This amazing spaghetti sauce with vegetables is packed full of nutrition and flavor. It tastes so good they will never even know!
The first time I made this recipe was a few months ago. My husband loves having pasta sauce in the freezer with some protein to add a little heartiness when he needs a quick meal. Believe it or not, I never tried that first batch of sauce, I just wasn’t feeling like spaghetti the day I made it.
He has been requesting the sauce again, so I added it to our meal rotation. This time I actually ate some. Holy cow! It was really good! I regretted not eating any of the first batch. It is packed with flavor and protein. So good.
Making the Amazing Spaghetti Sauce with Vegetables
To begin the amazing spaghetti sauce with vegetables recipe you will brown ground turkey or beef with sweet Italian sausage. The combination of the two types of meat gives it more protein, but also adds a depth of flavor one meat can’t do alone.
Next, it requires a ton of vegetables. These just need a rough chop to help them cook, nothing fancy at all. They are going to saute for a little while to get soft and then go in the blender so they disappear into the sauce and no one even knows they were there, to begin with. But, they add a ton of flavor and bulk to the sauce.
The last major component is the sauce ingredient list. We will need to add that along with the meat and vegetables to a large crockpot. I use an old 7-quart crock pot like this one, but anything the same size or larger will work.
Let the sauce simmer for 4 to 6 hours on high or 7 to 10 hours on low. The smell will permeate your home and make the whole family ask what time dinner will be.
Serve the sauce on your favorite pasta and alongside my Best Gluten-Free Crusty French Bread or Soft and Buttery Dinner Rolls for a meal everyone will love.
Amazing Spaghetti Sauce with Vegetables
Ingredients
Meats
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound ground beef or turkey
- 1 pound sweet Italian sausage
- 1 teaspoon Worchestershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Lawry's seasoning salt
Veggies
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 cups carrot, chopped
- 2 cups celery, chopped
- 2 cups onion, diced
- 1 red or green pepper, chopped
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1/4 cup red wine or grape juice
Sauce
- 2 28oz cans diced tomatoes
- 2 28 oz cans crushed tomatoes
- 1 12 oz can tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 tablespoon oregano, dried
- 1 tablespoon basil, dried
- 1/2 tablespoon thyme, dried
- 2 teaspoons beef base
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
- Add olive oil to a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add meat ingredients list. Brown the meat. Remove from the heat, drain as necessary.
- Using the same pot, add the butter to the pot. Add carrots, celery, onion and pepper. Cook until onions are translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add red wine or grape juice. Scrape any bits off the bottom of the pot for flavor. Let everything cook together for 5 minutes.
- Add all veggies to a blender or food processor(be careful they are hot!) Blend until mostly smooth.
- Add the meat to a large crock pot — 7 quarts or larger.
- Add the vegtable mixture to the crock pot.
- Add the remaining sauce ingredients to the crock pot. Stir.
- Cook on high for 4-6 hours or low for 7-10 hours. If the sauce is too watery, take the lid off for the last hour of cooking to help it thicken.
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