How to Make a Delicious Italian Meat Sauce

This Italian meat sauce will transform any of your favorite Italian dishes! It's made with beef and sausage and is full of robust flavor from red wine, Italian tomatoes, and Parmigiano rinds simmered with the sauce. Layer it in lasagnas, baked zitis, and stuffed shells, or serve with your favorite pasta!

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[Varnaj]

Thanks for a well thought out presentation. I'm an 88 year old widower who does his own cooking. I'm going to buy the ingredients today and cook it up tomorrow. I especially like the music. I call it elevator bossa nova but no matter. It's mellow and relaxing.

[maries]

Happy Holidays, Bethany! I just love your channel. I am 59 years old and have been cooking since my teenage years—way before the internet—relying on cookbooks and other written recipes, along with family and friends and their input. The funny thing is, I grew up in a Cuban American family so most of the cooking I learned from my mom, grandma, and family was Cuban dishes... but Italian was something that I always gravitated towards. lol. To the point where my mom would laugh and say to me 'They must have switched my baby at the hospital for you to cook all these Italian dishes' lol.

This recipe of yours is EXACTLY how I have been making my 'go-to' sauce for all these years!!!! I do have a habit of adding a little bit of Italian oregano to the sauce. About 30 years ago, I began using much better canned tomatoes, which changed my cooking world. You are so right about that! In my pantry, I always always always have imported cans as well as the Bianca Napoli that you used here! Imported olive oils, good quality meats, sausage, always parmesan reggiano, and red wine (I love using Daou as it isn't too expensive, and good to drink what doesn't go into the pot).

Thank you a million times over for sharing all of your recipes, tips and advice! Oh, I did follow your bolognese sauce and it was wonderful!!!! Hugs from Los Angeles!!! xoxo

[DugEphresh]

So nice to see she has done her mother and Grandmother proud. Such a lovely post.

[soundspartan]

Rinsing the cans to get all the goodies out is a MUST!
Subscribed.

[DetroitLions]

Made the sauce and really loved it!
I added fresh basil and I’m going to use this for a huge lasagna I’m making for Christmas Eve dinner!
Thank you beautiful Bethany,

[Anyonesguess]

Sweet memories of Mama's house on Sundays! I used to take the leftover sauce, slice a seeded Italian lengthwise, drown it with the sauce, top it with my mom's roasted peppers & thinly sliced mozzarella or locatelli. Then I'd put it under the broiler for about 2-3 minutes. Now that was sauce heaven! Good food, good family & good memories. No 5 Star restaurant can give you better than that.

[OrionsBluff]

Nothing better than simmering a chunky meat sauce with extra garlic on a cold winter afternoon. Good for the soul.

[ADR-jm]

We raised 7 children which means everything we cook is large batch. Unfortunately/fortunately they have all grown up, moved on and started their own families. While my recipes have not changed, the number of feet under the table has certainly diminished. That means I have learned to pressure can. Now, I make spaghetti sauce in 15 gallon batches at a time thanks to the local restaurant supply store. That allows it to simmer for 24 hours or more before canning. One thing I learned from your video was to cook the tomato paste into the meat before I add all of the crushed and whole tomatoes. I also have a bag of Parm rinds in a bag waiting for a useful purpose. Thanks! I'm going to prepare batch this weekend and I'm going to try your approach. Thank you for all of your contributions.

[nickrizzi]

You have stolen my tummy, and my cooking heart with your videos. Your kitchen has ransacked my brain! I follow several cooking vids for years now because I love cooking (even more than eating) but Your clips are just so awesome. Thanks for each And look forward to the next. (P.s. your chronology of ingredient inclusions is always spot on, and glad you didn't use baking soda on this recipe as some insist.) True blessings to you all and families this 2024 Holiday season!!

[empresslonnielove]

The people I know in South Philly calls it Gravy... Looks good love this

[dayman]

Bethany, OMG this sauce is AMAZING! Never made my own sauce before, but I'm becoming a pro with this recipe. Made it every week since I found you! Thank You so much for sharing this recipe!!! Loving all of your videos!!

[tims]

I made the mistake of watching this video on a day I was fasting. This made me really, really hungry.

[DJ_Cue]

This side of the pond I've never seen parm rinds used in a sauce. What a brilliant idea, added to my todos ❤

[akasgsvirgil]

Here's some facts about Italian Cuisine that most Americans may find interesting. Before I begin, I learned to cook in Italy before moving to the US where I owned and operated two restaurants and sold them for my retirement. For the last eight years, I've taught culinary at a local junior college. One of my favorite pastimes is "freaking out" the students with fun facts such as "spaghetti and meatballs is not an Italian dish" etc. lol!

Anyway, sauces in Italy are confusing. Im an Italian who was born and raised in Italy and even I get confused sometimes. But, Italians love nothing if not their "exceptions", especially to rules.

So, with that said, a sauce in Italy that is meat-based and simmered for hours is called a "ragu". Whereas, tomato-based sauces are called "marinara". Now, marinara can have meat in them. But, the meat is not the main feature nor is it the basis for the sauce's flavor. That role belongs to the tomatoes. Proteins are used in marinara as filler. In fact, your just as likely to find seasonal mushrooms in marinara as you are meat. If a protein is used, more often than not, the protein isn't beef. It will be chicken or turkey, often wild turkey, rabbit or wild boar or, in locations near the coast, seafood, which are often fan favorites. Goose, duck, lamb, veal, calamari, shrimp, clams....these proteins are just as likely to be found in tomato-based sauces as beef.

This is not to be confused with Bolognese, which is a meat based sauce and also a "ragu". Bolognese is not tomato based. Its meat-based. But, some folks use a bit of tomato paste or passata for extra richness. Although the use of tomato derivatives may qualify as "authentic", you're gonna get the "stink-eye" in places like Sienna, Italy, if you're using any tomato products in your Bolognese.

