Simple Meat Sauce
This is my default, never fail pasta sauce. This sauce is pure comfort and can be made super simple or with additions to increase nutritional value. I use it in my classic lasagna and for any pasta dish where I want a bolognese inspired sauce, but am short on time or energy.
Ingredients
- 1-2 lbs ground beef
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 yellow onion finely chopped
- 2 carrots finely diced
- 2 stalks celery finely diced
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 2 28oz cans whole tomatoes with juices
- 1 15oz can can tomato paste
- 2 bay leaves
- ½-1 cup beef broth or better than bouillon
- ½ tsp salt or to taste
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- ½ tsp dried basil
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes optional
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet or saucepan over medium heat. Add the diced onion, chili flakes, celery and carrots and cook for about 3–4 minutes, until softened.
- Add the ground beef and garlic to the pan. Cook, breaking it up with a spoon, until browned and cooked through. Drain any excess grease if needed.
- Stir in the tomatoes (see note 2 below if short on time), tomato paste, and beef broth. Add the remaining seasonings, as well as the bay leaves.
- Reduce heat to low and let the sauce simmer for 15–20 minutes, stirring occasionally. This helps the flavors come together and thickens the sauce slightly. if you have time, simmer for a couple of hours to really develop the flavours, adding pasta water or additional beef broth as needed.
- Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Serve over your favorite pasta and top with fresh basil or parsley.
Notes
- Meat: this is best made with a true Bolognese sauce, so substituting in half pork or sausage mince will add a great depth of flavour.
- Tomato sauce: if you don't have much time to simmer the sauce, use a pair of scissors to chop up the tomatoes while still in the can, so that you don't need to wait for them to break down while cooking.
- Sauce: feel free to sub 1 jar of marinara/pasta sauce in place of the canned tomatoes and tomato paste to make this even more simple.
- Additional Nutrition: add 1 cup finely chopped spinach into the sauce (at the very end of cooking).