All Beef Meat Sauce for Pasta and Lasagna
A rich all-beef bolognese sauce for anyone who loves bold, beefy flavors without dairy or veggie fillers. Perfect for pasta, lasagna, and more!
or read on for step-by-step instructions with photos
All About That Beef
This rich, extra-beefy sauce skips the pork, dairy, and extra veggies like carrot and celery for a savory, meaty flavor that truly lets the beef shine. It’s the perfect meat sauce for pasta, lasagna, stuffed shells, baked ziti, or even spaghetti squash.
What Makes This Recipe Special?
100% Beef Flavor: No fillers—just ground beef, aromatics, wine, tomatoes, and a few hours of slow simmering for a deeply meaty sauce.
Perfect for Pasta Night: Great with spaghetti, penne, ravioli, or even spaghetti squash for a low-carb twist.
Lasagna-Ready: This thick, rich sauce layers beautifully without making lasagna watery. For my step-by-step guide on assembling the perfect lasagna, don’t miss my 6-layer meat lasagna recipe.
What’s Coming Up in This Recipe
My Tips: Pro tips for perfectly browned beef, building layers of flavor, and seasoning your sauce.
Serving Suggestions: Ideas on how to use your meat sauce for pasta, lasagna, and more.
Substitutions: Easy ingredient swaps based on what you have on hand.
Storage & Freezing: How to store and freeze for easy make-ahead meals.
FAQs: Answers to common questions like the difference between meat sauce vs. bolognese vs ragù, the best beef to use, and whether sugar belongs in meat sauce.
This dairy-free meat sauce is rich, satisfying, and surprisingly simple to make. Let’s get it simmering!
What you’ll need
Ingredients
2 pounds (1 kg) lean ground beef
½ cup olive oil
1 head garlic, peeled and minced
2 large onions, finely diced (red, white, or yellow)
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
1 tablespoon dried oregano
3 tablespoons tomato paste
½ cup dry red wine
4 (28-ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes (San Marzano, if possible)
½ bunch fresh basil, leaves torn (reserve stems)
salt & pepper, to taste
Equipment
Large pot or Dutch oven
Wooden spoon
Knife & cutting board
Makes: About 3 to 4 quarts/liters
Prep: 5 min Cook: 2 to 3 hours
How to make it
Step 1
Brown the beef.
Heat a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat and coat the bottom with a splash of olive oil. Add the ground beef in large chunks, letting it sear undisturbed to develop a deep golden-brown crust. Once browned on one side, flip the chunks and brown the other side.
Then break the beef apart with a wooden spoon, season with salt and pepper, and continue cooking until no longer pink. Remove the browned beef from the pot and set aside.
Step 2
Saute aromatics and build the base.
In the same pot, heat ½ cup olive oil over medium heat, keeping the browned bits and beef fat for extra flavor. Add the onions, garlic, thyme, and oregano. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and fragrant, about 5 minutes.
Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 1–2 minutes to concentrate its flavor. Deglaze the pot with the red wine, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom with a wooden spoon. Bring to a boil and cook until the wine reduces by half, intensifying the sauce's base.
Step 3
Simmer the sauce.
Return the browned beef to the pot. Add the canned tomatoes, basil stems, and season with salt and pepper. Bring the sauce to a boil, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer.
Stir occasionally, breaking up the tomatoes with a wooden spoon or potato masher as the sauce thickens and deepens in color. Cook uncovered for at least 2 hours to allow the flavors to develop fully.
💡Pro Tip: If time allows, let the sauce simmer even longer for a richer, more intense flavor. Stir occasionally, adding a splash of water if the sauce becomes too thick. Once it reaches your desired consistency, you can cover the pot and continue cooking on very low heat to further build flavor.
Step 4
Finish the sauce.
After a couple of hours of simmering, your sauce should be darker in color, thickened, and smell incredible. Remove the basil stems, then stir in the fresh torn basil. Taste and adjust the seasoning with more salt and pepper if needed.
Your sauce is now ready to serve over pasta, layer into lasagna, or cool and store for later. This sauce freezes exceptionally well—check the storage section for freezing and thawing tips.