Where most people outside of Italy get it wrong is when they automatically assume tomatoes are used in most or all Italian sauces. They are not. Tomatoes are but one of many, many ingredients that can be used to make sauces in Italy. In fact, tomatoes are not the most commonly used ingredient in sauces in Italy. The most common and most popular sauces in Italy don't have tomatoes in them at all. For example, Cacio e' pepe and aglio e olio are the most popular and most common sauces in Italy. This "fun fact" usually causes my students heads to explode. lol.

So, here's another mind blower. See those onions and garlic going into the pot in this video? Nope. Italians don't really use onions when making tomato-based sauces. The emphasis of marinara is the tomato. The tomato flavor is accentuated by the garlic and herbs. To Italians, the onion's powerful flavor would take away from the flavor of the tomato, which is the focus of the sauce. Italians do, indeed, love their tomatoes. No question about that. Oh, and those "San Marzano's"? Don't get me started on that! Lol!

Second mind blower - Basil is not the only herb used in marinara nor is it the most common. Thyme, sage, rosemary etc, are just as common, if not more common. Fun, quick story - the chef who trained me made a marinara with mint and oregano that would make the Holy Virgin Mother Herself swear like a merchant marine. lol! So,

If I were in Jersey, the sauce made in this video is what I would expect. Its rich, hearty, flavorful and without any doubt, one of those dishes that will keep you eating even though you're stuffed to the gills. But, its not authentic. Again, this is not a criticism or "throwing shade" or, as my nonna used to say, "anciando il diavolo"- loosely translated, "throwing the devil", which is in reference to the tradition of tossing a stone under the tree or bush to "scare off the devil" - (this came from the Middle East, btw). I'm just bringing into relief the contrast between Italian-American cuisine and what Italians eat. (notice I didn't say "traditional" or "authentic"?)

To be fair, I really don't like the use of the word "authentic" when describing Italian cuisine. Italian immigrants came to America and that caused the single greatest evolution of Italian cuisine since the Crusades. Ingredients were available to Italians in America that most couldn't afford in Italy. Other ingredients were not available at all. So, what did Italian immigrants do? They do what Italians do best: they "make more with less". The improvise, they adapt and in the process, made some of the most widely renowned and recognized dishes in the world. So, I say "Bravissimo!!! I cherish seeing young cooks carry on with inspirations from Italy as this young chef is doing in this video.

At this point, I must ask forgiveness for this long winded rant. Teaching has forced me to learn the keyboard and I find that my propensity for gabbing, which is decidedly Italian, has found its way to my fingers and has pressed them into service. 🙂

How would this sauce be made if it were made in Italy? Would it be tastier? No. I don't think so. Would it be better? No. That's subjective. It would be different. Yes, of course. But, -how- would it be different is the point.

First, no onions. Second, if there is a meat protein, a fraction of what's used in this video would be involved. Be creative. The pallet is yours. Think outside of the box. I actually had a student once who made a marinara and used fois gras as the protein. I dug it. But, we had a long talk about the value of temperance when it comes to "creative juices". lol!

Second, double the garlic and the finer the mince of the garlic, the better. I usually prep the garlic first because I dice it so finely that its almost a paste. This is a technique. The "technique" is the dynamic that is shared between the tomato and the garlic. Garlic that is almost pureed marries to the tomato's flavors in ways that cannot be captured by words. I'm sure there's some complex, scientific explanation that I don't pretend to know or, if I did, understand. But, what I do know is this union is sublime.

Next, just add the tomatoes. Seedless, skinless tomatoes of good quality.

This recipe does not call for the sauce to simmer for hours. About 45 minutes will do. Once the tomatoes are cooked, the sauce is ready. There's never a need to simmer marinara for hours. In fact, it destroys the flavor of the tomatoes. The sauce in this video is some sort of hybrid between "Bolognese" and marinara.

In this video, the bella ragazza adds tomato paste and then, the canned tomatoes. This is like adding water to boiling water. So, there's no need for the tomato paste.

Mind blower #3 coming up. Wine? No. For culinary purposes, wine is acid. There's already an abundance of acid from the tomatoes. A good sauce is made by neutralizing acid, not adding it. Its a myth that simmering tomatoes for hours reduces acidity. It actually increases acidity. Tomatoes are judged by their acidity. Canned tomatoes are canned precisely because they are not the best tomatoes. If they were good, they would've been sold fresh. Remember this the next time you buy a can of tomatoes.

"Drink the wine (don't put in your tomato sauce), praise the God of all and let the world be the world". The French got this saying from Italians.

God bless and buona fortuna.

[johnwray]

OMG. I made this today and it was by far the best meat sauce I’ve made. Only thing I did different was brown the meat first, used two cans of whole tomatoes and one of strained tomatoes, also added a whole carrot to the sauce. Served it over Tagliatelle pasta. Thank you for sharing this amazing recipe.

[LilyRobinson-rj]

This is the best recipe, I've tried several others, but now I only make it according to your recipe

[-RONNIE]

It's always good to have a multiple recipes of meat sauces

[johnakaoldguy]

I made this recipe this morning and it is delicious. I used 1.5lbs each of ground beef and 1.5lbs of sweet and hot sausages. The fennel in the sausage adds so much flavor. Definitely worth making.

[debbiezullo]

I prefer to brown the meat separately so it deeply browned. Otherwise, all the ingredients are basically the same as I make it. Love your videos. I wish you much success ♥️

[chubbfatboi]

I made this sauce yesterday I use Italian chicken sausage instead of the pork and 80/20 ground beef came out great thx for the recipe