In case you’re wondering, this is my go-to recipe for whenever I get hungry for pasta. I personally think it’s the best pasta sauce for all types of dishes such as spaghetti, lasagna, and mostaccioli. Another nice thing about this recipe is that you can make it completely from scratch or you can use easy shortcuts. You can also make it ahead of time and freeze it for use later.
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3 Different Options!
The first option is to use fresh garden tomatoes and make homemade versatile tomato sauce. However, if you don’t want to go to all that work, simply wash, peel, cut, and cook tomatoes. Next, use a hand-held immersion blender to make homemade tomato purée.
The second option is to use store-bought tomato purée.
The third option is to use a premade sauce such as Prego, or Ragu and spice it up by adding extra ingredients. (I use Traditional Prego because it’s gluten-free, I like the flavor, and it’s comparatively inexpensive.)
Other Sauce Ingredients
To add flavor to tomato purée add ground chuck (or half ground chuck and half Italian sausage), onion, garlic, fresh or dried basil, oregano, parsley, tarragon, bay leaves, and sugar (optional).
Sauce Thickness
Yet another wonderful thing about the Best Pasta Sauce is you control how thick you want the sauce to be. To make the sauce thicker simply simmer over low heat until it thickens to the desired consistency (this may take an hour or so).
Another option is to thicken the sauce by making a cornstarch slurry. Mix 1 teaspoon cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water. Gradually stir the slurry into hot tomato sauce. Let the sauce simmer for about 5 minutes or until it thickens. If needed, add a little more slurry until you reach the desired consistency.
Don’t you just love a good pasta dish? I like to serve pasta with a side salad, garlic cheese bread, and yummy dessert.
The Best Tomato and Meat Sauce for Pasta Dishes
Take pasta to a whole new level with this amazing sauce.
Ingredients
- 2-pounds 85% ground chuck (or substitute one pound of ground chuck with Italian sausage *Use a gluten-free brand if making the sauce GF.)
- 2 (24-ounces, each) jars tomato puree or pasta sauce (such as gluten-free Traditional Prego)
- 1/4 cup onion, diced
- 3 large cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon basil, dried
- 1 tablespoon oregano, dried
- 1 tablespoon parsley, dried
- 2 teaspoons tarragon, dried
- 2 Bay leaves
- (Optional) 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
Instructions
In a skillet, cook ground beef over medium heat; drain off excess grease. Place in a large saucepan. Add tomato sauce, onion, garlic, sugar, basil, oregano, parsley, tarragon, and Bay leaf. Simmer for 40 minutes.
Notes
To make pasta sauce thicker simply simmer over low heat until it thickens to the desired consistency (this may take an hour or so). Another option is to thicken the sauce by making a cornstarch slurry. Mix 1 teaspoon cornstarch with 2 tablespoons water. Gradually stir the slurry into hot tomato sauce. Let the sauce simmer for about 5 minutes or until it thickens. If needed, add a little more slurry until you reach the desired consistency.
What’s your favorite pasta dish?
Enjoy!
Linda
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