💡Pro Tip: If the sauce tastes a bit too tangy or flat, try adding a dash of vinegar or sugar for balance. While using sugar isn't traditionally Italian, lower-quality canned tomatoes can sometimes lack natural sweetness and taste overly acidic or flat, so adjust with salt, sugar, and acid until your sauce is perfectly balanced and addictively good.
My Tips for the Best Meat Sauce
Brown ground beef in chunks: Browning ground beef in large chunks instead of breaking it up right away prevents moisture from releasing too soon, avoiding steaming and encouraging a deep golden-brown crust.
This caramelization, known as the Maillard reaction, develops a richer, beefier flavor. Leave the beef in fist-sized chunks, sear undisturbed on one side until fully golden-brown, then flip and repeat. Once deeply browned, break it into smaller pieces and finish cooking until no longer pink.
For a smoother consistency: If you prefer a silkier sauce, pre-crush the canned tomatoes by hand, with a potato masher, or using an immersion blender before adding them to the pot. This creates a smoother, more cohesive consistency while still keeping some texture.
Simmer meat sauce all day: For the deepest flavor, let the sauce simmer for several hours or even all day if time allows. Stir occasionally, adding a splash of water if it thickens too much. Once it reaches your ideal consistency, you can cover the pot and keep cooking on very low heat to continue developing flavor.
Taste, taste, and taste again: Seasoning is key! Season your sauce throughout the cooking process to build flavor. Then taste and adjust at the end with salt, pepper, acid, or even a pinch of sugar if needed.
If the sauce tastes flat or too tangy, a dash of vinegar or sugar can balance it out, especially if using lower-quality canned tomatoes that tend to taste flat or overly acidic.
Taste often—I sometimes adjust my sauce 20 times before I'm satisfied. This is how you achieve restaurant-quality results!
Use high-quality ingredients: For the best results, use San Marzano whole peeled tomatoes for their thick flesh, lower water content, and natural sweetness. Grass-fed ground beef also brings a deeper, earthy flavor. However, budget ingredients can still create an incredible sauce!
Focus on proper searing, layering aromatics, and slow simmering to extract maximum flavor. I often use budget ingredients myself—in my opinion, great technique trumps expensive ingredients if you have to choose one.
Serving Suggestions
Classic Pasta Pairings: Toss the sauce with spaghetti, penne, tagliatelle, or rigatoni for a comforting Italian-inspired meal. If you love meat sauce and pasta, check out my one-pot bison bolognese with tagliatelle—it's so easy, I even cook it while camping!
Meat Lasagna: This sauce is great for layering in a homemade beef lasagna. Paired with my homemade bechamel, it creates even, cohesive layers with just the right balance of meat and creaminess. See my all-beef meat lasagna with bechamel sauce recipe for expert tips on constructing the perfect lasagna.
Casseroles: Use this meat sauce to fill stuffed pasta shells, smother baked ziti, or stuff cannelloni for a cozy, cheesy baked dish.
Low-Carb Noodles: Spoon the sauce over grilled spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles for a hearty yet healthy alternative to pasta. If you’ve never grilled spaghetti squash, don’t miss my campfire grilled spaghetti squash recipe—it comes out smoky, tender, and so full of flavor!
Hearty Starches: Serve it over creamy polenta, a baked potato, or mashed potatoes for a rustic, comforting dinner.
Vegetable Sides: Add a fresh side to balance out the rich meat sauce with marinated green beans, Mediterranean roasted veggies, or a crunchy chopped salad.
Substitutions
Ground beef: Although I feel beef is best for this sauce, you can swap it with ground turkey, chicken, pork, sausage, bison, or a combination of meats.
Ground turkey and chicken create a lighter sauce, while bison and pork add their own unique layers of flavor. You can also enhance flavor by adding finely diced cured meats like bacon, pancetta, or guanciale.
Herbs & spices: If fresh herbs aren’t available, substitute with 1 teaspoon each of dried thyme and basil. Dried herbs are more potent, so use about ½ as much as fresh.
Feel free to add spices such as ground fennel or crushed red chili flakes. A bay leaf can also be added along with the basil stems for even more aromatic flavor.
Red wine: For a non-alcoholic option, use beef broth or water mixed with a splash of vinegar to deglaze the pot and build depth. Balsamic, apple cider, or red wine vinegar all work well.
