This is the best healthy meat sauce recipe! It's easy to make in one pot with lean ground beef, jarred tomato sauce, vegetables, and olives. This meat sauce has the most incredible Italian flavour, is great for meal prep, freezes well, and is kid approved!
I am so excited to share today's recipe with you all. This is the meat sauce I grew up with. It's my idea of comfort food and is seriously the best meat sauce ever! But I really can't take any credit for the recipe as it was my Dad who came up with it but I figured it was just too good to keep to myself any longer. This meat sauce has my favourite secret ingredient, olives! Yes olives. Just trust me, it takes any meat sauce to the next level of tastiness. I can't wait for you to try it!
Table of Contents
Why you will love this recipe:
- This healthy spaghetti sauce recipe has the most incredible flavour! The addition of my secret ingredient, olives, takes this meat sauce over the top and makes it taste so much better than any other meat sauce or Bolognese recipe! It is a fun twist on a traditional spaghetti sauce recipe.
- It's so quick and easy to make and is perfect for meal prep because it's a recipe the whole family will love.
- You'll love that it's made in one pot on the stovetop so the clean up is so quick and easy.
- It's so versatile! Switch up the lean ground beef for another ground meat such as ground turkey and feel free to add other veggies and spices. You could even add some cooked sausage for even more flavour and protein.
- This homemade meat sauce freezes really well.
- It's a healthy complete meal that's loaded with vegetables.
- This spaghetti sauce is sugar free and it's also naturally gluten free, dairy free, paleo and Whole30 compliant!
Key ingredients and substitutions:
You should be able to find all of these simple ingredients at your local grocery store. For the complete ingredient list and the exact measurements refer to the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Lean ground beef - I love using grass fed and grass finished lean ground beef but you can use any type of ground beef you like. You can also use another ground meat such as ground chicken or ground turkey too.
- Tomato sauce - I use jarred tomato sauce for this recipe - choose your favourite brand to give this sauce the most incredible flavour. I do recommend reading the labels and choosing a tomato sauce without any added sugar to keep this spaghetti sauce as healthy as possible. If you are on a low sodium diet also be sure to choose a sauce that is low sodium or made with less sodium.
- Green and black olives - the secret ingredients for this sauce! I know it sounds crazy but just trust me, olives make meat sauce so much better! If you don't like olives you can leave them out of this recipe.
- Bell peppers - chopped bell peppers help make this sauce high in vegetables and give it a delicious flavour and chunky texture. You can change up the colours of sweet bell peppers that you use depending on what you have on hand.
- Seasonings - I keep it simple with salt, black pepper, Italian seasoning and dried basil to help give this sauce so much delicious Italian flavour.
- Tomato paste - this is added to help give the sauce the perfect thick texture. If you don't add the tomato paste it will end up more watery with more of a soup like texture.
How to make:
Step one:
First, place a large pot on the stove on medium heat. Add the coconut oil and allow it to melt. Then add the ground beef and cook it for 5-10 minutes until browned, stirring frequently to break it apart.
Step two:
Next, add the tomato sauce, tomato paste, olives, spices, and chopped bell peppers to the meat. Stir everything well until it's combined.
Step three:
Now turn down the heat to low heat, cover the pot with the lid, and allow it to simmer for 50-60 minutes, until the vegetables are the consistency you prefer and the sauce has the thickness you like (a thicker sauce will need more time to simmer). Stir the sauce infrequently while simmering. Then serve and enjoy!
Recipe tips and variations:
- Instead of lean ground beef you can use another ground meat such as lean ground turkey, ground pork or ground chicken.
- Feel free to add other vegetables to this healthy homemade spaghetti sauce recipe - I will often add chopped onion, carrots, zucchini or green peas. This sauce is a great way to use up any vegetables that you have in the fridge.
- Feel free to add cooked, chopped sausages, such as Italian sausage to this healthy pasta sauce to give it even more flavour and make it higher in protein.
