I felt that it was necessary to share a recipe that is all my own and not something I found somewhere on Pinterest. This recipe has taken a lot of experimenting to get it just perfect for our family. We like a spaghetti sauce with lots of textures; meaning CHUNKY. This is filled with ground meat, hearty chunks of veggies and no added sugar. This was the first meal that is part of our family meal plan for next week. I plan on posting our complete meal plan tomorrow.
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There is no need to add sugar to this sauce because grated carrots are used to sweeten it up a bit. I don’t remember where I heard or read about the revelation, but I’m sure glad I did! There are already so many things that have added sugar and I feel this should not be one of them. Most jarred sauces will have this ingredient if you take a look!
We use this to top pasta with as well as use in recipes like lasagna or spaghetti pie. Even though it has lots of veggies, it is toddler approved in our home!
In the recipe below I mention specific vegetables but feel free to swap out, eliminate or add some more. We are growing some sweet peppers in our garden that would be amazing in this that I will use next time. Different types of meat would work too, like an Italian sausage for example. I have used both ground meat and sweet Italian turkey sausage to use in a lasagna and it was delicious!
I simmered this sauce on LOW for about an hour and forty-five minutes this time. You do not have to simmer that long, but I would not simmer for any less than one hour so that the flavors can marry and the sauce thickens up properly. That is the only real “rule” I use when making this sauce.
If you have been following me on Instagram you know that I am a huge fan of Aldi. Even though it is not a one-stop shop kind of store, since they don’t really have everything, it is always the first stop we make on grocery day. You can’t beat the prices on canned goods (As well as many other items)! This is really the only place I buy my canned tomato products.
The first step is to brown your meat with the carrots, onion, and garlic.
Next, you add in the mushrooms and zucchini. I like to cut my zucchini is thick slices and then quarter them. They seem to cook the best this way.
After stirring up the vegetables add in all your spices and Worcestershire sauce. Except for salt, cracked pepper and bay leaves. I like to do the salt and pepper by taste a little later and the bay leaves can be fragile so they go in later as well. Stir again.
The last ingredients to add are all of your canned items, bay leaves, salt and pepper to taste.
Give it a good stir and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to VERY LOW. This can and will burn if you have it too high. I have made that mistake plenty of times. Simmer for a minimum of one hour. Remove bay leaves and eat up!!
Chunky Garden Style Spaghetti Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 small sweet onion
- 1/3` cup grated carrots
- 1 medium zucchini in big chunks
- 8 ounces baby bella mushrooms sliced
- 2 large garlic cloves minced
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon basil
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon Lawry's seasoned pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt (or to taste)
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cup water
- 1 20 ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 1 8 ounce can tomato sauce
- 1 14.5 ounce can fire roasted tomatoes
- 2 6 ounce cans tomato paste
Instructions
- Heat a splash of olive oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add ground beef, onion, garlic and carrots and cook until meat is browned.
- Add zucchini and mushrooms, stir. Add Worcestershire sauce, red pepper flakes, basil, oregano and Italian seasoning. Stir. Cook until zucchini is crisp-tender (do not overcook).
- Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, fire roasted tomatoes, tomato paste, and water. Add in bay leaves, salt, and pepper. Stir. Bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to a VERY LOW simmer. Cook stirring occasionally for AT LEAST one hour. Remove bay leaves and enjoy!
Notes
