Spaghetti Sauce
Published July 23, 2024
- Total Time
- 45 minutes
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Cook Time
- 40 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:4 to 6 servings
- ¼cup olive oil
- 1medium yellow onion, diced (about 1 cup)
- Salt and pepper
- 6garlic cloves, minced
- ½teaspoon fennel seeds
- Crushed red pepper
- ½cup cabernet sauvignon or other dry red wine
- 1pound ground beef
- 1(28-ounce) can tomato purée
- 1tablespoon dried basil
- 2tablespoons dried oregano
- 1tablespoon dried parsley
- 2teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1pound cooked spaghetti, for serving
- Chopped fresh basil leaves, for serving
- Freshly grated Parmesan or pecorino cheese, for serving
Preparation
- Step 1
In a large skillet or medium pot, heat olive oil over medium. Add onion with a pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in garlic, fennel seeds and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Cook until aromatic, 1 to 2 minutes. Add red wine and cook down by about half, about 2 minutes.
- Step 2
Adjust heat to medium-high and add ground beef in large chunks, then season with 1 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Cook beef, stirring occasionally and breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until lightly browned and almost cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes. Use a spoon to skim off and discard any excess beef fat that has risen to the surface, as desired.
- Step 3
Stir in the tomato purée, the dried basil, oregano and parsley and the granulated sugar. Bring to a boil, adjust heat to low and simmer 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add more salt and pepper to taste.
- Step 4
Serve warm over spaghetti with fresh basil and grated Parmesan, or let cool and store in the refrigerator up to 5 days or freezer up to 6 months.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Michael Napa
Some sliced mushrooms added when the simmering starts add umami. We’ve done something similar for a long time with the addition of the mushrooms, a pound of Italian sausage sliced and browned (cooks out fat) and the addition of a large can of crushed tomatoes as well as the purée. This recipe dates back to when my parents were doctor and RN in the Greenpoint Hospital ER and invitations to family dinners were a way of thanking them. It was Little Italy in those days before WW2.
Jon
Instead of sugar I add finely chopped carrots - adds sweetness. Also, after the ground beef browns, I sprinkle in a bit of flour to absorb residual fat, which also produces a thicker sauce. Kinda like a roux of sorts...
MD
Pretty good, but 2 tbs of oregano is WAY too much. When I do this next time I’ll use a lot less (on the order of 2 tsp). BTW - I was confused about tomato puree from another recipe a while back. Found out that it’s basically tomato sauce, but without the added sugar. For anyone who can’t find puree, in addition to all the other great ideas here in the notes, consider using tomato sauce, but skipping the additional sugar. Also, in a pinch I’ve used canned diced tomatoes, whirled in the blender.
Michael
Add a carrot grated with a microplane to the onion instead of sugar. It'll tame the acidity and completely dissolve in the sauce.
Ron
I think large cans of tomato puree might be hard to find. Passata, pureed and strained tomatoes, might be easier and should be as good or better.
NL
I can easily find 28 oz cans of tomato puree at my grocery stores. I like to use 1 can of puree and one can of crushed tomatoes.
D. Simms
Instead of sugar in the recipe, try a carrot while the sauce is simmering. This almost always takes care of any tomato bitterness.
Robin
Tomato puree is readily available. Tomato paste is the one that is in smaller cans (single strength) and double or even, triple concentrated) are available in tubes.
Rebecca
Doubled the recipe for dinner company. I added a bay leaf and used Chablis bc I didn’t have dry red. Delicious! Everyone liked it, kids & adults.
Keith
Different countries use different words for these products, so confusion is rife when crossing the Atlantic. In America, we use Puree for the liquidy thin stuff that becomes most sauces--what the UK calls Passata. Our Tomato Paste is the thick umami-rich stuff that comes in small cans or tubes.
