Mom’s 30 Minute Spaghetti Sauce
This elevated Mom-style spaghetti sauce captures all the comforting, nostalgic flavors of the jarred Prego you grew up with, but delivers a massive payoff with only 30 minutes of effort. By leaning on a few simple techniques, this sauce still develops a rich, slow-simmered depth that tastes like there were no shortcuts. It's the perfect, hearty staple to keep in your weeknight rotation.
Ingredients
- 1 lb (450g) ground chuck, 80/20
- 8 oz hot Italian pork sausage, approx. 2 links, casings removed, 225g
- 200 g onion, medium diced, 1 med-lrg
- 20 g garlic, minced or pressed, 4 cloves
- coarse salt, to taste
- 1 g dried oregano, 1/2 tsp
- 1 g red chili flake, 1/2 tsp
- 75 g tomato paste, 1/3 cup
- 15 g Beef Better Than Bouillon, 1 Tbsp
- 28 oz can crushed tomatoes, 800g
- 600 g water, or enough to fill the empty tomato can ¾ of the way
- 7-8 g granulated sugar, 2 tsp
- 10 g fresh basil, chopped, 3 Tbsp
- 450 g dry spaghetti
- olive oil, for tossing pasta
- Parmesan cheese, for garnish
Instructions
- In a large heavy-bottomed pot, cook ground beef and sausage in oil over med-high heat, breaking apart constantly until the meat is fully browned and broken down into pea-sized pieces.
- Add the diced onion, minced garlic, and a pinch of salt to the meat. Sweat for 3-5 minutes until the onions are translucent and soft.
- Stir in the tomato paste. Cook, stirring frequently, until the tomato paste begins to slightly caramelize and turns a dark, rusty red color, about 2 minutes.
- Add crushed tomatoes, sugar, bouillon, chile flake, oregano and water. Stir until everything is well incorporated.
- Bring the sauce to a simmer, then drop the heat to medium-low. Partially cover with a lid, leaving a gap for steam to escape, and let it reduce for about 20 minutes until significantly thickened. Stir every 5 minutes to keep the bottom of the pot and scorching.
- While the sauce is simmering, drop your spaghetti into a pot of boiling water and cook per package instructions.
- Drain the noodles well, shaking off excess water, and toss them with a small splash of olive oil to prevent sticking. Let them steam off for 3-4 minutes to prevent excess water from thinning out the spaghetti sauce.
- Stir the fresh chopped basil into the finished sauce off heat and taste for seasoning. Add more salt if needed.
- To serve, place a portion of noodles in a bowl, top with a generous scoop of the meat sauce, and finish with plenty of grated Parmesan cheese.
Keep an eye on the bottom of the pot, if it starts to get dark, add a small splash of water and scrape up with wooden spoon to prevent burning.
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