Meat Sauce for Spaghetti

5 from 2 votes

This spaghetti meat sauce recipe is easy to make in under 30 minutes with simple ingredients. Served over your favorite pasta, it's a delicious, hearty weeknight meal the whole family enjoys.

Prep Time5

Cook Time18

Total Time22

Course: Main Course, sauce

Cuisine: Italian

Diet: Gluten Free, Low Lactose

Servings: Servings

Author: Laura

Cost: $8

Equipment

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef
1 small onion diced (1 cup onion)
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
28 oz crushed tomatoes peeled
2 Tablespoos fresh basil chopped
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon granulated sugar or honey

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Add ground beef, onion and garlic to a 5-quart saucepan. Cover and cook over medium heat until beef is no longer pink, breaking it up as you stir occasionally.
Add tomatoes, basil, oregano, salt, pepper and sugar and stir to combine.
Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Serve on top of your favorite pasta, tortellini, etc.

Video

Notes

Ingredient Substitutions

Ground Beef. I suggest an 85% or 93% lean ground beef for the best results. If using ground turkey or chicken you will need to add 1-2 Tablespoons of olive oil for it to cook nicely. Or, for a meatless sauce, try this homemade marinara sauce.
Onion. I suggest a sweet white or yellow onion for the best results.
Minced garlic. Use freshly minced or jarred.
Crushed tomatoes. Diced tomatoes or tomato sauce are both good substitutes, but crushed tomatoes are the best!
Fresh Basil. I don't suggest making substitutes.
Dried Oregano. you can substitute 1 teaspoon dried oregano with 1 Tablespoon fresh oregano.
Sugar. honey is a good substitute for sugar. This just helps cut the acidity of the marinara sauce, it does not make the sauce sweet.

Store

Store leftover meat sauce in a glass jar in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Freeze

Freeze leftover spaghetti meat sauce in a glass jar (make sure to leave some room at the top because the sauce expands in the freezer), for up to 6 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight or at room temperature, reheat on the stovetop.

Nutrition