Matt
Leaving the beef fat in the sauce is disgusting (and outrageously unhealthy). Draining the fat after will take most of the onion and garlic flavor with it. Cook the meat first, place on a separate dish, then do your onions et al and add the beef back to the pot and continue. Tastier and healthier.
George Wnuk
One grated carrot in place of the sugar.
Rick Salway
Ground beef, pork & veal from the butcher. Always.
J Savin
This sauce was very tasty. Made without Fennel (did not have any at the time) and it still came out really good. Made on a Thursday and ate on a Friday. The day of rest always makes the sauce that much more flavorful. Will make again with fennel and probably double the spice.
Claudia V
Sugar not necessary.
Poppa Michael
My summary of helpful comments: Leaving the beef fat in the sauce is disgusting and unhealthy. Cook the meat; drain the fat, then add the onion (pre cooked separately) and garlic. Add some sliced mushrooms (if raw, pre cook with the onion). Use only 2 tsp. of oregano, not 2 tbsp. Instead of sugar, substitute finely chopped or grated carrots for sweetness. Add 1 can of tomato paste. Consider adding a bay leaf. Consider reducing fennel. Consider using Chablis instead of red wine.
Marie Lutz
My Sicilian mother and father caramelized the onions before adding other ingredients (and I do too). This adds a depth of flavor that greatly enriches the sauce. I also prefer using some canned tomatoes in the sauce to provide more texture.
Robert
Key to Italian cooking is go light on the oregano. Finish up with sugar, butter and lemon juice to taste
Brian
Can you add vinegar to this? I have done this to spaghetti sauce recipes in the past and it turned out well.
Ignominia
This in Italy is called ragù (from the French ragout ) or meat sauce. Is the sauce you use for lasagne or baked pasta, or any kind of pasta really, but spaghetti prefers tomato, in my opinion, as the chunky sauce tends to slip off the strands and finish at the bottom of the plate..
Name Kanthony
Last thing my husband said before drifting off to sleep: “Oh, that sauce!”
SPS
This is very similar to my mother’s recipe that I have made for decades….but I use bell pepper …approx half for this much meat (added with onion, if not using dried flakes) and no fennel or sugar. I also generally use a Chianti vs a cab for the wine and a rind of Parmigiana Reggiano although mom used Parmesan.
Bob
2 teaspoons of sugar isn't going to hurt anyone.
Jay STL
I add a couple of chopped anchovy filets with the onions for an umami boost. Also use a pound of ground beef and a pound of italian sausage (fennel taken care of) and double the rest of ingredients. Freezes great. And no sugar.
Jd Mitch
Try adding a dash of ground cinnamon to the meat sauce. It really helps to add depth and balance the tomato flavour.
David Morris
Sugar doesn’t “bring out” sweetness. It adds sweetness. No?
Richard X
Both. Sugar is sweet, yes. Sugar also brings out the sweetness of tomatoes.
Robert Haines
My secret ingredient for spaghetti sauce is a tablespoon or so of Red Boat fish sauce.
CFXK
Yes. A tweak with similar results, of you don't have good fish sauce, would be to melt a couple of anchovies into the mix when you sauté the onions, which I do now routinely when making almost any sort of tomato based sauce. The anchovy-averse will never guess it was there in a million years, but will marvel at the secret ingredient that kicked up the flavor.
Matt
Leaving the beef fat in the sauce is disgusting (and outrageously unhealthy). Draining the fat after will take most of the onion and garlic flavor with it. Cook the meat first, place on a separate dish, then do your onions et al and add the beef back to the pot and continue. Tastier and healthier.
Bethany
This is the recipe I was looking for when I want American, old school spaghetti and meat sauce. I wanted to make it as written but had canned whole San Marzano tomatoes instead of puree. I used those, breaking them up, and supplemented with a tablespoon of tomato paste from the tube. Otherwise I kept everything the same. This will be my go to recipe for now on.
Potomac
-granulated sugar, +molasses, +balsamic, -parsley, +aleppo and/or berbere, +rosemary, -salt, +anchovy
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