
Spaghetti Sauce with Ground Beef
Growing up in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, there was one thing that all kids loved to hear when they asked “what’s for dinner?”
AND IT WAS – SPAGHETTI WITH MEAT SAUCE!
This was a favorite dish of both kids and moms alike because it’s so delicious and so simple to prepare. It only takes about 5 minutes to cook the onions and ground beef, and maybe another 15 minutes to let the sauce slowly simmer.
This is the best ground beef meat sauce recipe!
The ground beef is lightly seasoned with spices and the sauce of choice is a quality sauce but low in cost. Nothing fancy pants here … of course you can use any sauce you like, but look for a spaghetti sauce that is well balanced and not too sweet.
If money was tight, then this was the perfect meal to cook. You could easily get a big filling dinner on the table that included bread and salad for under $10.00!
The best way to get the full deliciousness of this pasta dish is to add some sauce in with the spaghetti as soon as the spaghetti is drained. Want to make it even better? When you drain the hot pasta, swirl in about 1-2 tablespoons of butter.
Spaghetti Sauce with Ground Beef
Spaghetti with ground beef is one of our favorite all-time spaghetti recipes that your family will definitely love!
- 3/4 box thin spaghetti
- 1-1/4 lb. ground beef
- 1 small onion
- 1/2 tablespoon oil
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1 (16 oz.) can diced tomatoes
- 1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- Parmesan Cheese
- Cook spaghetti according to directions.
- While spaghetti is cooking, start the sauce.
- Using a large skillet, cook onions and garlic in small amount of oil until tender.
- Add the ground beef and saute, breaking up the beef with a spatula as you cook.
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Sprinkle cooking beef lightly with salt, pepper, and garlic salt. Drain most of the grease if necessary.
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When beef has been mostly cooked through, add the tomato paste and beef broth. Stir slowly to combine.
- Add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, oregano, basil and sugar.
- Stir again until well combined. Let simmer for about 10 minutes.
- Mix a little bit of the sauce with the hot drained spaghetti.
- Serve the spaghetti on a plate and add a little extra sauce and Parmesan cheese.
- YUM!

Brown the ground beef with onions and garlic! For this sauce, make sure to use a quality brand of diced tomatoes. We used a (17. 6 oz.) box of Cento Tomatoes. They are delicious and reasonably priced.
Browned ground beef, onions, garlic and tomatoes – double yum. Leftovers are awesome!
** Make a little extra pasta to have a quick & easy dinner later in the week. Read more on how to store cooked pasta so it’s as fresh and tasty as the day it was made.

Want to make your spaghetti and ground beef ever better! Melt some mozzarella cheese on top!