If you love a good meat sauce with your pasta, try this hearty — yet so simple to make — version. It’s perfect to toss with short or long pasta or try your hand at a stuffed pasta or lasagna using this for your tomato sauce layer.
Beef Meat Sauce
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients
1 tbsp (15 mL) olive oil
1 lb (500 g) Medium or Lean Ground Beef
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup (250 mL) diced vegetables (see Note)
1 can (28 oz/796 mL) diced, whole or crushed tomatoes (see Note)
1 can (5-1/2 oz/156 mL) tomato paste
1/2 tsp (2 mL) dried oregano leaves
Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Heat oil over medium heat in a large heavy saucepan. Add beef, onion, garlic, vegetables; cook, stirring often and using back of spoon to break up beef into chunks, for 8 to 10 minutes until meat is thoroughly cooked. Drain, if necessary.
- Add tomatoes, tomato paste and oregano; bring to boil, stirring often and breaking up tomatoes with a spoon, if necessary. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until sauce is thickened. Season with salt and pepper to taste
Notes
For the diced vegetables, use just one favourite or a mixture of vegetables. Celery, carrot, zucchini, sweet peppers and mushrooms all work particularly well. Small cut frozen vegetables work well, too!
Canned tomatoes are super convenient and flavourful all year round. Use whichever type you prefer in this sauce: whole or diced for a chunky sauce or crushed for a smooth texture. You can also use a jar of puréed strained tomatoes (passata) for a thinner, smooth texture.
Customize your sauce with different seasonings along with the dried oregano (or instead): add hot pepper flakes, different dried herbs such as basil or Italian seasoning or substitute 1/8 tsp (0.5 mL) garlic powder instead if you don’t have fresh on hand.
