Homemade Spaghetti Meat Sauce

close up of spaghetti with homemade meat and tomato sauce

This homemade spaghetti meat sauce is a robust and aromatic dish made with ground meat, a medley of herbs, and a rich tomato base, simmered to perfection and served over pasta.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 1

Total Time 1 15

Servings servings

Calories 175kcal

Author Wanda Simone

Equipment

knife
mini food processor
garlic press
measuring cups and spoons
large stock pot

Ingredients

1 to 2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 medium cooking onions diced
3 cloves garlic minced
1½ pounds ground beef, turkey or chicken
3 Tablespoons dried parsley or ½ cup chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons dried oregano or 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
2 teaspoons dried rosemary or 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon dried basil or 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
3 28-ounce cans diced tomatoes or 36 Roma tomatoes or 18 fresh garden tomatoes, diced
1 28-ounce can tomato sauce
1 12-ounce package fresh sliced mushrooms or 3 4-ounce cans canned mushrooms, drained (optional)
4 bay leaves

Instructions

Heat the olive oil in the stock pot over medium heat.
1 to 2 Tablespoons olive oil
Saute the diced onions and minced garlic until tender and translucent, 2 to 3 minutes.
2 medium cooking onions, 3 cloves garlic
Add the ground beef and cook until browned.
1½ pounds ground beef, turkey or chicken
Stir in the parsley, oregano, rosemary, basil, salt and pepper.
3 Tablespoons dried parsley, 2 teaspoons dried oregano, 2 teaspoons dried rosemary, 1 teaspoon dried basil, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
Mix in the tomatoes, tomato sauce and mushrooms.
3 28-ounce cans diced tomatoes, 1 28-ounce can tomato sauce, 1 12-ounce package fresh sliced mushrooms
Add the bay leaves.
4 bay leaves
Bring to a boil then lower the heat to medium-low.
Simmer, uncovered for about an hour, stirring occasionally until the sauce reaches desired thickens.
Remove the bay leaves from the sauce before serving over spaghetti and sprinkling with grated Parmesan cheese.

Notes

Substitutions

In a pinch, you can use 3 teaspoons jarred, minced garlic instead of the fresh garlic. (But I don't think it tastes as good.)
If you don't have tomato sauce, you can use tomato paste instead. To do this, combine 2 8-ounce cans of tomato paste with 2 cups of water.

Variations

Add chopped bell peppers for additional flavor if desired.
For an extra kick, replace some of the diced tomatoes with a 14-ounce can of Rotel. In this case you would use 2 28-ounce cans and 1 14.5-ounce cans of diced tomatoes (instead of 3 28-ounce cans).

Nutrition