My Pasta Meat Sauce

This meat sauce is one that I’ve added to and tweaked over the last eleven or so years. It’s become such a standard sauce that I use for everything from spaghetti to lasagna, and I don’t really even measure anything anymore, just add it in as it looks good!

It’s a very basic recipe and can be multiplied for however big of a batch you might need. It’s also very forgiving as far as what you might have on hand. I’ve had to substitute dehydrated onion before when I thought I had fresh in the pantry, etc. You can even make it vegetarian and omit the meat altogether.

Canned pasta sauce might be faster, but it definitely won’t be this tasty!

Heather’s Meat Sauce for Pasta

1 lb ground meat of your choice (beef, turkey or Italian sausage)
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
1 cup chopped onion
4 cloves chopped garlic
1 15 oz can tomato sauce
1 6 oz can tomato paste
oregano
basil
salt
pepper

~ Brown the meat, onion and garlic until no pink remains and vegetables are soft, drain. Add diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, oregano, basil, salt and pepper to taste, stir well (if using fresh basil and oregano, don’t add until the end of the cooking time). Cover and simmer on low for about 20 minutes or until whatever pasta you’re making is done as well.

~ If you’re making something like spaghetti or macaroni, etc, stir about 1/2 to 1 cup of the pasta water into the sauce. This will loosen it up a bit but not let it get watery. If you’re using the sauce for lasagna, don’t add the extra water.