Pioneer Woman Spaghetti Sauce

Pioneer Woman spaghetti sauce from Ree Drummond simmers 5 pounds of ground beef with crushed tomatoes, white wine, and a jar of store-bought marinara into a freezer-friendly bulk sauce. And the batch yields 18 servings at approximately 480 calories each in about 1 hour and 20 minutes, since the sauce simmers covered for most of that time.

After building a full homemade base of tomatoes, garlic, and herbs, Ree stirs in one jar of store-bought marinara for an extra layer of depth. So the finished sauce gets the benefit of hours someone else spent stewing their recipe, which adds a dimension you cannot replicate by doubling down on more crushed tomatoes alone.

Browning the beef first and draining the grease before the vegetables go in is what keeps the sauce rich without tasting greasy. And if you skip the drain and build the sauce on top of the rendered fat, the tomatoes float on a slick of oil that never fully incorporates no matter how long you simmer.

Source: The Pioneer Woman (thepioneerwoman.com)

Pioneer Woman Spaghetti Sauce

Recipe by medshi8Course: PastaCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy

Servings

18

servings

Prep time

20

minutes

Cooking time

1

hour 

Calories

480

kcal

Browned ground beef drains while onion, bell pepper, and garlic sauté in olive oil before wine reduces and crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, and marinara join the pot. Then the beef returns with oregano, thyme, sugar, bay leaves, and salt for a 1-hour covered simmer, and parsley with a Parmesan rind finish the last 30 minutes.

Ingredients

• For the sauce:

• 5 lbs. ground beef
  

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
  

• 2 large yellow onions, diced
  

• 2 green bell peppers, seeded and diced
  

• 6 cloves garlic, minced
  

• 1 cup white wine (or low-sodium beef broth)
  

• 2 (28-oz.) cans crushed tomatoes
  

• 1 (14-oz.) can crushed tomatoes
  

• 1 (4-oz.) can tomato paste
  

• 1 jar good store-bought marinara sauce
  

• 1 teaspoon ground oregano
  

• 1 teaspoon ground thyme
  

• 4 bay leaves
  

• 2 tablespoons sugar
  

• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  

• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)
  

• 1/4 cup finely minced fresh parsley (or 3 tablespoons parsley flakes)
  

• 1 whole rind from a Parmesan wedge (optional)
  

• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

• For serving:
  

• 2 lbs. spaghetti, cooked al dente and tossed with olive oil
  

• Extra minced parsley
  

• Extra Parmesan cheese

Directions

• Brown the beef: In a large pot over medium-high heat, cook the ground beef until totally browned, crumbling as you go.
  
• Drain and set aside: Then remove the meat with a slotted spoon to a bowl, letting the grease drain off.
  
• Discard the grease: Once the beef is out, pour off the fat but do not clean the pot.
  
• Sauté the vegetables: Then drizzle in the olive oil, add the onion and bell pepper, and cook for 1 1/2 minutes.
  
• Add the garlic: Once the vegetables start to soften, stir in the garlic and cook for 1 more minute.
  
• Deglaze with wine: Then pour in the wine and let it bubble up and reduce for about 1 1/2 minutes.
  
• Add the tomatoes: Once the wine reduces, stir in the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, and marinara sauce.
  
• Season the sauce: Then add the oregano, thyme, sugar, salt, bay leaves, and red pepper flakes if using.
  
• Return the beef: Once seasoned, stir the browned beef back into the pot.
  
• Simmer covered: Then cover and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally and adding water or broth if needed.
  
• Add the parsley and rind: After 1 hour, stir in the minced parsley and the Parmesan rind or grated Parmesan.
  
• Simmer again: Then cover and simmer for another 30 minutes.
  
• Remove the bay leaves: Before serving, discard the bay leaves and the Parmesan rind.
  
• Serve: Then spoon the sauce over oiled spaghetti and top with parsley and Parmesan shavings.

FAQs

Why does the recipe add a jar of store-bought marinara?

Ree explains on the page that one jar adds a subtle extra dimension to the homemade base without making the sauce taste like it came from a jar. And the hours of stewing that the manufacturer already put into their sauce contribute depth that you cannot replicate by adding more crushed tomatoes.

But you can skip it entirely and substitute the same volume in more crushed tomatoes if the idea bothers you. Since the homemade base is already loaded with garlic, wine, and herbs, the finished sauce still tastes rich without the jar.

Can I halve this recipe?

Ree notes on the page that the recipe halves easily, and a single batch still makes enough for a family dinner with leftovers. So cut every ingredient in half, use one 28-ounce can instead of two, and reduce the simmer time by about 15 minutes since less liquid needs less time to concentrate.

But the whole point of the bulk batch is freezing the extra, so consider making the full recipe anyway. Since the sauce freezes in containers for up to 3 months, one afternoon of cooking covers weeks of weeknight dinners.

What does the Parmesan rind do in the sauce?

The rind softens during the 30-minute simmer and releases starchy, salty umami directly into the tomato base. And it thickens the sauce slightly as it dissolves, so the finished texture clings to the noodles better than a rind-free version.

But if you do not have a wedge with a rind, stir in 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan instead, which Ree suggests as an alternative. And save rinds from finished wedges in a freezer bag, since they keep for months and work in any simmered sauce like the pioneer woman baked ziti where tomato and cheese meet in the same pot.

How should I freeze and reheat this sauce?

Cool the sauce completely, then ladle it into quart-sized freezer containers or bags laid flat for easy stacking. And it keeps frozen for up to 3 months, so label each container with the date.

Thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat on the stovetop over medium-low, adding a splash of water if the sauce thickened during storage. And the same gentle reheating approach works for the pioneer woman pulled pork, where low heat prevents the meat from drying out as the liquid warms back up.

What else can I use this sauce for besides spaghetti?

Ree says on the page that it works on garlic bread, in lasagna, or spooned over ricotta-stuffed pasta shells. And spreading it in the bottom of a casserole dish as the base layer for baked pasta is another natural fit.

But the sauce is thick enough to hold up as a dipping sauce for breadsticks or as a topping for baked potatoes too. And since the batch is large, portioning some into smaller containers for different uses saves you from thawing the whole stash for one meal.