Homemade Meat Sauce

The BEST Homemade Meat Sauce has both beef and Italian sausage. It's perfect for lasagna, spaghetti, or zoodles, and it comes together with easy pantry ingredients.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 30

Total Time 35

Servings servings (1/2 cup each)

Calories 171kcal

Author Meggan Hill

Ingredients

2 pounds ground beef and/or ground Italian sausage (see note 1)
1 medium onion chopped (about 1 cup)
4 cloves garlic minced
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
2 tablespoons granulated sugar or to taste (see note 2)
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (see note 3)
1 teaspoon fennel seeds (see note 4)
1 bay leaf
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

In a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, add beef, sausage, and onion and cook until mostly browned, about 5 minutes. Drain if desired. Stir in garlic until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, sugar, basil, Italian seasoning, fennel seeds, and bay leaf. Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season to taste with salt and pepper (I like 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper).

Video

Notes

Ground meat: You can do 2 pounds of ground beef, 2 pounds of ground Italian sausage, or 1 pound of each.
Sugar: Even a tablespoon is too much for some people. If you don’t like the sound of sugar in your meat sauce, please leave it out. In my family, people add ¼ cup or even up to ½ cup.
Italian seasoning: It’s easy to make your own homemade Italian seasoning with dried basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme and marjoram.
Fennel seeds: The seeds make the Italian sausage flavors pop. If you love the taste of a sweet tomato sauce, use just ground beef (no sausage), at least ¼ cup sugar, and omit the fennel seeds.
Yield: This recipe makes 2 quarts (8 cups), enough for 16 servings, 1/2 cup each.
Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Freezer: The sauce can be cooled and packed into freezer-safe containers (I like glass pint jars). Leave 1/2-inch headspace for expansion. Label, date, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.

Nutrition