Perfect Italian Meat Sauce

About This Italian Meat Sauce Recipe

To me, this is the BEST Italian meat sauce. This sauce is full of flavor, easy to make and goes well with pasta, lasagna, creamy Italian polenta or our pizza gnocchi.

This style of Italian meat sauce is definitely an Italian-American recipe because it is made with fewer ingredients and less cooking time than a traditional Italian bolognese. It is delicious and what most people think of when they think of Italian meat sauce for pasta and my family's tried and true recipe we have been making for years.

This is one of those recipes that I have always made so it seems so simple and intuitive to me but my friends and husband's family are always asking about how to make it so I thought I would share that here too. You can use this Italian meat sauce on pasta, baked polenta , baked rigatoni and even in lasagna al forno if I do not have time for a slow-cooked bolognese sauce or my slow cooker Sunday sauce.

If you are looking for the perfect Italian meat sauce to make on a busy night, then this is the recipe for you.

What You Will Need

• Ground Beef. I prefer a little fattier ground beef for this recipe to add flavor to the sauce. You can use leaner ground beef if you prefer.
• San Marzano Tomatoes. I like to buy them whole and crush the tomatoes myself by placing the tomatoes in a large bowl and crushing them with clean hands. I do this because I like to see the actual tomatoes before they are crushed to ensure they are fully ripe. If I find any yellow tips on the tomatoes, I can remove them. You can also buy the tomatoes already crushed.
• Fresh Garlic
• Onion: yellow onion but not sweet yellow onions.
• Kosher Salt
• Fresh Basil
• Dried Oregano
• Olive oil: Try to use extra virgin olive oil if you can.
• Red Pepper Flakes
• Pasta for serving: choose a pasta that can hold on to the meat sauce or pairs well with it. I like spaghetti, rigatoni or penne rigate (this is the penne with ridges in it.) Stay away from linguine, fettuccine, or smooth pasta where the sauce can slide off.

How to Make Italian Meat Sauce

(full recipe steps below)

• Cook down the onions: Using a heavy bottom pot (I prefer a heavy bottom enameled cast iron pot for better browning) saute the onions.
• Brown the meat: Push the onions to the side of the pot and add the beef and cook until brown. Next add the garlic and cook with the beef for about 1-2 minutes.
• Add the canned tomatoes and seasonings: I like to use a potato masher to mash down the tomatoes in the pot to give them a head start on cooking down. You also add the oregano, basil and salt at this stage.
• Simmer: You only need about 15 minutes to simmer the sauce. If you have a little more time, 30 minutes is even better.
• Toss with pasta: If you are serving this meat sauce with pasta, make sure to toss the sauce with the pasta and do not just dump sauce on top of the pasta. You want to "stain the pasta" with the sauce and let the pasta absorb some of its flavor. You can reserve some sauce to pour over the tossed pasta.

This meat sauce recipe comes together very quickly. Once you add everything to the pot, you only need to let it simmer for about 10-15 minutes and then dinner is ready. I told you this meat sauce was quick!

How To Store And Freeze Spaghetti Meat Sauce

Pasta sauce is one of the best freezer-friendly meals whether it is made with meat like with this recipe or without meat. When you make this, double the recipe and freeze half for a later time. You can also store this in the fridge for up to 3 days if you want to make it ahead of time.

This meat sauce will last for 3 months in the freezer in an airtight container. When you are ready to use the reserved frozen portion, just let it sit in the fridge overnight to defrost. Gently reheat on low until hot.

Variations

I love this Italian American meat sauce just the way it is but you can switch things up as well. As always, here are my top suggestions!

• Add more meat! If you love a really meaty sauce, you can add in some oven baked Italian sausages (sweet and mild work best) or ground pork to the sauce.
• Adjust the herbs to your taste. Add a little more basil or oregano to suit your own taste.
• Lighten it up. You can use ground turkey to make a lighter version of this Italian sauce. If you do, I suggest adding a little more olive oil to balance the fats in the sauce.
• Make it vegetarian: You can swap out the meat and add mushrooms like with my mushroom bolognese for a meatless meal.
• Add red wine! Although not as traditional, a nice red wine tomato sauce is always so good. My favorite wine to use is Burgundy which produces a wonderful Burgundy wine meat sauce. Just add this after the onion cooks and then reduce it down.

Ways To Enjoy Meat Sauce Without Pasta!

Aside from the most obvious way to enjoy this sauce which is with pasta, my family loves making a meat sauce and pairing it with other things. Here are some of our favorites:

• Buy some ciabatta bread and make a Ciabatta olive oil garlic bread to dip into the sauce!
• Make some homemade focaccia bread to dip into the sauce.
• We love making Italian grilled cheese sandwiches and dipping the sandwiches into the meat sauce 🙂
• Add the meat sauce to baked polenta like we do with our polenta with meat sauce.
• Serve this with Italian fried eggplant for the ultimate Italian meal.
• Grill some zucchini or squash and pour the meat sauce over the top for a delicious main dish.