• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • Recipes
    • Appetizers
    • Breakfast
    • Desserts
    • Dinner
    • Drinks
    • Gluten Free
    • Mexican Food
    • One Pot
    • Paleo
    • Pasta
    • Quick Meal
    • Recipe Videos
    • Salads
    • Sandwiches and Burgers
    • Skillet Meal
    • Soups
    • Tacos
    • Vegan
  • About
    • Copyright
    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclosure and Content Uses
    • Image Usage Policy
    • Nutrition Disclaimer
  • Cookbook
  • Contact

A Simple Pantry logo

Home » Pasta » Easy Weeknight Meat Sauce Recipe

Published: Oct 27, 2020 · Modified: Oct 27, 2020 by Karly · This post may contain affiliate links

Easy Weeknight Meat Sauce Recipe

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

Hearty, bold, and full of flavor, this Weeknight Meat Sauce Recipe cooks up in 30 minutes for a dinner the whole family will love. With an abundance of fresh produce and pantry staples, layers of flavor come together to create a meal that will feed a crowd, or provide leftovers for a few extra days (did somebody say “lunch“?!). Perfect with egg noodles, this dish is finished with fresh scallions, parsley, and a delicious mound of cheddar cheese for good measure. Eat up!

easy weeknight meat sauce topped with scallions, parsley, and cheddar cheese

How To Customize This Meat Sauce Recipe

  • My favorite part of this sauce is the sneaky addition of diced zucchini. If you don’t have any on hand, you can use yellow summer squash or even butternut squash. Alternatively, you can omit the zucchini all together.
  • If you don’t have any red bell pepper paste on hand, swap it with the same amount of tomato paste.
  • Want a bit more spice? Increase the amount of red pepper flakes, or alternatively, throw a few dashes of your favorite hot sauce into the mix.
  • If you can’t find 15-ounce cans of crushed tomatoes, swap it with a can of petite diced tomatoes, but don’t drain them. The fire-roasted variety would be a nice flavor boost, too.
  • This recipe uses 2 pounds of ground beef, but you can easily swap one of those pounds for Italian sausage, or ground lamb.

delicious weeknight meat sauce recipe with green onions, parsley, and cheddar cheese

Easy Weeknight Meat Sauce Recipe

Hearty, bold, and full of flavor, this Weeknight Meat Sauce Recipe cooks up in 30 minutes with an abundance of fresh produce and pantry staples, creating a meal that will feed a crowd! Perfect with egg noodles, this dish is finished with fresh scallions, parsley, and a delicious mound of cheddar cheese.
0 from 0 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dinner, Italian, Main, Main Course, Sauce
Cuisine: American, Comfort Food, Italian
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Servings: 12
Calories: 250kcal
Author: Karly Gomez

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 large sweet yellow onion diced
  • 2 small red bell peppers seeded and diced
  • 2 tablespoons fresh garlic minced
  • 2 lbs lean ground beef
  • 2 small zucchini diced
  • 2 ½ tablespoons Italian seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • ¼ cup red bell pepper paste
  • 43 oz can crushed tomatoes 28 oz + 15 oz cans
  • 1 ¼ cups water
  • ½ cup scallions chopped
  • ½ cup curly parsley chopped
  • 2 cups cheddar cheese

Instructions

  • Heat olive oil in a large (14-inch), high-sided skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and bell pepper and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute longer, or until fragrant. Add beef and cook until no longer pink, breaking up the meat as it cooks, about 7 minutes more.
  • Add the zucchini, followed by the Italian seasoning, salt, red pepper flakes, and pepper and stir well to combine, cooking for 5 more minutes.
  • Add the red bell pepper paste, crushed tomatoes, and water, using the water to rinse extra tomatoes from the cans, stir well to combine and let simmer for 10 minutes. Gently stir in the scallions and parlsey until thoroughly combined, then serve over your favorite noodles, top with cheddar cheese, and enjoy!

Notes

  • My favorite part of this sauce is the sneaky addition of diced zucchini. If you don't have any on hand, you can use yellow summer squash or even butternut squash. Alternatively, you can omit the zucchini all together.
  • If you don't have any red bell pepper paste on hand, swap it with the same amount of tomato paste.
  • Want a bit more spice? Increase the amount of red pepper flakes, or alternatively, throw a few dashes of your favorite hot sauce into he mix.
  • If you can't find 15 ounce cans of crushed tomatoes, swap it with a can of petite diced tomatoes, but don't drain them. The fire-roasted variety would be a nice flavor boost, too.
  • This recipe uses 2 pounds of ground beef, but you can easily swap one of those pounds for italian sausage, or ground lamb.

Nutrition

Calories: 250kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 67mg | Sodium: 547mg | Potassium: 787mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 1210IU | Vitamin C: 36mg | Calcium: 214mg | Iron: 4mg
MADE THIS RECIPE?Click here to leave a comment + star rating! ★★★★★

Share your photo and tag @asimplepantry or #asimplepantry!

About Karly

From her childhood home in Southern Minnesota, Karly embraces the crazy of everyday life by creating delicious dishes her family and friends love, while experimenting with new flavors and techniques and photographing the results. Karly’s love for beautiful foods and joy for creating is infectious to all who meet her.

Previous Post: « One Pot Easy Tortellini Soup Recipe
Next Post: Easy Pot Roast Meatballs in Gravy »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Review Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

author karly gomez of a simple pantry with a background of red bell peppers
Hi, I'm Karly! Welcome to A Simple Pantry, where you’ll find inspiration for any meal and every occasion with tried-and-tested recipes, step-by-step tutorials, and occasional cooking videos that help you prepare easy gourmet dishes the whole family will love.
START HERE

i prefer margaritas and sitting in the shade to piña coladas and getting caught in the rain.

digital magazines and phone with cookbook viewing

Copyright © 2021 A Simple Pantry on the Brunch Pro Theme