Made with ground beef and sweet Italian sausage, which makes the meat sauce pop and store-bought sauce! Seasoned to perfection and filled with onions, peppers, tomatoes, and mushrooms.
Looking for a delicious easy spaghetti and meat sauce recipe? A spaghetti and meat sauce recipe guaranteed to excite your taste buds? Well, look no further because this is THE ONE!!!
This here is soul food-style spaghetti and meat sauce folks. It’s the bomb.com and makes for a perfect mid-week dinner. So check it out and tell me what you think in the comments below!!!
An Italian classic
Spaghetti and meat sauce/balls is considered an Italian dish but it’s one of American’s favorite things to eat, especially for dinner. I don’t know too many people who don’t like Spaghetti. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people say it’s their favorite dish.
So I had to do a video on how to make some fiya Spaghetti which I uploaded to my Youtube channel over 7 years ago. So if you’re a visual learner, check it out!
Easy Spaghetti And Meat Sauce Video
My first successful dish
Spaghetti was one of the first dishes I mastered as a teen, which is when I really started to develop a love for cooking and realized I was pretty good at it. 2003 at 16 was when I really started to impress my mom and grandmom with my dishes.
I came from a family of really good cooks, my grandfather Milton Taylor worked as a Chef for Lord & Taylor’s for many years and almost everyone on my father’s side can cook their butts off. So I guess you can say I had a natural talent for it???
But I sorta got into cooking out of necessity… I’m not so sure I would have fell in love with it if it wasn’t for my grandma Viola being so lazy! Hahaha! I moved in with my grandma during the early 2000s, around 2001 or so.
And my grandmom was sort of a homebody. She was a pretty solid cook but just didn’t like to unless she had to. Her husband Carlton McCloud was pretty much the cook in the house and he also did all of the food shopping.
But the problem is he was rarely ever home so who was left to cook for MS LAZY… your guess was right, Philly boy Jay! He would stack the cabinets with a bunch of box and can foods, filled the refrigerator with juices, sodas, and every condiment known to man.
And the freezer and deep freezer in the basement, were never NOT FULL! So there was more than enough food in the house, AT ALL TIMES, for me to cook for my grandma and I did just that.
I remember fried fish being one of the first things my family trusted me to cook in 2001 at age 14 and I ruined it. What was I thinking seasoning fish with sugar? SMH!!! My aunt Pam was so mad at me for WASTING 2 lbs of Whiting she bought.
She would always fry fish and bake mac n cheese every Friday night after work. The fam was pissed yall… it took about 2 years for them to trust me enough to cook something for them again.
By this time, I had watched my grandma and McCloud cook a thousand times, was more mature, and had a better sense of how certain foods was supposed to be prepared and cooked.
So they finally gave me another chance and I nailed it when I made a big pot of spaghetti and yall IN MY OPINION, it’s better than this Spaghetti recipe here because I added cheese to it.
I don’t GO IN, if yall know what I mean when creating recipes, because when doing so you have to cook in a way that appeases the masses. You can’t cook like you’re cooking for yourself. Plus im a better freestyle cook…
That’s where you just season things using your eyes and experiences and not using measuring cups and spoons! Lol! Anyway, I say all this to say Spaghetti and meat sauce will always hold a special place in my heart.
It’s not only one of the first dishes I mastered but it’s what made me fall in love with cooking and convinced my family that I was good enough to cook when they didn’t feel like it.
I later went onto make a whole Thanksgiving dinner by myself for my family in 2006 and they absolutely loved. It was official at age 19, that Philly boy Jay knew how to cook and was a good cook.
Cookware & utensils you’ll need:
- Large skillet: You need this to fry the meat and saute the veggies.
- Knife: To chop the vegetables.
- 2 Spatulas: Use 2 spatulas to break up the meat.
- Large pot: You need a large size pot to boil the spaghetti in.
- Colander: A colander to strain the spaghetti once it’s done.
- Tongs: Tongs to transfer and or plate the spaghetti.
- Big Spoon: A big spoon to stir and scoop the meat sauce.
Ingredients you’ll need:
- Pasta: Spaghetti
- Vegetable add-ins: Onions, Green Peppers, Red Peppers, Diced Tomatoes, and Garlic.
- Meat: Ground beef and Sweet Italian Sausage
- Sauce: Mushroom Prego Sauce and tomato paste
- Seasonings: Seasoning salt, Creole Seasoning, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Italian Seasoning, Sugar, and Black Pepper
“Al Dente”?
