Faster, Better, Spaghetti & Meat Sauce
This one pot spaghetti with meat sauce breaks all the rules of how you “should” do it. But when it comes together in less than 30 minutes AND is just as good if not BETTER than the recipes that take hours? I’m sold.
Ingredients
- 450 g 80/20 ground chuck
- 225 g hot italian pork sausage, I use 2 links
- 200 g yellow onion, medium diced
- 20 g garlic, minced/pressed
- kosher salt
- 1 g dried oregano
- 1 g red chili flake
- 75 g tomato paste
- 15 g beef better than bouillon
- 800 g canned crushed tomatoes
- 800 g water, enough water to fill the tomato can
- 7-8 g granulated sugar
- 10 g fresh basil, chopped
- 340 g dried spaghetti, broken in half
- 50 g grated parmesan + extra for garnish
Instructions
- Heat a dutch oven or large heavy bottomed pot over medium high. Add a bit of oil, the ground beef, and sausage, breaking the meat apart into small pieces as it cooks – i use a meat smasher for this.
- When the meat begins to brown and is well broken down, stir in the onion, garlic, and a pinch of salt, making sure to scrape up any meat fond stuck to the bottom of the pot. Cover and cook for 5 minutes.
- Now is a good time to preheat your oven to 425°F/220°C.
- After 5 minutes of cooking, stir in oregano, chile flake, and tomato paste and cook for a minute or so until tomato paste is well incorporated.
- Stir in bouillon and can of crushed tomatoes, water, 6-8g/1½ tsp salt, 7-8g/2tsp sugar and bring to a simmer.
- Stir in basil. Add in spaghetti and gently stir and press down to submerge noodles. Simmer for about 60 seconds.
- Carefully stir noodles again to fully submerge noodles. Transfer the pot to the oven to cook, uncovered for 16-18 minutes, gently stirring and submerging at 5 and 10 minutes into cooking. Taste for doneness and seasoning and adjust if necessary. Stir in grated parm.
- Garnish with additional parm.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
Do you think I can substitue spaghetti for pappardelle noodles?
it SHOULD work since they have similar cook times, but we only tested this method with spaghetti.
Very very yummy! I blended up some pineapple into the sauce as well!
I just realized I don’t have any tomato paste. Can I still make the recipe without? Thank you!
This has become a family favorite for sure! Even my father abandoned his red sauce recipe he’s used for close to four decades and uses this now. We also like to make just the sauce and put it on lasagna.
I found the video for this recipe a little while ago and it has become an immediate favorite in my household. My family pesters me to make it pretty often and it is perhaps the best recipe for a quick, easy, and delicious spaghetti dish I’ve ever found. I don’t think I’m exaggerating saying my pasta is better than I’ve had at any restaurant I’ve been too.
Thank you very much for putting this together and provide such extensive and verbose instructions, it’s really been treat to make this dish when anyone is in the mood for pasta.