You'll love this Caramelised Onion and Anchovy Spaghetti. Slow-cooked onions, butter and anchovies come together to create one of the most ridiculously good pasta sauces for how simple it is. The onions cook down until jammy and sweet, while the anchovies melt in and add this deep savoury richness without tasting fishy.
Looking for other simple pasta recipes? You'll love my Vegan Creamy Capsicum Pasta or my Prawn Orzo recipe.
Jump to:
- Why you need to make this Caramelised Onion and Anchovy Spaghetti
- Ingredients for Caramelised Onion and Anchovy Spaghetti
- Instructions for Caramelised Onion and Anchovy Spaghetti
- Substitutions for Caramelised Onion and Anchovy Spaghetti
- What grated parmesan did you use?
- Storage
- Top Tip
- FAQ
- Related
- Caramelised Onion and Anchovy Spaghetti
Why you need to make this Caramelised Onion and Anchovy Spaghetti
It tastes way more expensive than it is
This feels like a $30 restaurant pasta but costs a few dollars per serve. It’s built on simple ingredients but delivers huge flavour.
Minimal ingredients, maximum payoff
You don’t need anything fancy. Just onions, butter, anchovies and pasta. The magic comes from technique, not complexity.
Perfect balance of sweet, salty and rich
The caramelised onions bring sweetness, the anchovies add umami depth, and the butter ties everything together into a silky sauce.
Ingredients for Caramelised Onion and Anchovy Spaghetti
Brown onions – The base of the dish, slowly cooked until jammy and sweet, creating depth and body for the sauce.
Anchovies – Melt into the onions and add savoury richness and umami without tasting overtly fishy.
Garlic – Brings a gentle aromatic warmth that rounds everything out.
Butter – Adds richness and helps emulsify the sauce so it becomes glossy and silky.
Olive oil – Stops the butter from burning and helps start the cooking process.
Brown sugar – Speeds up caramelisation and enhances the natural sweetness of the onions.
Spaghetti or linguine – Perfect for coating in the glossy sauce and holding onto all that flavour.
Parmesan – Adds saltiness and helps thicken the sauce slightly.
Lemon juice – Cuts through the richness and lifts everything at the end.
Black pepper – Adds warmth and a bit of bite to balance the sweetness.
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions for Caramelised Onion and Anchovy Spaghetti
Step 1: Caramelise the onions
Step 2: Melt the butter and add the anchovies and garlic
Step 3: Cook the pasta and add to the onions along with pasta water
Step 4: Toss through parmesan and thyme and enjoy!
Hint: Take your time with the onions
This is where all the flavour comes from. Don’t rush it. low and slow is what gives you that deep, jammy texture. If they start sticking, just add a splash of water and keep going.
Substitutions for Caramelised Onion and Anchovy Spaghetti
- Use anchovy paste instead of fillets
- Swap parmesan for pecorino for a sharper finish
- Use any long pasta like fettuccine or even short pasta if that’s what you have
What grated parmesan did you use?
I quite like this parmesan from Coles. It's cheap, has simple ingredients and tastes pretty good for the price!
Storage
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat gently on the stove or in the microwave with a splash of water to loosen the sauce. Not ideal for freezing as the texture of the pasta can change.
Top Tip
Emulsify properly for that silky sauce
When you add the pasta, toss it aggressively with the pasta water and butter. This is what creates that glossy, restaurant-style finish rather than a greasy sauce.
FAQ
No, the anchovies melt into the sauce and just add depth and savouriness.
You can, but you’ll lose a lot of the umami. A small spoon of miso could work as an alternative.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Caramelised Onion and Anchovy Spaghetti
Ingredients
- 3 large brown onions finely sliced
- 6 anchovy fillets or 2 teaspoon anchovy paste
- 4 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 50 g salted butter
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar optional
- sea salt kosher or fine sea salt
- 350 g spaghetti
- ½ cup pasta water reserved
- 50 g parmesan finely grated
- 5 sprigs thyme leaves removed from stems
- ½ lemon juiced
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the onions with a big pinch of salt and cook slowly, stirring often, for 10 - 15 minutes until softened. Add the brown sugar and continue cooking for another 15 - 20 minutes, stirring regularly, until deeply golden, jammy and caramelised. If they start catching, add a splash of water and keep going.
- Add the butter, anchovies and garlic and cook for a minute or two, letting the anchovies melt into the onions. Add a generous amount of black pepper.
- Meanwhile, cook the pasta in well-salted water until just shy of al dente. Reserve a cup of pasta water before draining.
- Add the pasta straight into the onion mixture with a splash of pasta water. Toss well so everything emulsifies into a glossy sauce, adding more pasta water as needed. Stir through the parmesan and half of the thyme until melted and silky.
- Finish with a squeeze of lemon juice, extra black pepper, more parmesan and thyme to serve.
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