Crushed tomatoes, onions, garlic, and lots of ground beef combine in this easy meat sauce that freezes well, so you can enjoy it any time!
Easy Meat Sauce
This is one of those recipes I've been making forever but never shared. No clue why. Maybe because I think almost everyone makes a meat sauce, but maybe they don't, and I'm an idiot. Who knows? I love Italian inspired recipes and think everyone else should, too. Lol! Anyway, I thought it was about time I share my easy meat sauce recipe.
This is Italian inspired, not traditional Italian. In Italy, Bolognese sauce is never served with spaghetti, but here in Northeast PA, it's what I grew up with. Spaghetti was always my favorite food, I would ask for it every year for my birthday. I'm really, really picky with my sauce, it can't be too watery, or sweet, or tart, and although I love, love, love, spicy foods, my spaghetti normally has no business being spicy.
I make a few different versions of easy meat sauce. In the summer, I always use fresh tomatoes. It makes it a little less easy, but it's definitely worth it. Sometimes I used whole canned tomatoes, sometimes tomato puree. I have used either lean ground beef or "meatloaf mix", which is a combination of ground beef, pork, and veal. Normally, my sauce always has lots of garlic, parsley, and seasoning salt. Not lots of seasoning salt, just enough to taste.
Easy Meat Sauce for Pasta
Ingredients
- 2 pounds 93% lean ground beef
- 1 cup finely chopped yellow onion
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ cup shredded carrot
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 28 ounces canned crushed tomatoes
- 28 ounces canned whole peeled tomatoes
- 6 ounces tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
- 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- In a large non-stick pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Cook and crumble the ground beef along with the onions and shredded carrot until the meat is browned; drain.
- Stir in the garlic, whole tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, seasoned salt, pepper, and parsley*. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook over low heat (just simmering), stirring occasionally and breaking up the whole tomatoes with the back of a spoon, for 45 minutes or more. Taste and adjust seasonings, if needed.
Notes
This sauce is better long simmered, and even better the next day, but is still great within 45 minutes!
Nutrition
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