Makaronia Me Kima: A Baked Greek Pasta With Cinnamon Meat Sauce

Makaronia me kima, pasta with a cinnamon-spiced beef sauce, is one of Greece’s favourite family dinners.

What is makaronia me kima?

The name makaronia me kima simply means “pasta with mince” in Greek. At home, many families serve it as spaghetti with mince and plenty of grated cheese.

According to TasteAtlas, the dish comes in many versions across Greece. Still, most share fragrant spices such as cinnamon or cloves in the tomato-based ragù.

Many people compare it to Italy’s ragù alla bolognese. However, the warm spices give it a flavour that is clearly Greek. Indeed, Greek cooks often add sweet spices to stews with meat, especially in the north.

Read more: Baked Quince: An Easy Greek Dessert With Cinnamon, Cloves and Port

Popular votes put makaronia me kima among the top 10 dishes Greeks love most. In 2023, it also placed 43rd in a TasteAtlas list of the world’s best pasta dishes.

This Allrecipes version comes from a home cook called GreekMuse, who calls it a staple in the Greek house. Unlike the stovetop classic, it bakes like a casserole under two cheeses.

Ingredients for 10 serves

Allow about 1 hour 25 minutes for this makaronia me kima, including 15 minutes of preparation. It feeds 10, and you need:

• 450 g (1 lb) rotini or other short spiral pasta
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 450 g (1 lb) beef mince, the “kima” in makaronia me kima
• 6 tomatoes, grated
• 1 sweet onion, grated
• 120 ml (½ US cup) water
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, the key to a true cinnamon meat sauce
• white sugar, ½ teaspoon
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• salt and black pepper, to taste
• 4 US cups shredded mizithra cheese, a classic topping for spaghetti with mince
• 1 US cup shredded mozzarella

Mizithra, also spelt myzithra, is a Greek whey cheese made from sheep’s or goat’s milk. In its salted, aged form, it is the classic grating cheese for hot pasta.

GreekMuse notes that the cheese does not fully melt into the cinnamon meat sauce. Instead, it softens but keeps its shredded shape. If you cannot find it, the cook suggests sharp cheddar with the mozzarella.

Look for the hard, aged kind, because Greece makes many regional types of myzithra and the fresh ones are soft.

According to Allrecipes, each serve of makaronia me kima has about 515 calories, 24 g protein and 95 g carbohydrates. It is also high in salt, at 1,278 mg of sodium per serve.

How to make makaronia me kima

Makaronia me kima starts with the pasta and the sauce, then finishes in the oven for about 40 minutes.

1. First, boil the rotini in lightly salted water for about 8 minutes, until tender but still firm. Drain it, then toss with 2 tablespoons of the oil.
2. Next, heat the remaining oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Brown the beef mince for about 10 minutes.
3. Then add the tomatoes, onion, water, tomato paste, cinnamon, sugar, cayenne, salt and pepper, and stir well.
4. Simmer the cinnamon meat sauce over medium-low heat for 20 minutes, so the flavours come together.
5. In the meantime, heat the oven to 175°C (350°F).
6. Pour the sauce over the pasta and mix well.
7. Spread half the mixture in a baking dish. Scatter over half of each cheese.
8. Add the rest of the pasta, then top with the remaining mizithra and mozzarella.
9. Finally, bake the makaronia me kima until the cheese bubbles, about 40 minutes.

Because the dish spends so long in the oven, keep the pasta slightly firm at the start. That way, it stays pleasantly chewy after baking.

Tips from home cooks

Lorna Dimitrakopoulos said her husband comes from the Peloponnese. She liked the mozzarella, but felt the sauce needed about eight whole cloves and a bay leaf.

Those additions, she wrote, are “the only way my husband will eat it.”

Sharon gave the makaronia me kima five stars and said the cinnamon and sugar gave it a unique taste. Since it was tomato season, she used fresh tomatoes, plus sharp cheese and mozzarella.

By comparison, Lilcat found the dish almost bland and not spicy. She also felt it had too much cheese for her taste.

Another reviewer swapped in turkey mince, gluten-free rotini and a dairy-free parmesan-style cheese. That cook said the result turned out amazing.

So, if your family prefers a gentler flavour, start with less cayenne. Similarly, cut back the cheese if you want the cinnamon meat sauce to shine.

Serving ideas

Serve the dish hot, with a simple green salad on the side. With 10 serves, it also suits a big family lunch or a crowd.

For a quicker weeknight meal, skip the oven altogether. Instead, serve it as spaghetti with mince, finished with grated aged mizithra, as many Greek families do.

A similar spiced sauce also goes into pastitsio, its layered cousin with béchamel. So, a double batch can cover two dinners in one week.

You will find the full makaronia me kima recipe, with every review, on the original Allrecipes page.

Source: Allrecipes

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