Easy Weeknight Spaghetti Sauce
Easy Spaghetti Sauce is semi-homemade and perfect for those busy weeknight dinners. Ground beef and smoked sausage give so much flavor to this spaghetti sauce, jars of marinara, salsa, and some spices give maximum flavor with very little effort in this easy dinner recipe.
Servings 10 people
Ingredients
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 package (14-16 oz) smoked kielbasa sausage
- 1 container (16 oz) fresh salsa (about 2 cups)
- 2 jars (24 oz each) spaghetti sauce
Instructions
- To begin, you will want to unwrap the smoked sausage. There is no casing to remove but I do typically chop off the end pieces. For really ground up meat, cut the sausage into large pieces and place in a food processor. Pulse a few times. OR you can use a cutting board and knife to chop the sausage into small pieces OR just slice the sausage very thinly. Set aside.
- In a large skillet pan, over medium high heat, cook and crumble the ground beef with the basil, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper.
- When ground beef is almost done cooking, add in the thinly sliced or crumbled smoked sausage. Stir everything together and let it cook for an additional 5 minutes. Drain the grease.
- Add the salsa and both jars of spaghetti sauce. Stir everything together well and let it simmer for 10 minutes in the pan. If it starts spitting and getting too hot, just reduce the heat as needed or you can cover it with a lid. Typically I will let it come to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium-low.
- Serve over pasta noodles of your choice or over some riced cauliflower (I am not even a riced cauliflower person, but it's good with this sauce).
Notes
For best flavor please get a fresh salsa and not a jarred salsa that you find in the Mexican aisle of the grocery store. Costco and Sam's Club both sell really yummy fresh salsas, or just go to the refrigerated area of the produce section and get one there (by the guacamoles and what not).
I always have tons of leftovers when I makes this so I save it for another spaghetti dinner or I will use it in any recipe that calls for spaghetti sauce. Like a baked spaghetti casserole.