spaghetti Day. Who wouldn’t love a day dedicated to this delicious and twirlable pasta?!

We have likely all indulged in plenty of food days in December but January not only brings the New Year, but it also brings many national food days.

Americans love spaghetti almost as much as Italians do. Oddly enough, the way we tend to eat it is not really related to its European ancestry!

Fun facts about spaghetti

Do you love to dig into a bowl of spaghetti? Here are some fun facts to think about while you enjoy the taste:

• The word spaghetti is the plural of spaghetto, which comes from the Italian word spago, meaning twine or thin string.
• The BBC played an April fool’s joke in 1957 with a spoof broadcast intended to convince people that spaghetti grew on trees!
• Contrary to popular belief. Marco Polo did not discover spaghetti.
• Italians don’t use a spoon and fork to eat spaghetti (this is an American custom.) They twirl the pasta on a fork against the dish.
• National Spaghetti isn’t the only day of the year dedicated to celebrating pasta. There’s also National Pasta Day on October 17 and World Pasta Day on October 25.
• Italy is the world’s largest producer of spaghetti, making over 3 tons a year.
• The first tomato sauces for spaghetti appeared in the 18th century.
• Spaghetti started being offered in restaurants in the US towards the end of the 19th century.
• The original spaghetti strands were quite long but shorter lengths started appearing during the latter half of the 20th century. The most common lengths are now 10-12 inches.
• A serving of spaghetti has about 220 calories and 8 grams of protein.
• Not everyone can digest spaghetti because of its gluten content.
• Adding tomato sauce to spaghetti is a United States invention.

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How to celebrate National Spaghetti Day

One of the fun things to do for national days is to figure out how to come up with new ways to celebrate the special days. Here are a few ideas:

• Ditch the boxed spaghetti and make your own home made spaghetti noodles. All you need are flour, eggs, olive oil and salt. A pasta maker with different blades will help to cut your pasta shapes.
• Watch the Disney movie Lady and the Trampfor its adorable spaghetti eating scene.
• Check with your favorite pasta restaurants to see who is offering specials for National Spaghetti day.
• Get a copy of the fun children’s book Spaghetti with the Yeti to read to your child.
• Have a game night and play Ready! Set! Spaghetti!.
• Cook up a batch of your favorite spaghetti recipe to share with family or friends.
• Are you a gardener? Start your next spaghetti sauce with a roasted tomato pasta sauce.

Tasty spaghetti recipes

Nothing celebrates National Spaghetti Day on January 4th as much as making your favorite spaghetti recipe. Looking for a new idea? Try one of these spaghetti dishes.

Buttery tomato chicken over spaghetti

These tender chicken breasts have a buttery tomato sauce that is super tasty. Serve them over a bowl of spaghetti for a twist on the normal marinara dish.

Abruzzese meatballs and spaghetti

Take a trip to the Italian town of Abruzze, a little known coastal town that is rarely visited by tourists, with this delicious recipe. These Abruzzese meatballs are a wonderful blend of spices and herbs and served in a tomato sauce over a big bowl of spaghetti. YUMMO!

Creamy garlic chicken tetrazzini

Not all spaghetti sauces are red. This creamy garlic and chicken tetrazzini recipe uses a home made cream and wine sauce with English peas, all spooned over a big bowl of spaghetti.

Savory Italian meatballs and spaghetti

Who can resist a bowl of Italian meatballs and a home made savory tomato sauce over a big bowl of spaghetti? It’s the perfect comfort food and so easy to prepare.

Even though this dish is not a normal Italian offering, it is very popular here in the USA.

Chicken scallopine

This delicious recipe for easy chicken scallopine is short on time but big on flavor. It is very easy to make and on the table in just 25 minutes. It’s the perfect topping for al dente spaghetti.

• Creamy Tuscan Spaghetti with Jumbo Scallops
• Instant Pot Spaghetti
• Spicy Thai Spaghetti Salad
• Lemon Shrimp and Sausage Spaghetti
• Spaghetti Peperonata with Tuna and Olives

Making your own home made spaghetti

When it’s time to eat spaghetti, we often head for a package of dried spaghetti. But did you know that you can make your own home made spaghetti?

All you need is flour, eggs, salt and a bit of olive oil. A pasta maker with different blades will allow you to make not only spaghetti but other pasta shapes as well.

Home made spaghetti keeps for a day or two and only takes a few minutes to prepare. Why not try some today? (Recipe at the bottom of the post!)

More pasta foodie holidays to celebrate

National Spaghetti day isn’t the only day to celebrate with pasta. You can also enjoy National Pasta Day on October 17th as one of October’s national days. And National Meatball Day also comes soon – on March 9.

There are almost 2000 national days in the year. Don’t miss a single one of them. Be sure to check back often to see which national day we are celebrating today.

For more foodie national days, check out these posts:

• National Candy Day – November 4
• National Shrimp Day – May 10
• National Grilled Cheese Day – April 12
• National Burrito Day – First Thursday in April
• National Chocolate Covered Cashews Day – April 21