Easy Meat Sauce

Easy Meat Sauce

This meat sauce includes both ground beef and Italian sausage, making it a hearty choice to include with your pasta dish. The seasoned tomato sauce is delicious too! It’s a nice step-up from classic marinara sauce.

This recipe comes from Salt and Lavender: Everyday Essentials– 100 Quick and Easy Recipes for Busy People by Natasha Bull. Natasha is a good friend of mine, and she’s the founder of the SaltandLavender.com website. She’s an expert in creating tried and true recipes that you’ll want to make again and again, so it’s no wonder that she has a huge following. This is a cookbook that you will want to have sitting on your cookbook shelf. I think you’ll find that you’ll be reaching for it often for dinner inspiration!

Here are a few recipes from the book that I’d like to make:

• Creamy Garlic Salmon Pasta
• Million Dollar Spaghetti
• Tomato Spinach White Wine Chicken
• Quick Thai Green Curry Soup
• Turkey Sweet Potato Chili
• Lemon Chicken Gnocchi
• Simple Parmesan Arugula Salad
• Sun-Dried Tomato Basil White Bean Dip

🛒 Ingredients Needed:

• extra virgin olive oil
• onion
• ground beef
• Italian sausage
• garlic
• canned crushed tomatoes
• tomato paste
• beef broth
• Italian seasoning
• dried oregano
• granulated white sugar
• crushed red pepper flakes
• salt and pepper

✏️ How to Make Easy Meat Sauce:

*The complete, printable recipe is in the recipe card at the end of this post.

1. In a large pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and saute for 4 minutes. Add in the ground beef and sausage; breaking it up with your spoon as it cooks, until browned (8 to 10 minutes). Spoon out some of the excess fat; discard. Leave a few tablespoons in for flavor.
2. Stir in the garlic. Then stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, broth, seasonings, sugar and red pepper flakes (if using). When the mixture begins to bubble, reduce the heat, cover the pot loosely with a lid. Simmer for 30 minutes to 1 hour. The longer you cook it, the more flavorful it becomes. Stir occasionally, and adjust heat as needed to maintain a low simmer. Thin with additional beef broth, if needed.
3. Add salt and pepper, to taste. Serve over pasta.

➡️ Tips and Substitutions:

• Use ground sausage meat. Or buy sausages and take the meat out of the casings. I prefer to use sweet Italian sausage.
• Sugar is added to take the acidic edge off of the canned tomatoes, and it makes them taste sweeter. You can omit the sugar, but it’s not recommended. Add more, if you’d like!
• Add in a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar for more flavor! Add a splash of heavy cream to mellow out the sauce.

✔️ Make Ahead Tips:

This sauce may be made ahead and refrigerated. Serve within 3 to 4 days. It may also be frozen in a sealed container for up to 6 months.

Sauce Recipes:

• Tzatziki Sauce
• Homemade Pizza Sauce
• Best Alfredo Sauce
• Chimichurri Sauce
• Classic Pesto Sauce