Spaghetti Napolitan: Old-School Ketchup Pasta [Recipe]

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Today’s Spaghetti Napolitan recipe is a nostalgic pasta with the feel of a gyeongyangsik, an old-school Western-style restaurant. Vienna sausages and plenty of onion are stir-fried in a ketchup-based sauce. Even without fancy ingredients, the sweet-and-sour ketchup flavor gains extra savory depth, which makes this ketchup pasta a favorite for people of all ages. Once the sauce is mixed ahead of time, it comes together in a quick stir-fry. It suits a solo meal or a kids’ snack just as well. Let’s see how it’s made.

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📋 At a Glance

• Dish: Spaghetti Napolitan (gyeongyangsik-style Napolitan, ketchup pasta)
• Type: gyeongyangsik-style Vienna sausage pasta, stir-fried in a ketchup-based sauce
• Servings: 1
• Main ingredients: spaghetti for 1, 5 to 6 Vienna sausages, 1/2 onion, 4 to 5 tbsp ketchup
• Tools: a frying pan, a spatula or turner, a bowl for mixing the sauce
• Time: 15 minutes prep + 15 minutes cooking
• Difficulty: on the easy side — prep is easier than it looks, and the only thing to watch is keeping the ketchup from burning over high heat
• Key point: mix the sauce ingredients ahead of time, and season the pasta water to only about half the usual level

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Ingredients for Spaghetti Napolitan

Let’s check the ingredients first. In this dish, oyster sauce and chicken stock add depth to the ketchup, while a little sugar and a splash of vinegar balance the sweet and sour. That makes it taste noticeably better than simply stir-frying with plain ketchup. And Vienna sausages and onion are a must, of course.

[Ingredients for 1 Serving]

• Spaghetti for 1 serving
• 5 to 6 Vienna sausages
• 1/2 onion
• 1/2 tbsp minced garlic (slightly less)
• 1/2 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• A little salt
• A little powdered Parmesan cheese

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[Sauce for 1 Serving]

• 4 to 5 tbsp ketchup
• 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1/4 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp Lee Kum Kee chicken stock
• 1/2 tbsp vinegar (optional)

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[Optional Ingredients]

• A little dried parsley
• A little pressed ham
• Egg (soft-cooked)
• A little broccoli
• A little bell pepper

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[Recipe Summary for 1 Serving]

1. Prepare the pasta water. The sauce is salty, so season the water to only about half the usual level.
2. Thinly slice 1/2 onion and score the Vienna sausages. (Prep any optional ingredients at the same time.)
3. Mix 4 to 5 tbsp ketchup, 1 tsp Lee Kum Kee chicken stock, 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce, 1/4 tbsp sugar and 1/2 tbsp vinegar ahead of time to make the sauce.
4. Melt 1 tbsp olive oil and 1/2 tbsp butter in a pan preheated over medium heat, then lightly fry the minced garlic.
5. Once the garlic is cooked, add the onion and Vienna sausages (plus optional bell pepper, broccoli and so on) and stir-fry.
6. When the ingredients are cooked, add the boiled pasta and the sauce, and mix evenly over low heat as it cooks.
7. When the sauce turns thick, add about one ladle of pasta water here and there to adjust the consistency. If it tastes bland, add a little more ketchup.
8. Plate it and finish with a soft-cooked egg, grilled pressed ham, Parmesan, dried parsley and so on.

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🍝 Season the pasta water to only about half the usual level. The sauce is already salty, so if the noodles are seasoned strongly too, the finished dish ends up too salty.

🥫 Mix the sauce ingredients (ketchup, chicken stock, oyster sauce, sugar and vinegar) ahead of time. You can add them quickly while stir-frying, so the noodles don’t go soft.

🔥 Stir-fry the noodles and sauce over low heat, as if you were just gently warming them through. Over high heat, the ketchup can burn and leave a dull, heavy taste.

🥄 When the sauce thickens, add pasta water bit by bit to adjust the consistency. The pasta water balances the thickness and the seasoning at the same time.

🍳 Topping it with a soft-cooked egg and grilled pressed ham really brings out the old-school gyeongyangsik Napolitan feel.

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⏱️ Prep time: 15 minutes

⏱️ Cooking time: 15 minutes

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Vinegar and Choosing Vienna Sausages

The vinegar is optional here. You might worry it will make the dish taste a little sour (and of course, don’t use double or triple the amount). In practice, it quietly tames the sweetness of the ketchup and boosts the savory depth. And one more thing: be sure to use Vienna sausages with a high pork content, naturally.

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Prepping the Ingredients

Let’s get started with the prep. First, bring the pasta water to a boil. The sauce has plenty of ingredients, so it’s best to season the water to only about half the usual level.

For the basic vegetable, thinly slice half an onion per serving. If you want a bit of crunch, cut it a little bigger. Score 5 to 6 Vienna sausages. Scoring keeps the sausages from bursting while they fry, and it lets the seasoning soak in. I prepared a slightly generous amount.