Whole peeled tomatoes: Opt for San Marzano whole peeled tomatoes for the best flavor. Swap with crushed tomatoes, tomato purée, or diced tomatoes. If using crushed tomatoes or purée, the sauce will be smoother with a slightly less rustic texture.
Optional flavor enhancers: A hard cheese rind from Parmesan, Pecorino, Grano Padano, or Manchego adds a deep, savory flavor—I recommend saving these in your freezer for occasions like this! To keep the sauce dairy-free, use a few tablespoons of nutritional yeast, a splash of fish sauce, or a small spoonful of marmite for an umami boost.
Storage
Fridge: Allow the meat sauce to cool completely before transferring it to airtight containers. Store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
To Reheat: Reheat gently on the stovetop over medium-low heat, or microwave in 1-minute bursts, stirring occasionally until heated through. If the sauce has thickened too much, add a splash of water or broth to loosen it.
Freezer: Cool the sauce completely and transfer it to freezer-safe containers or heavy-duty zip-top bags. Leave a little space at the top for expansion and lay bags flat for easier storage. Freeze for up to 3 months.
To Defrost: Thaw frozen meat sauce overnight in the refrigerator. For a quicker method, submerge the sealed container in a bowl of cold water, changing the water every 30 minutes until thawed.
Dietary Notes: Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Egg-free, Low-carb, High-protein
FAQs
What are the differences between meat sauce vs bolognese vs ragù?
Meat sauce is a general term for tomato sauce with ground meat. Ragù refers to a slow-cooked Italian meat sauce with many regional variations. Bolognese (or ragù alla bolognese) is a style from Bologna made with beef, pork, milk, and soffritto (onion, carrot, celery).
My all-beef meat sauce is inspired by ragù alla bolognese but skips the dairy and extra veggies for a bold, meaty flavor.
What’s the best beef for meat sauce?
I like using lean ground beef (80/20 or 85/15) since the olive oil and long simmer add plenty of richness. But you can mix in a little ground chuck or short rib for even more depth.
What makes meat sauce taste better?
A few small tricks can take your meat sauce from good to great:
Brown the beef well: Let ground beef sear in chunks without stirring too soon. This builds a golden crust for deeper flavor.
Deglaze the pan: A splash of red wine, broth, or vinegar lifts all those flavorful browned bits from the pot.
Layer your seasoning: Season and taste as you go.
Simmer low and slow: The longer it cooks, the richer it gets. Bonus tip: the flavors get even better after sitting in the fridge overnight!
Balance it out: If the sauce tastes flat or too acidic, adjust with a pinch of salt, a splash of vinegar, or a bit of sugar.
Do Italians put milk in bolognese?
Yes, classic bolognese sauce often uses milk or cream to soften the acidity of tomatoes and create a silkier finish. But since my version is dairy-free, I skip it—and the long, slow simmer still gives you plenty of richness.
How do you thicken bolognese sauce?
If your sauce seems too thin:
Simmer uncovered: This allows excess moisture to evaporate.
Cook it longer: More time equals a thicker, richer sauce.
Break down the tomatoes: Use a wooden spoon or potato masher to crush them as they cook down.
Why do you put sugar in meat sauce?
Sugar can balance the acidity in canned tomatoes, especially lower-quality ones. If you’re using San Marzano tomatoes or cooking your sauce for a few hours, you probably won’t need it. I recommend tasting as you go and adjusting with salt first before reaching for sugar.
Do Italians put sugar in their sauce?
Traditionally, Italians don’t add sugar to their sauce. They rely on quality tomatoes and long cooking to mellow acidity. That said, if your sauce still tastes sharp after a long simmer, a pinch of sugar won’t hurt—it's all about tasting and adjusting until it’s just right.
Should you cover meat sauce when cooking?
No, simmer your meat sauce uncovered so it can reduce and thicken. If it gets too thick before you're done cooking, you can partially cover the pot or add a splash of water to loosen it back up.
How long to simmer bolognese?
I recommend simmering for at least 2 hours, but if you have the time, let it go for 3-4 hours for an even deeper flavor. Stir occasionally and keep an eye on the thickness—if it reduces too much, you can add a splash of water or partially cover the pot.
