When you grow up with a mom who knows how to cook and provides delicious dinners, it is hard not to become somewhat of a food snob. Though I don’t remember being a picky eater over food types, from an early age I remember a strong preference for my mom’s home-made cooking, especially this sauce. Mom’s Spaghetti Sauce is still one of my favorites, and was one of the first family recipes I learned how to make.
The great thing about it is that there really isn’t anything unusual ingredients or cooking techniques.
Basic Ingredients
- Onion
- Bell peppers
- Garlic
- Ground beef
- Lawry’s Spaghetti Sauce Seasoning
- Any brand of jarred spaghetti sauce
- Tomato sauce
- Tomato paste
- Black olives
Mom’s spaghetti sauce was a simple bolognese, made with ground beef…
and simmered in jarred spaghetti sauce, tomato sauce to stretch it, a package of Lawry’s spaghetti sauce spices, bell pepper, onions, and garlic.
She would cook it for hours over low heat on the stove top, and perhaps that is where the magic takes place, since the sauce needs time to let the flavors blend. Cooking it for an extended period also lets the sauce reduce and intensify.
She’d make a bunch so we could freeze it and save for other dishes, but the night she made it we always had it with spaghetti. I don’t remember her serving spaghetti any other way, although it would have been much easier for her—a single, working mom with three kids—to do so.
I have a couple of different ways that I make spaghetti sauce now, and they are all delicious. But this one here is my favorite. This recipe make a lot, so be sure to save some in freezer bags for later.
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Mom's Spaghetti Sauce
Equipment
- Skillet
- 6-quart Dutch oven or stock pot
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon more
- 32 ounce jar spaghetti sauce
- 30 ounces canned tomato sauce (about 2 cans)
- 6 ounce canned tomato paste
- 3 cups water
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 6.5 ounce can sliced black olives
- 1.5 ounce package Lawry's spaghetti sauce spices
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
- 1 teaspoon white, granulated sugar
- 1 bay leaf
- kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a skillet, drizzle about 1 tablespoon of olive oil, brown the meat, drain and set aside.
- In a large 6-quart pot or Dutch oven, drizzle 1 more tablespoon of olive oil and saute the onion over medium-high heat until translucent (about five minutes).
- Add the garlic and bell pepper and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes more.
- Add meat to Dutch oven.
- Add all ingredients to Dutch oven and stir to blend.
- Reduce heat and simmer two hours to let sauce blend.
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