Thick and Hearty Meat Sauce

Old-schooling it today with something I’m sure you’ve enjoyed before — homemade meat sauce! This one’s thick, rich, and hearty with beef and sausage. If you’ve never made your own sauce (what??), I am telling you it is so easy and absolutely worth the little bit of effort. YOU CAN DO THIS.

Or maybe you’ve made your own sauce before, but just don’t have THE PERFECT recipe yet. Well, I’m here to help, cuz this recipe is sure-fire. We all need some homemade sauce once in a while, and I’m happy to do your thinking for you 🙂

You will love this because it’s easy, truly delicious, and homemade. It will be the meal that keeps on giving since there is plenty for the  3 F’s (freezer, fridge, and friends)!

**I absolutely adore alliteration. Always awesome.**

SIDEBAR: Now, I’ve been known to be perfectly happy with my store-bought Classico sauce (which I doctor up pretty heavily). High in sodium, sure (around 600 mg/cup). but as we use it only occasionally, it’s alright. And then there’s the part where I rely heavily on the empty Classico jars for my annual Chex-mix making operation.

Just take a look at this beaut of a collection!

They’re pretty and and the perfect size and — dealmaker — the labels come off easily with no need to curse at the industrial strength gorilla glue that most jars use. (Francesco Rinaldi, for goodness sakes, what on earth? You think those labels got some place they’d rather be? Perfectly nice jars, ruined…)

Important truths about homemade meat sauce

It always tastes better than jarred sauce
The house smells heavenly for hours
It was custom-made for the slow cooker. Long and low for 8-10 hours = perfection.
It is also easily done on the stovetop in under an hour.

There’s another important truth for you nervous Nellies out there.

Meat sauce is nearly impossible to mess up!

I’ve made it with turkey meatballs, pork sausage, ground beef, turkey sausage, even shrimp. It all works. You can double up on the veggies, add more garlic, skip the bay leaf, or even add a little booze (a 1/2 cup of vodka or vermouth works nicely). The point is, whatever you put into it, the flavors mingle and get deeper and richer as it cooks. You’ll be sopping up the leftover sauce with a piece of bread and patting yourself on the back at the same time. [Then washing sauce outta your hair later, or maybe that’s just me….]

And the final truth? You knew I was going to talk about this eventually. It is packed with good, healthy stuff!  From potassium and lycopene to vitamin A, C, E, and K to (I’ll be honest I had to look this one up) copper.  It’s packed with goodness, fiber, and flavor. Your body will LOVE you!

So why don’t I make homemade sauce more?? I often lack the right ingredients, though really how hard is it to keep canned tomatoes around? The other issue-that’s-not-really-an-issue is that I often crave it when it’s most inconvenient to make it. Like at 5:15 pm on weekday. Or late Sunday night when I think, “Gee, wouldn’t it be nice to come home to some homemade sauce tomorrow after work?”

Blah blah and blah. Sometimes it’s a shame how lame I can be. With just a few minutes’ forethought, I had what I needed.  I whipped it together amidst my roles as the homework boss, superlative snack purveyor, and ninja chauffeur. Just another typical Thursday afternoon, really 🙂

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Thick and Hearty Meat Sauce

15 minutes of prep, then leave it to your slow cooker to do the rest! You'll return home to a thick, rich  meat sauce to top your pasta. 

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 8 hours

Total Time 8 hours 15 minutes

Servings 12 cups

Author Julia Robarts

Ingredients

• 1 lb lean ground beef 90%
• 1 lb Italian sausage links casings removed
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil extra virgin
• 1 med sweet onion, chopped about 1 cup
• 1 med green pepper, chopped about 1 cup
• 1 teaspoon chopped garlic
• 2 28-oz cans ground peeled tomatoes
• 2 14-oz cans tomato sauce
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 2 whole bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar packed
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• Salt, to taste

Instructions

1. In a large nonstick skillet, brown the beef and sausage. Using a slotted spoon, to leave the grease behind, transfer the meat to the slow cooker. Pour excess grease from the pan, and return to stovetop.

2. Heat the olive oil in the skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and peppers and saute for 3-5 minutes, until beginning to soften. Add garlic, and saute for one more minute. Do careful not to burn the garlic.

3. Add the veggie mixture to the slow cooker, and then add the remaining ingredients (tomatoes through brown sugar). Cover and cook on LOW for 8-10 hours.

4. Adjust seasonings to taste. Serve hot atop cooked pasta with shredded Parmesan.

Recipe Notes

If you'd rather make this on the stovetop, use a large sauce pan instead of transferring everything to the slow cooker. Saute the meats first, then the onion/pepper/garlic mixture. Add the remaining ingredients. Cover partially and simmer over low heat for 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

No-meat version: Just make the sauce as is, from the onion/pepper/garlic step forward.

Meatball version: I often make meatballs separately, then simmer them in the sauce, instead of adding meat directly to the sauce.

ENJOY!!