Name: Classic Spaghetti with Meat Sauce
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 35 min
Ingredients: 1 tbsp olive oil; 1 lb ground beef; 1 tsp fine sea salt, plus more to taste; 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper; 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced; 4 garlic cloves, minced; 1 tbsp tomato paste; 1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes; 1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce; 1 tsp dried oregano; 1 tsp dried basil; 1 tsp sugar; 12 oz spaghetti; Salt for the pasta water; About 1/4 cup grated Parmesan; Chopped parsley or basil

There’s no water poured into this spaghetti with meat sauce, and that changes how I decide when it’s done. With only crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce in the pot, the sauce is ready when it looks thick, not when a timer goes off.

I brown the beef hard first and pour off most of the fat. About a tablespoon stays behind for the onion.

The tomato paste gets its own minute or two in the hot pot. That’s the step I won’t skip, because it turns from bright red to a deeper brick color and smells sweeter.

Then it’s a gentle simmer, a pot of spaghetti, and a splash of starchy pasta water to pull everything together.

Prep: 15 minutes · Cook: about 20 minutes of active cooking, plus a simmer until thick · Total: varies with the simmer · Serves: 6 (2 oz dry spaghetti each)

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How do you know spaghetti with meat sauce is done simmering?

Go by how it looks, not by the clock. The sauce is ready when it has thickened, no longer looks watery, and clings to the back of a spoon instead of running off. This version adds no water to the tomatoes, so there’s no extra liquid to cook away first.

Why It Works

Browning the beef over medium-high heat and then draining all but about 1 tbsp of fat, the way The Cooking Foodie does it, keeps the sauce from turning greasy while leaving enough fat to soften the onion.
Cooking 1 tbsp of tomato paste for 1 to 2 minutes before any liquid goes in deepens its flavor, and the tomatoes that follow lift the browned bits off the bottom.
Natasha’s Kitchen builds the sauce on one 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes and one 15 oz can of tomato sauce with no water added. Nothing needs to cook off, so the simmer is about melding, not reducing a thin sauce.

I scrape the bottom of the pot hard the second the tomatoes go in. The brown layer comes loose easily then and melts right into the sauce.

Why I Keep Coming Back to This One

It uses standard can sizes, so there’s no half can of tomatoes left in the fridge.
The sauce freezes well, which makes a double batch worth the effort.
One pound of beef and 12 oz of spaghetti feed the table without a second trip to the store.
Everything happens in one pot for the sauce and one for the pasta.

Ingredients for Spaghetti With Meat Sauce

1 tbsp olive oil
1 lb ground beef
1 tsp fine sea salt, plus more to taste
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp sugar
12 oz spaghetti
Salt for the pasta water
About 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
Chopped parsley or basil

Ingredient Notes and Swaps

Brian Lagerstrom uses 80/20 ground chuck, and that’s the only fat percentage any of the sources give. Beef with that much fat leaves real grease in the pot, which is why the drain step matters here.

A leaner pound will give you less to pour off.

The two cans do different jobs. Crushed tomatoes give the sauce body and little bits of texture, and tomato sauce gives it a smooth base to hold the beef.

I keep both rather than doubling up on one.

One teaspoon of sugar against 43 ounces of tomatoes won’t make anything sweet. It only softens the sharp edge canned tomatoes can have.

The oregano and basil are dried on purpose, since they go in with the tomatoes and have the whole simmer to soften.

How to Make Spaghetti With Meat Sauce

Brown the beef. Heat the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the beef, salt and pepper, and break it apart with a spoon as it cooks, until it’s browned all over with no pink left.
Drain the fat. Move the beef to a plate. Carefully pour off the extra fat, leaving about 1 tbsp in the pot, until the bottom looks lightly coated rather than pooled with grease.
Soften the onion. Add the onion to the pot and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring now and then, until it’s soft and translucent. Stir in the garlic for about 30 seconds, just until it smells fragrant.
Cook the tomato paste. Add the tomato paste and stir it through the onion for 1 to 2 minutes. It’s ready when it turns a shade darker and starts to stick lightly to the bottom of the pot.
Add the tomatoes. Pour in the crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce, then scrape hard across the bottom with a wooden spoon until the browned bits lift. Return the beef with the oregano, basil and sugar, and stir until evenly red.
Simmer until thick. Bring the sauce to a bubble, then lower the heat so it simmers gently, stirring now and then. It’s ready when it has thickened, no longer looks watery, and holds a line drawn through it with the spoon. Taste for salt.
Cook the spaghetti. While the sauce simmers, boil the spaghetti in well-salted water according to the package, until al dente and tender with a little bite in the center. Scoop out 1/2 cup of the pasta water before draining.
Toss and serve. Add the drained spaghetti to the sauce and toss, adding splashes of pasta water until the sauce coats every strand in a glossy layer. Serve the spaghetti with meat sauce hot, with Parmesan and parsley or basil.

What I’ve Learned Making This Spaghetti With Meat Sauce

Let the beef sit in the pot for a moment between stirs. It browns in spots that way instead of turning gray.
I can’t give you an exact simmer time for this sauce, and I’m fine with that. I watch it, and the look of it tells me more than the clock does.
Want leftovers that keep better? Spoon the sauce over plain spaghetti instead of tossing them together, and store the two separately.
Some one-pot versions cook broken spaghetti right in the sauce with a can of water. Don’t try that with this no-water sauce, because the pasta won’t cook through.
Taste before serving. Canned tomatoes vary, so the sauce may need a final pinch of salt.

Storing and Reheating

This sauce freezes well, which is why Natasha’s Kitchen bills it as a freezer meal. Neither source gives a time limit, so I freeze it in portions and work through it rather than letting it sit for ages.

Freeze the sauce on its own, without the spaghetti. Cool it first, then pack it into airtight containers with a little headroom at the top.

Thaw it in the fridge before reheating. In the fridge, keep the sauce and pasta in separate containers when you can.

Reheat the sauce gently on the stove, stirring, until it bubbles, and cook a fresh pot of spaghetti if you have the time.

On the Side

A green salad with a sharp vinaigrette, so something crisp and acidic sits next to a rich sauce.
Garlic bread, for wiping the plate clean.
Roasted broccoli or green beans, which hold their own next to a heavy tomato sauce.
Extra Parmesan at the table, because somebody always wants more.

Special Equipment

A large pot or Dutch oven with a heavy bottom, so the beef browns instead of steaming.
A flat-edged wooden spoon for scraping the browned bits loose.
A second large pot and a colander for the pasta.
A measuring cup for scooping out the pasta water before you drain.
A box grater for the Parmesan.

Common Questions

How long should meat sauce simmer? There’s no single number for this version. The Cooking Foodie simmers its sauce 35 to 40 minutes, but that one starts with 2 1/2 cups of added water to cook down. This sauce has none, so watch for it to thicken and stop looking watery.

Do I have to drain the fat? If your beef leaves a pool of grease, yes. Leave about 1 tbsp in the pot for the onion and pour off the rest.

Can I freeze spaghetti with meat sauce? Freeze the sauce, not the cooked pasta. Cool it, pack it airtight, and boil fresh spaghetti when you reheat it.

How much spaghetti for 1 lb of ground beef? Use 12 oz. Two of the sources land on that same amount for a pound of beef.

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