Kid-Friendly Meat Sauce for Pasta

Name: Kid-Friendly Meat Sauce for Pasta
Total time: 4500 s
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1.5 pounds 80/20 ground beef; 2 medium onions, minced; 6 large cloves garlic, minced; 2 Tablespoons oil (vegetable or olive work fine); 1 Tablespoon dried basil; 2 teaspoons dried oregano; 2 bay leaves; 1 Tablespoon tightly packed brown sugar; 1/4 cup ketcup; 2 (28 oz.) cans tomatoes; 1/2 teaspoon black pepper; 1.5-2 teaspoons kosher salt

x @cook_5886383

I like to use a little brown sugar and ketchup when I make sauce for little ones because it imparts that nice, rounded, caramelized sweetness that appeals to a child's palate without making the sauce excessively sweet and flat like I find many jarred sauces to be.

I also like to mince the onions when I make sauce for kids because they often like the flavor of onions, but they don't necessarily enjoy chunks of onion. And sweating them for a longer time over just medium heat versus sauteing for a shorter time over medium high or high heat breaks them down better, makes them softer and sweeter, and tames some of their sulfur and heat.

Don't worry. Your kids can still grow up to have more sophisticated palates. Both of my teenagers did. But they still thoroughly enjoy the sauce when I make it this way for my four year old. ;)

x @cook_5886383

Don't worry. Your kids can still grow up to have more sophisticated palates. Both of my teenagers did. But they still thoroughly enjoy the sauce when I make it this way for my four year old. ;)

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Ingredients

75 minutes

6 servings

1.5 pounds80/20 ground beef
2medium onions, minced
6large cloves garlic, minced
2 Tablespoonsoil (vegetable or olive work fine)
1 Tablespoondried basil
2 teaspoonsdried oregano
2bay leaves
1 Tablespoontightly packed brown sugar
1/4 cupketcup
2 (28 oz.)cans tomatoes
1/2 teaspoonblack pepper
1.5-2 teaspoonskosher salt

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Steps

75 minutes

1

In a large pot (4 quarts minimum), bring 1 Tablespoon oil to medium high heat and brown the ground beef, breaking it into small chunks as it cooks, and seasoning it with 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt. Using a large cooking spoon, move the cooked meat to a bowl or plate and set aside. Remove some or all of the grease from the beef to your liking. (I like to leave about half for flavor.)
2

Add 1 Tablespoon oil into the pot, reduce the heat to medium, and sweat the onions and garlic, stirring occasionally, until the onions are translucent. This should take 4 to 5 minutes.
3

Add in the dried herbs, stir them in, and give them a minute to bloom in the oil.
4

Add in the rest of the sauce ingredients, including the ground beef, give it 3 or 4 gentle stirs to mix everything together, and simmer with the lid askew (about 1/4-inch opening on one side) for a total of 45 minutes on medium low heat, stirring every 10 minutes or so to redistribute the ingredients and to make sure the sauce isn't burning on the bottom. If you can scrape stuff off the bottom during a long simmer, your heat's too high, and you should adjust down accordingly.
5

During the long simmer's a good time to boil and drain your pasta.
6

Before the last 10 minutes of simmer is a good time to adjust your seasonings as well.
7

Enjoy! :)