That’s it, enjoy!
Mastering simple techniques builds better flavor. Deeply caramelizing the meat, toasting aromatics, cooking tomato paste until jammy, deglazing with wine, and simmering low and slow—all of these steps help create incredible depth of flavor, especially for longer cooking dishes like braises, soups, and stews.
Proper seasoning makes all the difference. If you don’t finish with the right balance of salt and acidity, even the most carefully built sauce can fall flat. Taste often, adjust as you go, and don’t be afraid to get a second opinion—this is a common practice in professional kitchens where a fresh palate can catch what yours might miss.
This all-beef bolognese is one of my favorite make-ahead sauces. On a recent camping trip, I froze a batch, packed it in my cooler, and by day three, it was perfectly defrosted. I grilled a spaghetti squash over the fire, heated up the sauce, and served it on top. It was so comforting, hearty, and satisfying, that I’ve made it multiple times since—though it’s equally delicious layered in my meat lasagna with bolognese.
This sauce is worth the extra effort and time. As a professional chef, I can tell you that these simple techniques make a huge difference between a good sauce and the one you’ll feel proud to serve at special gatherings or cozy nights in. Happy cooking!
Summary
Hearty All-Beef Bolognese Recipe (Dairy-Free)
This rich all-beef bolognese sauce skips the dairy and excess veggies for a bold, meaty flavor. Made with ground beef, tomatoes, garlic, and herbs, it’s perfect for pasta, lasagna, stuffed shells, baked ziti, or even served over grilled spaghetti squash for a low-carb twist.
Makes: About 3 to 4 quarts/liters
Prep: 5 min Cook: 2 to 3 hours
Ingredients
2 pounds (1 kg) lean ground beef
½ cup olive oil
1 head garlic, peeled and minced
2 large onions, finely diced (red, white, or Spanish)
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
1 tablespoon dried oregano
3 tablespoons tomato paste
½ cup dry red wine
4 (28-ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes (San Marzano, if possible)
½ bunch fresh basil, leaves torn (reserve stems)
salt & pepper, to taste
Instructions
Brown the beef. Heat a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, add a splash of olive oil to coat the bottom. Add the ground beef in large chunks and sear undisturbed until deeply golden brown on one side. Flip and brown the other side. Break apart with a wooden spoon, season with salt and pepper, and cook until no longer pink. Remove the beef and set aside.
Build the base. In the same pot, heat ½ cup olive oil over medium heat, keeping the browned bits for flavor. Add the onions, garlic, thyme, and oregano. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 1-2 minutes. Deglaze with red wine, scraping up the browned bits, and simmer until reduced by half.
Simmer. Return the browned beef to the pot along with the canned tomatoes, basil stems, and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer. Stir occasionally, breaking up the tomatoes as the sauce thickens and deepens in color. Simmer uncovered for at least 2 hours.
Finish. After 2 hours, the sauce should be darker, thickened, and smell amazing. Remove the basil stems, then stir in fresh torn basil. Taste and adjust with salt and pepper if needed.
Top Tips
Use quality tomatoes: San Marzano tomatoes are ideal for their natural sweetness and lower acidity, but crushed or puréed tomatoes can also work. Just know that crushed tomatoes will give a smoother sauce, while whole tomatoes break down for a chunkier texture.
Season in layers: Add salt as you go and taste often. Proper seasoning at the end makes all the difference—adjust with salt, a splash of vinegar, or even a pinch of sugar if the sauce tastes too acidic.
Perfect for meal prep: This sauce freezes beautifully! Cool completely before storing in freezer-safe containers for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge or use the submerging in water method for quicker defrosting.
Serving ideas: Serve this sauce tossed with spaghetti, rigatoni, or tagliatelle, layered in an authentic meat lasagna, spooned over spaghetti squash, or paired with a creamy polenta.
Further reading: For more, see my tips, serving suggestions, substitutions, storage, and FAQs.
If you make this sauce, I’d love to hear how it turned out! Leave a comment below and let me know your favorite way to serve it. If you share it, don’t forget to tag me on social media @onecreativecook—I can’t wait to see your delicious creations!
Enjoy!