Spaghetti is done when it’s al dente, which in Italian means “to the tooth”! That means not so done to where it’s soggy but tender with a bite, which is how most people like their pasta.
The last thing you want is white, bloated, soggy spaghetti! YUCK! So I usually cook my spaghetti over high heat for 10-12 mins, then remove it from the pot and strain immediately.
Common questions about Spaghetti
- Do you break the spaghetti in half? I like to break it just once but it’s completely optional. Traditionally, you wouldn’t! Some love long never-ending strings of Spaghetti quirling around the fork.
They believe long Spaghetti is the right and only way Spaghetti should be eaten. Lol! But breaking the spaghetti once in half makes for more spaghetti and, quite frankly, easy to cook, serve, and eat. - Do you add salt to your pasta water? Yes, salt adds flavor to the spaghetti so I season the water with about 2 teaspoon or so of salt before it comes to a boil. How much I add depends on how much I’m making.
- Do you add oil? Yes, because spaghetti, like linguine, fettuccine, and other stringy long pasta, tends to stick. So to ensure it doesn’t, it’s good to add a little oil to the pasta water. Sticking spaghetti is the worst and can’t be undone.
- Do you rinse the spaghetti once it’s done? With salad I do but you want the spaghetti to retain its starch to help the sauce stick so dont rinse it. Just make sure to remove it from the hot water as soon as it’s al dente to prevent overcooking.
- Do you season your spaghetti once it’s done? Personally, I do! I sprinkle it with garlic powder or minced garlic, and add maybe a teaspoon or so of butter. Then I beautify it with a little parsley or parsley flakes.
Sometimes I’ll sprinkle in a little seasoning salt just to season it a bit and give the overall dish more flavor. A little seasoning dont hurt, just dont overdo it. I do all this before topping it with the meat sauce.
About The Vegetables
- Onions: These are a must when creating a meat sauce.
- Garlic: Garlic just like onions is the foundation of a good meat sauce.
- Green & Red Bell Peppers: It’s not spaghetti to me without peppers.
- Diced tomatoes: Not necessary, but if you like a chunky sauce like I do, you’ll use it.
About the tomato sauce and paste
- Mushroom sauce – Now the sauce you use is up to you. You can use a traditional sauce, a cheese sauce, a garlic sauce, or whatever flavor or type of sauce you like best.
I love mushrooms in my spaghetti so I use mushroom sauce because of what it gives the dish. Sometimes, when I can’t find mushroom sauce I chop up a small amount of fresh mushrooms and add them to the sauce.
Just putting that out there for folk like me who like mushrooms in their spaghetti. The point is, the sauce is up to you just use a good brand of sauce like Prego or Ragu, which are my two personal favorites. - Tomato paste: Paste darkens the sauce, and most importantly thickens the sauce. I feel it’s important to use it to give the meat sauce a more traditional look and consistency. If you go without it your sauce may be runny or soupy.
I only use a little though not too much because it has a strong tomato flavor. But yea tomato paste give the spaghetti rich a rich color and makes it look more appetizing. And it’s nothing worse than sauce that doesn’t stick to the pasta.
About the ground beef and sausage
- Ground beef: Ok so ground beef I dont care what anyone says, is the traditional and safe choice of meat here. It’s what EVERYONE uses for a traditional meat sauce and what people commonly use for their meat sauce.
- Sweet Italian sausage: Not everyone adds this to their meat sauce mainly because it’s pork and we’re living in a health-conscious era where people are eliminating pork from their diet.
But this is an Italian dish so wouldn’t this be the best time to use Italian sausage? Lol! I personally don’t make spaghetti without sweet Italian sausage. It takes the meat sauce to another dimension…
When I first started cooking I thought this was sort of a secret ingredient but so many people make their meat sauce using sweet Italian sausage it’s no way I can say that now. Haha!
About the sugar
“SUGAR.. SUGAR?” Yes, SUGAR! PROBLEM? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked why I add sugar to my sauce. It’s annoying because the answer is obvious if you’ve been cooking for more than a year. To REDUCE THE ACIDITY!
Now Italians will frown at the idea of adding sugar to tomato sauce… but I don’t care because Im not trying to make my spaghetti like Italians, no offense to them and how they make it. But this is soul food style spaghetti and meat sauce baby.
Some people love the bitterness of tomato sauce, I don’t and neither do many others. I always add sugar to my tomato sauce, I don’t care what I’m making. Pizza, chicken Parm, Lasagna, Stuffed Bell Peppers, Baked Ziti, even tomato soup!