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Next, get the toppings ready. I prepared the broccoli in advance. The pressed ham (use one with a high pork content here too, right?) is best cut fairly wide. I’ll grill it separately.

Once the basic ingredients are cooked, the noodles go in and get stir-fried quickly, so it helps to make the sauce in advance. In a suitable bowl, combine 4 to 5 tbsp ketchup, 1 tsp Lee Kum Kee chicken stock, 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce, 1/4 tbsp sugar and 1/2 tbsp vinegar, and mix well.

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And that’s the prep done. Not as hard as you expected, right? Most of the ingredients go into the pan when you stir-fry the pasta, and only the pressed ham and the egg for topping need to be cooked separately.

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How to Cook Spaghetti Napolitan

Now for the cooking. First, boil the spaghetti in the boiling pasta water. The noodles only get stir-fried once, so cook them through. Stir-frying the other ingredients while the pasta boils saves time.

Fry the Garlic, Sausages and Onion

Preheat a frying pan over medium heat, add 1 tbsp olive oil, and melt 1/2 tbsp butter in it. Stir with a spatula or turner so the butter doesn’t burn. Once the butter has melted, add 1/2 tbsp minced garlic (slightly less) and fry briefly to bring out the aroma.

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When the garlic has softened slightly, add the thinly sliced onion and the scored Vienna sausages and stir-fry. People usually think of cooking the onion until it’s very soft for pasta, but in this recipe you only need to fry until the sausages turn golden. If you’re adding bell pepper or broccoli, put them in at this point too.

Toss the Noodles with the Sauce and Adjust the Seasoning

Once the ingredients are somewhat cooked, lift the boiled pasta into the pan and pour in the sauce you mixed earlier. Lower the heat and mix the noodles, ingredients and sauce evenly, as if you were cooking them gently. Just keep in mind that ketchup burns easily over high heat, and there’s nothing very difficult here.

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When the sauce thickens a little, add about one ladle of pasta water to adjust the consistency. The pasta water balances the thickness and the seasoning at the same time. As mentioned earlier, the sauce already seasons the dish almost fully, so I kept the pasta water slightly mild. At the end, taste it, and if it’s bland, add a little more ketchup.

While you mix the ingredients and sauce, fry the egg and the pressed ham for the topping at the same time. Once the sauce is well mixed, turn the heat up high at the end and stir-fry for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Keep stirring so nothing burns.

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Add the Toppings and Finish

Transfer the finished pasta to a suitable bowl. Plate the noodles, then place the remaining toppings on top. I added the fried egg and pressed ham I had prepared, then finished by grating Parmesan over the top as the last topping.

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If you like, for a bit of extra visual detail, just give the fried egg and pressed ham a light dusting of dried parsley.

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Photo Gallery of the Finished Dish

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The Finished Spaghetti Napolitan

And here is the finished Spaghetti Napolitan. It was made quickly from very simple ingredients, yet it looks pretty impressive, doesn’t it? Convenience stores have been offering quite a few Napolitan spaghetti items lately. Still, if you tweak this recipe a little to suit your own taste, I can confidently say there’s no comparison.

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The sweet-and-sour ketchup sauce, the salty savoriness of the Vienna sausages and the sweetness of the onion all come together, and one bite brings back the taste of an old-school Western-style restaurant. Break the soft-cooked egg on top and mix it into the noodles, and the extra smoothness reveals another charm.

Kids love it, and since it isn’t greasy, older people can eat it comfortably too, so it’s quietly delicious. If tomato pasta, carbonara and aglio e olio have started to feel a little stale, how about this recipe instead? It brings back old memories and tastes good as well, so you can enjoy it fully. It’s a flavor you won’t regret.

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For background on the ketchup-stir-fried pasta behind this Spaghetti Napolitan, see the Wikipedia article on Naporitan.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q. How do I make the sauce for Spaghetti Napolitan?

For one serving, mix 4 to 5 tbsp ketchup, 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce, 1/4 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp Lee Kum Kee chicken stock and 1/2 tbsp vinegar (optional) ahead of time. You can add it quickly while stir-frying, so the noodles don’t go soft.

Q. Do I have to add vinegar to Spaghetti Napolitan?

No, the vinegar is optional. About 1/2 tbsp tames the sweetness of the ketchup and boosts the savory depth, but avoid doubling or tripling it.

Q. Why should the pasta water be lightly seasoned?

Because the sauce is salty, and strongly seasoned noodles would make the finished dish too salty. Season the water to only about half the usual level, and when the sauce thickens, add about one ladle of pasta water to adjust the thickness and seasoning together.

Q. How long does Spaghetti Napolitan take to make?

Prep takes 15 minutes and cooking takes 15. Stir-frying the other ingredients while the pasta boils saves time, and mixing the sauce ahead of time lets you add it quickly.