I’m always on a mission to add more fruits and veggies into our diet. My pasta sauce recipe is full of veggies: Onions, peppers, carrots, zucchini, celery, fresh tomatoes.
And because I love meaty sauce, I can’t forget the 80/20 ground chuck!
The kids aren’t too big on zoodles, but that’s ok. We paired our meal with a green salad (cucumber slices for the kids), and garlic bread (a family favorite).
Veggie Loaded Pasta Sauce
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs ground chuck or your favorite ground beef (don’t use super lean beef)
- 2 T. olive oil
- 1 white onion, diced
- 1/2 c. each chopped or diced: carrots, celery, bell peppers (I used red)
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 6 ripe tomatoes, cut into quarters
- 1 large can (28 ounces) fire-roasted tomatoes
- 2 cups red wine
- 1 can tomato paste
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 t. Shallot pepper seasoning
- 2 T. Italian Seasoning
- 4 large zucchinis, spiralized, ends diced and reserved for sauce
Directions
- Brown meat in olive oil over low, breaking up meat as it cooks.
- Add onion, carrots, celery, bell peppers, and cook until soft and onions are translucent.
- Add garlic, cook until fragrant.
- Add fresh and canned tomatoes, and tomato paste.
- De-glaze pan with wine, add seasoning, and small pieces of zucchinis leftover from spiralizing.
- Cook on low for 2+ hours, stirring occasionally.
- To cook zucchini spirals, steam for 6-8 minutes, drain and serve right away!
This sauce freezes well too and gets better overnight in the fridge. You can also use this sauce to make lasagna.