The only instance where I may not add it is when I’m making ravioli’s. But yea I’m just not of fan of the bitterness. What’s interesting is how people will literally take offense to this as if what you’re doing is sacrilegious or a disrespect to one’s culture. LMBBO!!!
And what’s funny is I’ve gone to many Italian shops and eaten their pizza, and they’ve even told me they add sugar to their pizza sauce not that I needed them to tell me because you can taste it. Anywhoooo, this is why I add sugar though.
Sorry for the rant! Im sure you all can sense how much this has annoyed me over the years. I just cant stand when somebody tells you what’s suppose to and not suppose to go on food like there’s a law on how to make things.
Orrrr as if you’re only supposed to make things one way. No, make things to YOUR LIKING as I always say and stop worrying about how other people make their food. Remember, you gotta be happy with whats going in your mouth.
How to make meat sauce
1. FIRST THINGS FIRST, place a skillet over medium heat and cook the ground beef and sausage until it’s no longer pink. This should take about 10 minutes. Make sure you chop the meat up until it’s nice and fine.
2. Chop up the onions and peppers now look… I know it’s hard out here and we don’t got time to be getting rid of food so we store it and use it for a later time. But some things aren’t meant to be preserved or stored, especially in the freezer.
If you have old onions and peppers you stored in the freezer, they will not only be limp by the time they thawl out, but the liquid from the frozen onions and peppers will extend the cooking time and they wont have a crunch or bite to them.
But if they’re all you have on hand, do you. Try to sit them out ahead of time and hopefully they’ll dry and harden up a bit? Maybe you can steam out the liquid so they’ll retain a crunch once you fry them with the meat, idk! Lol!
3. Drain the fat then add in the seasonings and chopped onions and peppers and let it continue cooking. Add the minced garlic towards the end because it tends to burn quickly or you just can just wait and add the minced garlic to the sauce.
4. Add in the sauce, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and the sugar, then stir it all in and let it simmer under a lid until the sauce thickens and warms up. Make sure there’s a little crack on the side.
How to prepare the Spaghetti
1. Fill a pot with water, add a little salt, and place it over high heat.
2. Once it comes to a boil, add the oil, and spaghetti, and cook until al dente.
3. Add in some butter, a little seasoning, like garlic powder, and garnish with parsley flakes.
Want to spice it up? Here are some options!
- Cheddar cheese – When Im just making this for myself and not creating a recipe to appease the taste buds of millions of people, I add cheddar cheese to the sauce and OMG is all I can say…
If you’re a lover of cheese like I am and love the combination of cheese and sauce, you’d probably love this addition. If you want to use another cheese besides cheddar, you can do so. - Fried pork bacon bits – The first time I tried spaghetti with fried bacon in it was during my vacation it Venice Italy. It was delicious and the next time I made spaghetti when I got back home, I made sure to add it.
I didn’t add a lot of bacon though. I only fried 2 strips, broke them up into bits, and stirred them into my meat sauce. I really enjoyed it and so did the friend I had over who requested spaghetti. Lol! - Fresh mushrooms – As I mentioned earlier, mushrooms don’t have to be an alternative they can be just something you add to make it a part of the recipe. I do sometimes when I’m in the mood.
- Shrimp: Some of my longtime followers may remember me posting my shrimp spaghetti dinner a few years back on my IG account when I returned from my vacation in Jamaica.
Shrimp for me is the best choice if I want to spice my spaghetti up. Try it it’s super good and for those of you who can’t have it, damn damn damn… I feel sorry for you, reeeeal sorry! - Jalapeno’s – Chop up some jalapenos and add them to the spaghetti! Make it a Mexican-style spaghetti dish! These are my recommendations to spice up spaghetti. If I try anything new and like it, I’ll come back and update this list.
What to serve spaghetti and meat sauce with
- Fried chicken: Spaghetti to me is best eaten as a side dish on the side of some crispy fried chicken, OMG! It gives you chicken parmesan vibes. Chicken goes with everything so you know this combo works.
But think about it, sauce and cheese (if you decide to add cheese) over crispy chicken. In no world can you go wrong with fried chicken with spaghetti on the side. It’s definitely a classic combo for the ages. - Fried fish: Now this might surprise some of my fellow Northerners but this fried fish/spaghetti and meat sauce combo is very popular down south. I tried it once and really enjoyed it, so I see why.
- Fried pork chops: Ok so I guess it’s fair to say Spaghetti and meat sauce just taste great and go well with fried food because that seems to be a common theme here so far right? McCloud always ate it with fried pork chops.
