Meat Sauce

The rich meaty flavour of meat sauce makes it a popular choice for many pasta dishes. Besides onion and garlic, make it with a variety of vegetables such as bell peppers, mushrooms, shredded carrots and celery, even zucchini. You can add Italian sausage for more richness and season with an assortment of Italian seasonings to suit your taste.

Here is my standard meat sauce with a few tricks to make sure it turns out great every time.

Print Recipe

Meat Sauce

The rich meaty flavour of meat sauce makes it a popular choice for many pasta dishes.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: ground beef, meat sauce, pasta dish, tomato

Servings: 8

Calories: 143kcal

Equipment

• 1 large skillet

Ingredients

• 1 lb Lean ground beef
• 1 Onion chopped
• 2 Garlic cloves diced
• 1 Bell pepper diced
• 1 cup Mushrooms sliced, optional
• 1 can Diced tomatoes 796 mL
• 1 can Tomato paste 156 mL
• 3 cups Tomato sauce your favourite
• 1-2 tbsp Italian seasoning
• 1 tsp Dried oregano
• 1 tsp Dried basil
• 1 tsp Garlic powder if you don’t have fresh garlic
• 1 tsp Parsley
• ½ tsp Chilli pepper flakes optional
• Salt to taste

Instructions

• In a large skillet, scramble fry meat until no pink is showing.
  
• Add about ½ cup of water and mix around. Then tilt skillet to drain off water and grease. I spoon it into a measuring cup and let it cool before discarding. This minimizes the amount of grease going down your drain.
  
• Pile ground beef to one side of the skillet and sauté onions on other side.
• Add garlic and vegetables to onions and sauté another minute.
• Add remaining ingredients and stir.
• Reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes while you prepare the rest of the meal. If time allows, simmer longer for a richer flavour.
  
• You shouldn’t have to add water, but if it cooks down too much, add a little water at a time. You don’t want watery meat sauce.

Notes

A note about the salt – salt is probably already added to the tomatoes and sauce, so taste your meat sauce before adding more.

Traditional Italian spices are basil, thyme, oregano, rosemary, parsley and marjoram. 

Nutrition

Calories: 143kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 35mg | Sodium: 717mg | Potassium: 893mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 1264IU | Vitamin C: 36mg | Calcium: 65mg | Iron: 4mg

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