- I love a chunky meat sauce but if you prefer a smoother texture, finely chop the vegetables and olives or puree them in your food processor before adding them to the sauce.
- For an extra kick of flavour add a bit of red wine to the sauce.
- The cooking time will vary depending on how thick you want your homemade sauce to be - the longer you let it simmer the thicker the sauce will get.
How to serve:
- This marinara sauce is great to eat on it's own but it's also great served over your favourite cooked pasta noodles or spaghetti noodles to turn it into more of a classic spaghetti recipe.
- Top this meat sauce with some fresh tomatoes, fresh basil, other fresh herbs, or grated parmesan cheese (if you tolerate dairy of course).
- If you are gluten free: serve this homemade pasta sauce over gluten-free noodles.
- You can pair this healthy bolognese sauce with a side of delicious garlic bread or other side dishes such as a salad.
- If you are avoiding grains: I love these Jovial grain free spaghetti noodles that are made with cassava flour!
- If you are on a Whole30 diet or paleo diet: serve this ground beef tomato sauce over cooked spaghetti squash, on top of zucchini noodles or other cooked vegetables such as cooked broccoli or cauliflower
How to store:
Store this sauce in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days. I recommend storing it in a glass container so that the red sauce does not stain your plastic containers.
This sauce also freezes really well so you can make a big batch and freeze some for later.
Frequently asked questions:
Bolognese is known in Italy as ragù alla bolognese. It is a meat-based sauce and is classically used to dress tagliatelle al ragù and to prepare lasagne alla bolognese. It is usually made with onion, celery, carrot, beef and pork, white wine, milk, and a small amount of tomato paste or tomatoes. The dish is gently simmered to produce a thick sauce. Meat sauce on the other hand is typically a tomato-based sauce and is more common outside of Italy. Ground beef or other ground meats such as ground turkey are often added.
It is usually healthier to make your own pasta sauce compared to buying pre-made pasta sauce. Many store bought pasta sauces will contain added sugars, whereas when you make your own pasta sauce you can keep it sugar fee and add other healthy ingredients like fresh vegetables.
This healthy spaghetti sauce recipe is great for diabetics because it is sugar free and has no added sugar.
Yes! You can easily swap the ground beef for ground turkey to make this a ground turkey meat sauce instead.
Other recipes you will love:
- Healthy Sloppy Joes
- Healthy Teriyaki Chicken and Broccoli
- Creamy Sun Dried Tomato Pasta
- The Best Meatloaf
Since you made it this far we are basically best friends so be sure to follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok and Facebook where I share even more recipes and healthy living tips! And don’t forget to leave this recipe a star rating before you go!
Recipe
Healthy Meat Sauce
Equipment
- large pot
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon coconut oil (or other cooking oil of choice)
- 2 lbs lean ground beef
- 3 jars tomato sauce (total of ~2100 mL)
- 1 can tomato paste (156 mL)
- 1 can black olives (juice included)
- 1 can green olives (juice included)
- 2 tablespoon Italian seasoning (more or less to taste)
- 2 tablespoon dried basil (more or less to taste)
- 2 teaspoon sea salt (more or less to taste)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper (more or less to taste)
- 4 sweet bell peppers, chopped
Instructions
- Place a large pot on the stove on medium heat. Add the coconut oil and allow it to melt. Then add the ground beef and cook it for 5-10 minutes until browned, stirring frequently to break it apart.
- Add the tomato sauce, tomato paste, olives, spices and chopped bell peppers to the meat. Stir well until everything is combined.
- Turn down the heat, cover the pot with the lid and allow it to simmer for 50-60 minutes, until the vegetables are the consistency you like. Stir the sauce infrequently while simmering.
Notes
- Store this sauce in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- Instead of ground beef feel free to use another ground meat such as ground turkey or ground pork.
- You can add other vegetables to this recipe such as carrots, peas or zucchini.
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