Spaghetti Meat Sauce (Easy To Make + One Pot!)

October 8, 2019 By Kathleen | 2 Comments

The spaghetti meat sauce is an easy, delicious peek into the wonders of Italian cooking. Easy prep and easy cleanup, perfect for busy weeknights!

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My spaghetti meat sauce recipe is sure to put the YUM into your next Itali-YUM dinner!

*crickets*

Yeah, that was a bad pun. But can you blame me? Anytime pasta recipes are on the menu, I lose myself in dreams of the perfect spaghetti sauce recipes, with visions of Italian seasonings dancing in my head. Whether you reach for pasta sauce recipes to spice up a fancy dinner or give your comfort a kick, I promise that my spaghetti meat sauce recipe will have you dreaming in oregano.

Tie on your napkins and let’s get to it!

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Why It’s Great!

Recipe Notes

Similar Recipes

What I Love About This Recipe

For every big ol’ Italian family, there’s a different spaghetti meat sauce recipe. What makes this one so perfect?

Easy prep and cook. I promise.
Bold, hearty spices
Three steps! Seriously, EASY.
One pot!

Italian Spaghetti Meat Sauce Recipe Notes

When most people have spaghetti with meat sauce on their dinner menu, they reach for store-bought jars. Not that there’s anything wrong with the time-saving wonder of premade sauce — but the flavor you get in my spaghetti meat sauce recipe is incomparable. And with one pan, you can have enough sauce to feed the Italian peninsula!

Spaghetti Ingredients Notes

Dried vs Fresh: I’ve often waxed poetic about the importance of fresh herbs — but for dishes that simmer for a long time, like spaghetti sauce with meat, you’ll actually want dried. Thanks to the lengthy simmering process, the sauce will get infused with the rich flavors of the dried herbs over time.

Crushed not Sauced? If this is a spaghetti meat sauce recipe, why not go straight for canned tomato sauce instead of crushed tomatoes? Believe it or not, there’s a difference in the plethora of canned tomato products!

For this recipe, I like using crushed to leave hearty chunks of tomato in the finished dish. If you like a smoother final product, you can opt for canned tomato sauce!

Sausage Differences: You might think “Italian sausage” includes all types of processed Italian meats — wrong! For my spaghetti meat sauce recipe, you’ll definitely want to go for the raw Italian sausage you find in the sausage aisle. Things like pancetta or prosciutto, while delicious, will lose their structure as the sauce simmers.

Spaghetti Sauce Storing Tips

Want to stock your pantry with homemade spaghetti sauce? To help you package your precious cargo carefully, I’ve pulled together all the best info!

Can You Freeze This?

Yes! My spaghetti meat sauce recipe is very freezer-friendly. I’ve found it helps to freeze any easy meat sauce recipe in pre-portioned batches, so you don’t have to thaw a whole huge tub of sauce in one go. You can save your portions in the freezer for up to three months.

But be sure to cool your sauce first! Storing it while still hot will lower the temp of your freezer, threatening the safety of the other things you have stored there, and may lead to freezer burn. Definitely not Itali-YUM!

Quick Meat Sauce Make Ahead Tips

Alas, this spaghetti meat sauce recipe is not exactly “make-ahead friendly,” in that all that yummy flavor comes with at least an hour of simmering.

But! It does store remarkably well in the fridge, so:

How Long Can You Keep This In The Fridge?

Once you’ve made your sauce, you can store it in the fridge for up to four days in an airtight container. Any longer, and the oils from the meat will start to separate, plus you risk yucky things growing in your sauce.

If you served this sauce over noodles, I’d store the sauce and pasta separately in the fridge. The longer noodles sit in sauce, the more liquid they absorb, turning them mushy and losing their structure.

More Meaty Pasta Recipes

Got bit by the Italian cooking bug? There’s no cure — but to make more Italian dishes!