Old Italian Meat Sauce Recipe

Reviews More Reviews

Most Helpful Positive Review

Feb 08, 2004

Simply terrific!! I'm from a long line of great Italian cooks, but I haven't been one of them. My sauce was never as good as "the grandmas", but since I tried this recipe, thats all changed, everyone loves it, (including grandma)now I get to make the sauce every Sunday. Only change I made was I use 2 cups of red wine instead of 3. I used a Cabernet Sauvignon.

—VASSFAMILY

See full review »

Most Helpful Critical Review

Feb 08, 2004

My husband and I thought this recipe was good. Very meaty and thick! One word of caution, if you don't like the smell and flavor of red wine it's not for you. Even after being fully cooked down and 3 full days of the flavors blending the wine taste and smell was still strong with your first few bites. (until you get used to it again) We only made it once so it's possible that a wine less body would be al that is needed. Thanks for giving us this new recipe to try.

—SAG

See full review »

53 Ratings

Jul 28, 2006

I give this one a five after I made some changes. I liked how the seasonings were in this, unique and fresh, I left out the rosemary and added fresh basil although I made sure not to add more basil than I did oregano. My sauce was a bit salty, so I added probaby 4-5 tsps of sugar, I think the saltiness comes from canned tomato. In the future I may use a can of crushed tomato which I think would create a consistency I prefer. For heat I added some sliced up italian sausage which I added raw to the sauce and let cook along with a little crushed red pepper. I used two cups of red wine, that was plenty. Simmer it an hour at night, and then leave it over night to simmer another few hours the next day. Went great over Rigatoni.

—Jason

See full review »

Aug 10, 2009

This is a really goody recipe. My wife and I vary it per the ingrediants we have on hand, sometimes using italian sausage or sometimes using only ground beef. If we don't have fresh herbs we'll just use Italian Seasoning. Either way it's always dependably good. I especially like using this sauce when I'm making the Baked Ziti 1 recipe on this website, which uses provolone and sour cream. Absolutely delicious!

—Bucho

See full review »

Mar 08, 2011

this sauce is exceptional!!! I used half ground beef and half bulk italian sausage. For the wine I used Cab Sav from Barefoot. For the people who found the sauce a little "winey", the key is to let the wine reduce when adding it to the sauted vegetables. I also used 1 large can of tomato sauce, 1 large can of tomato puree and 1 large can of crushed tomatoes, just to get some different textures. I also used fresh thyme, rosemary and oregano, which I put in with the wine. Towards the end of the simmering, I added some cumin, crushed red pepper flakes and a pinch of cinnamon. It makes a ton of sauce, but freezes well :)

—SaraB

See full review »

Feb 08, 2004

This sauce was great, exactly what I was looking for. I subbed in some ground Turkey to make it a little healthier, and added some sugar and nutmeg to the sauce which really rounded out the flavor and made it truly delectable. I will make this again.

—TRUCKERDOO

See full review »

Dec 15, 2008

This is a 4 star recipe but has 5 star possibility with some changes. But still a great sauce! I made it the night before and left it in fridge overnight before reheating it on the stove. I also didn't use any wine.I thought it also only needed 1 onion and 1 lb of mushrooms instead of 2. Instead of using 3 cans of tomato sauce I tried cans of italian peeled tomatoes and adding a green pepper.I made meatballs for the sauce too and let them simmer and thought it came out excellent.Next time I will try some Italian sausages.

—THOM79

See full review »

Jan 22, 2006

Excellent! Cut recipe in half and found it quite tasty! Added in more garlic though and used crushed tomatoes.

—michellew

See full review »

Rate This Recipe

Edit

Glad you liked it! Your friends will, too:

Did you tweak the recipe? Edit and save your own version of it!

Edit this recipe

More Recipes Like This See all

Italian Meat Sauce II

North Italian Meat Sauce (Ragu Bolognese)

Grandma's Old Italian Spaghetti Sauce with Meatballs

Italian Meat Sauce I

Marica's Spaghetti Meat Sauce

Pasta Sauce with Italian Sausage

Grandma's Meat Sauce

Tuscan Style Meat Sauce (Ragu Toscano)

Savory Italian Sausage Sauce

Dad's Bolognese Meat Sauce

ADVERTISE WITH US

Nutrition

Calories
296 kcal
15%

Carbohydrates
15.9 g
5%

Cholesterol
51 mg
17%

Fat
16.8 g
26%

Fiber
2.7 g
11%

Protein
15.2 g
30%

Sodium
788 mg
32%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Nutritional Information

Old Italian Meat Sauce

Serving Size: 1/20 of a recipe
Servings Per Recipe: 20
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 296
Calories from Fat: 151

% Daily Value *
Total Fat 16.8g 26 %
** Saturated Fat 6g 30 %
** Cholesterol 51mg 17 %
Sodium 788mg 32 %
Potassium 965mg 27 %
Total Carbohydrates 15.9g 5 %
** Dietary Fiber 2.7g 11 %
Protein 15.2g 30 %
** Sugars 11.4g
Vitamin A 23 %
Vitamin C 34 %
Calcium 5 %
** Iron 26 %
** Thiamin 33 %
** Niacin 72 %
** Vitamin B6 34 %
Magnesium 19 %
** Folate 18 %

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
** Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available nutrient data.
(-) Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a medically restrictive diet, please consult your doctor or registered dietitian before preparing this recipe for personal consumption.