Homemade Meat Sauce Recipe
Homemade Meat Sauce is perfect in zucchini noodles, zucchini lasagne and traditional Italian dishes. It is thick, hearty, flavorful and low-carb/paleo/whoel30 friendly.
Servings: 8 people
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 pounds grass-fed ground beef
- ½ tablespoon clove garlic minced
- 1 ½ cup onions diced
- 28 oz 1 can crushed tomatoes
- 2 cups any tomato sauce you prefer
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon natural sweetener or sugar skip it for Whole30
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 ½ teaspoons Italian Seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon red crushed pepper
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon salt
- black pepper to taste
Instructions
Stove method
- In a large Dutch oven pan heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat.
- Add ground beef and cook, breaking into small pieces using a wood spatula. Don’t forget to stir occasional.
- Then, add garlic and onions. Cook for 3-5 minutes.
- Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, sweetener, dried basil, Italian seasoning, bay leaves, salt, and black pepper.
- Simmer partially uncovered for 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Serve hot over pasta, zucchini noodles, lasagne or zucchini lasagne.
Slow cooker method
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.
- Add garlic and onion, and cook until for 3-5 minutes. Transfer to slow cooker.
- In the same skillet, add another tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add ground beef and cook, breaking into small pieces using a wood spatula. Don’t forget to stir occasional. It’s about 7 minutes. Transfer to slow cooker.
- Add remaining ingredients into the slow cooker and cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 6 hours.
Notes
- Make sure to break down the beef as you cook it so it's not lumpy.
- If you don't want to dice the onions into small pieces, you can dice them in a food processor.
- If you have fresh basil, you can add it to the sauce at the end to add more flavour. Remove it before serving.
- To store: Store the meat sauce in an airtight container for 4 days in the fridge.
- To reheat: Reheat the sauce in the microwave or stovetop until hot.
- To freeze: Once cooled, you can freeze the meat sauce for up to 3 months in a freezer-safe bag.
Nutrition
Serving: 1/8 | Calories: 328kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 20g | Cholesterol: 73mg | Sodium: 668mg | Potassium: 45mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 4g