Our Favorite Spaghetti Meat Sauce

This meat sauce is an absolute staple in our house.  It’s easy, super hearty, and versatile too!  Goes well with noodles, steamed zucchini or spaghetti squash.  I’ve even been known to throw the leftovers on top of my scrambled eggs in the morning (or sometimes I just eat a bowl of it like chili it’s so good!) 

Secret- I usually use this same sauce when making lasagna too.  Makes the lasagna way more filling- extra meat and lighter on the cheese please 😊 

I always, ALWAYS use two pounds of beef.  You absolutely want leftovers of this dish.  We can get two weeknight dinners out of it and that’s a total WIN, especially on busy school and sports weeks.  Angel hair pasta doesn’t take long at all to boil so heating up sauce and boiling noodles in just a few minutes makes for a pretty easy meal. 

Ingredients:

• Small amount olive oil or cooking spray

• 2 lbs grass fed ground beef

• 2 bell peppers, diced (color of choice)

• 1 small onion, diced

• 1 tsp. minced garlic (more if you like garlic!)

• 1 can diced tomatoes, drained (fire roasted or regular)

• 1 6 oz. can tomato paste (the small can)

• 1 15 oz. can tomato sauce

• 1 Tbsp. dried basil

• 1 Tbsp. dried oregano

*Can sub in Italian Seasoning in a pinch

*Optional add in- mushrooms (You either love ‘em or hate ‘em!)

 Directions-

1. Add your cooking spray or drizzle of olive oil to a large skillet and add your diced pepper, onion and beef.  (I go ahead and add the veggies in, so they get good and soft- I DO NOT like lightly cooked onion!)
   

2. As the meat starts to brown add your minced garlic and continue to ground and toss with your spatula- or whatever you like to brown meat with.
   

3. When the beef is cooked through, drain the excess grease, and then add your drained tomatoes, and remaining ingredients and seasonings. 

4. Mix well and continue to simmer for the next 10-20 minutes – or if you’re in a hurry, just go ahead and eat!

Extra Tips-

• I usually make this ahead of time so all we have to do is boil the noodles or steam some zucchini to throw it on. 

• It’s like a chili or stew- the leftovers taste even better! 

• My son prefers the petite diced tomatoes, so you can sub whatever meets your texture preferences.

• If your kids prefer a little more “sauce”, keep a jar of their favorite marinara in the fridge.  We sometimes heat a small amount of that up and add to the top of their dish.  

Note: This is my husband's bowl. You can barely see the noodles! Gotta get that protein!

You can’t really mess this up (unless you get way too seasoning happy). I’ve made it so many ways.  I’ve totally ditched the tomato paste and sauce before and just used a jar of marinara, I’ve switched up the amount of seasoning used, and I’ve even mixed Italian sausage with beef in some cases.  Don’t be scared to try new things 😊 

One thing I can say is… don’t skip the minced garlic!  It really does make a delightful difference. 

Now, go cook this up and throw it on top of whatever your heart desires.  ENJOY!