- Seared steak: This has become one of my favorite combos. And when I’ve decided to make spaghetti as a side dish to steak, I’d usually, just make the sauce without meat.
Steak is beef so it makes no sense to serve beef with steak. Just the pasta and sauce are enough to complete a steak and spaghetti meal. It taste just like spaghetti and meat sauce since steak is beef. Lol! - Tossed salad: Ok so you’re not thinking about meat? Well, toss salad is almost to spaghetti what gravy is to rice. It’s a common side to spaghetti and meat sauce.
- Spinach: Spinach is personally my favorite vegetable to eat with spaghetti, asparagus is a good option as well. Spinach with a splash of vinegar with spaghetti and meat sauce hits different. Omg!
How to store meat sauce
Didn’t eat it all and want to save some for later? Like later later? Lol! Well that’s ok because meat sauce can be preserved by keeping it tightly sealed in a jar and placing it in the refrigerator.
Or, if you’re planning on saving it for a week or longer, place it in a Ziploc bag and make sure it’s tightly sealed. Then store it in the freezer and it’ll stay fresh for months.
Frequently asked questions
- Can I make homemade tomato sauce? Yes! If you want to be Mr or Ms fancy Nancy, go right ahead. As long as you have a good “sauce from scratch” recipe. I know how to make homemade sauce but I’m lazy so I rarely do.
- How to rewarm it? If you have leftover spaghetti and want to rewarm it, it’s probably best to reheat it in a microwave if you’ve combined the spaghetti and meat sauce. This way the spaghetti won’t become too soggy.
If you didn’t combine the spaghetti with the meat sauce you should rewarm the meat sauce in a pot or skillet with a little water over low heat until hot and reheat the spaghetti in the microwave for a minute.
Alright yall that’ll be it for now. The full recipe with all the measurements and detailed instructions can be printed below. Im glad after all these years I was able to put numbers to this dish and I hope yall love it as much as before.
If you do enjoy this dish please give me a 5 star rating and leave a comment below. And make sure you share this recipe with your friends and family and subscribe to receive notifications when I post new recipes.
Enjoy, later!
PBJ~
Easy Spaghetti And Meat Sauce Recipe (Made with Ground Beef & Store Bought Sauce)
An easy spaghetti recipe guaranteed to please your taste buds. This here is soul food style spaghetti and meat sauce. It’s the bomb.com and makes for a perfect mid week dinner.
- Total Time: 1 Hr
- Yield: 4-6
Ingredients
8–12oz Spaghetti
2 Qts Water
1 Lb Ground Beef
1/2 Lb Sweet Italian Sausage
1 Tbs Olive Oil
1 Tbs Butter
1-1/2 (24oz) Jars of Mushroom Pasta Sauce
1/2 Cup Onions, finely chopped
1/4 Cup Green Bell Peppers, finely chopped
1/4 Cup Diced Tomatoes
2 Tbs Red Bell Peppers, finely chopped
1 Tbs Tomato Paste
1 Tbs Minced Garlic
4 Tsps White Sugar
1 Tbs Seasoning Salt
1/2 Tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 Tsp Onion Powder
1/2 Tsp Italian Seasoning
1/2 Tsp Tony’s Creole Seasoning
1/4 Tsp Black Pepper
Parsley
Instructions
1. Place a skillet over medium heat, add the ground beef and sausage, and cook until brown (about 10 mins) then drain fat. *Make sure you break the meat up with a spatula into fine peices while it cooks*
2. Chop up the onions and peppers then add them and the seasonings (except Tony’s and Parsley), then stir well and cook for 5 minutes.
3. Stir in the minced garlic once it’s done.
4. Add in the sauce, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and sugar, then stir well.
5. Cover with a lid and cook for 10 additional minutes.
6. Meanwhile, fill another pot with 2qts water and place over high heat.
7. Once it comes to a boil add in the spaghetti and boil for 10-12 minutes then drain.
8. Season the spaghetti with Tony’s seasoning and Parsley and add the butter, then stir well.
- Prep Time: 30 Mins
- Cook Time: 35 Mins
- Category: Pasta
- Method: American
- Cuisine: Italian
by
2 Responses
My spaghetti came out absolutely delicious! Thank you for this wonderful recipe Jay! I’ve been following you for quite sometime and every recipe I’ve made came out perfect! Anybody who says otherwise didn’t follow your detailed instructions!
Well thanks Sapphire, especially for following the recipe to a T! Glad it made your taste buds happy.