I’ve made a lot of variations of pasta sauce over my nine years of blogging, but I think this latest version wins the title of The Best Weeknight Pasta Sauce. Why? Because it’s incredibly easy and uses only a few ingredients, yet has a wonderfully rich and hearty flavor. I first posted this sauce in my Roasted Eggplant with Meat Sauce recipe, but the sauce itself was definitely the star of the show and deserves a post of its own. In fact, I loved this sauce so much that the last time I made it I found myself digging into the leftovers with a spoon, like it was some sort of chili. I skipped the pasta and just went straight for the good stuff. 🤷♀️
Looking for a vegetarian version? Check out this Pasta with 5-Ingredient Butter Tomato Sauce.
What is in This Weeknight Pasta Sauce
It’s SO SIMPLE, yet so very good. This pasta sauce includes: ground beef, olive oil, onion, butter, crushed tomatoes, Italian seasoning blend, and salt and pepper. That’s it. No fancy ingredients needed to make it taste incredible, and totally approachable for a busy weeknight.
How to Use this Sauce
This sauce is, of course, awesome with any shape of pasta. Or over roasted vegetables! You don’t have to do a whole eggplant like I did in the past, I would love this sauce ladled over a pile of cubed roasted vegetables for a delightful low-carb meal (check out my Roasted Eggplant with Meat Sauce), or you can add a medley of summer vegetables and use it to make our Summer Vegetables in Red Sauce.
Why is it Good for Weeknight Dinners?
This sauce is incredibly simple and doesn’t require much attention as it cooks. What makes this sauce so good when it’s so simple? Two things: butter and a minimum 30 minute simmer. The 30 minute simmer is the key to dulling down the overly bright acidic flavors of the crushed tomatoes and helps caramelize the natural sugars into a deep, subtle sweetness. The butter adds body and a slight creaminess, which again, helps balance the natural acids in the tomatoes. You need both elements to make this sauce. Without one or the other you’ll just have a run of the mill red sauce and, well, that’s just nothing to write home (or blog) about.
The Best Weeknight Pasta Sauce
Servings 6 (about ¾ cups each)Ingredients
- 1/2 lb. ground beef ($2.65)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.13)
- 1 small onion ($0.32)
- 2 Tbsp butter ($0.13)
- 28 oz. crushed tomatoes ($0.89)
- 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning blend ($0.05)
- Freshly cracked pepper ($0.03)
- Salt, to taste ($0.02)
Instructions
- Add the ground beef and olive oil to a pot and sauté over medium until the beef is cooked through (about 5 minutes). If you're using a higher fat content beef (10% or higher), you may want to drain the excess fat once the beef has browned.
- While the beef is cooking, finely dice the onion. Add the diced onion and butter to the cooked beef. Continue to sauté until the onion is soft and translucent (about 5 minutes).
- Next, add the crushed tomatoes, Italian seasoning blend, and some freshly cracked pepper (10-15 cranks of a pepper mill). Stir everything to combine.
- Place a lid on the pot and allow it to come up to a simmer. Once simmering, reduce the heat to low and let the sauce simmer for 30 minutes.
- After a minimum of 30 minutes simmering, add about 1/2 tsp salt, stir to combine, then taste and add more if needed. The flavor of the sauce will deepen and the complexities will pop once the salt is added. Serve over pasta or your favorite roasted vegetables.
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Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make Weeknight Pasta Sauce – Step by Step Photos
Start by adding 1/2 lb. ground beef and 1 Tbsp olive oil to a pot. Sauté the beef over medium until it’s cooked through (about 5 minutes). If you’re using a higher fat content beef, you may want to drain the excess fat once it’s cooked through. While the beef is cooking, finely dice one small onion. Add the onion and 2 Tbsp butter to the cooked beef, and continue to sauté until the onions are soft and translucent (another 5 minutes or so).
Next, add a 28oz. can crushed tomatoes, 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning blend, and some freshly cracked pepper. Stir until everything is combined, place a lid on top, and let it come up to a simmer. Once simmering, turn the heat down to low and let it simmer for at least 30 minutes.
After simmering for 30 minutes the sauce will be much less acidic and slightly more sweet, but to make the flavor really pop, you need to add salt. I would start with 1/2 tsp, give it a taste, then add more to your liking.
And that’s all! Seriously, SO easy. And while the sauce is simmering away for its 30 minutes, you can prepare your pasta or whatever else you plan on eating with your sauce that night. ;)
It’s the only sauce I need and really, I only need the sauce. Pasta optional. 😂
Gave this a try this week. Served it over angel hair pasta. Perfect amount for my hubby and I to have two dinners with a little left for a small serving for each of us for lunch. We’ll definitely be making this again. Thank you for all of your wonderful recipes!
Wowie this was sooo good. I added garlic and paired with garlic bread.
Can you use tomato sauce instead of crushed tomatoes? If so, the same amount? Thanks!
Tomato sauce is going to have a very different flavor and texture than crushed tomatoes, so it will end up changing the final product.
Thanks for this!! May I ask why do you wait until step 5 to add the salt?
When you add salt at the end of a recipe it is more pronounced and you can use less with a greater effect.
Simple, flavorful, easy. Highly recommended.
So easy. So quick. So delicious!!!
This is crazy simple and so delicious. I added 2 cloves of garlic and used pasta sprinkle from Penzeys for the seasoning. It got rave reviews from both daughter and husband. Will make again!
I actually did eat this with a spoon when I was nursing. I had heated up my chili I brought for lunch at work and went to go pump while I ate it. I got all hooked up and took the lid off, dipped my spoon in and took a bite then realized it wasn’t chili. It was spaghetti sauce I had frozen for a future meal. Oops. I was already hooked up and didn’t have time to pump and go to the cafeteria but that was ok because as you said above, it is good enough to eat with a spoon. Love all your recipes!
The Weeknight Pasta Sauce is the bomb dot com!!! This is the very first time that I’ve made Spaghetti Sauce from scratch, and it is very easy to make. I used Ground Italian Sausage and Ground beef, sprinkled in some garlic powder, and added a little bit of fresh garlic to the dish. I served the Weeknight Pasta Sauce with Garlic Bread (off of this website) and a salad. I plan on making this dish again, and this sauce will be delicious used for Lasagna. Thank you so much for sharing Miss Beth!! 😁😁
Thank you Beth for this easy classic. It was so simple and delish!!! Kid approved by my 6 yr old. The only things I did different were add garlic to the cooking onion. Thank you again!
Hi! Can I use diced tomatoes rather than crushed tomatoes?
Yes you can, although you may have to puree it a bit.
This was delicious and easy to make, just as I’ve come to expect! I loved the idea of the eggplant so I actually cut up a small eggplant in to small cubes and added it with the onion. Worked really well.
So fast and good! Thankyou for this recipe :)
Thank you!
Turned out really well, but was upset that I could not find the recipe on the app.
Easy and delicious!
I used hot Italian sausage instead of the beef, cooking it until the sausage crumbles were lightly browned and almost crisp (a few minutes longer than just cooked). I didn’t need to add the Italian seasoning since I used a well-seasoned sausage.
Love the way the tomato gets almost paste-like and clings to bread and pasta.
I noticed you add the onion on top of the cooked mince. Isn’t it a good idea to caramelize onion on the pan first?
I don’t think caramelizing is ever a bad decision ;)