Name: Easy Spaghetti Meat Sauce
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 120 min
Total time: 140 min
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil; 1 onion (large); 3 garlic cloves (large ); 2 carrots; 3 celery stalks; 1 sweet pepper (red or green); 227 grams fresh mushrooms (one package ); 2 pounds lean ground beef; 6 cups pre made pasta sauce (your favourtie brand); 2 dried bay leaves; 2 teaspoons dried oregano; 2 teaspoons dried basil; 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin; 1 teaspoon ground coriander; 1 teaspoon sugar; salt and pepper to taste; 1/4 teaspoon hot pepper flakes (more to taste)

Last Updated on September 13, 2020 by Sweet and Savoury Pursuits

Use your favourite jar sauce to quickly make an Easy Spaghetti Meat Sauce. Two ingredients in the spice blend of this delicious sauce recipe make it stand out from the rest and will have your guests asking for more.

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

Bowl of spaghetti topped with meat sauce.

This Easy Spaghetti Meat Sauce is loaded with fresh vegetables, ground beef, tomato sauce and spices. But so are almost all of the meat sauce recipes out there, so you might be wondering what's so special about this recipe? Well I believe it's a couple of the spices that I include when seasoning the sauce.

Close-up of spaghetti and meat sauce twirled around a fork. Garlic bread in background.

Making Meat Sauce with Jar Sauce

Using a really good quality jarred tomato pasta sauce is a practical short cut that shortens the time needed for a delicious tasting sauce. I use a ready-made organic tomato and basil pasta sauce instead of a plain tomato sauce or canned crushed tomatoes to make my meat sauce.

When choosing your jarred sauce make sure to check the amount of sodium and sugar, it can vary greatly from one brand to another. It's completely up to you to use the sauce that you prefer. You could also use plain tomato sauce, but you'll have to add extra seasoning.

When adding the spices to my meat sauce, I include the usual oregano, basil and bay leaves, but I also include ground cumin and coriander (the dried seed of cilantro). These spices make the sauce super flavourful and really make it stand out from the rest.

What I love about sauces like this one, is that after you've made the sauce once, you can adjust it to your liking by playing around with the spices, adding more or less, or omitting one altogether.

How to Make it

I like to fill my meat sauce up with aromatic vegetables like garlic, onion, carrot and celery. I also add sweet peppers and mushrooms.

To start the sauce, prep all of your vegetables. Using your food processor, chop them up to the desired consistency. Do this in batches so you don't overload your food processor. You can chop them up really finely if you've got picky eaters in your household.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, add the veggies to the pan and cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Raise the heat to medium-high and add the ground beef. Cook the ground beef until it is no longer pink.

Add the tomato sauce and all the seasonings, reduce the heat, stir and let simmer for approximately 30 minutes.

After the sauce has simmered for 30 minutes or so, taste and adjust the seasonings. If you're in a hurry, the sauce can be used at this point but if you have time you can reduce the heat to very low and continue to simmer the sauce for up to two hours.

If you do, don't forget to stir the sauce occasionally. If too much liquid has evaporated you can add more tomato juice or water. Just make sure to adjust the seasonings one more time before serving the sauce.

Top view of a bowl of spaghetti and meat sauce with piece of garlic bread on the side.

This recipe makes a large pot of sauce, I like to make a large batch that I can then portion and freeze, it makes life easier on busy weeknights. But if you prefer a smaller batch you can easily cut this recipe in half.

Serve the sauce over the pasta of your choice, sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley (or basil) and freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

More Pasta Recipes