This week I had a killer craving for some classic spaghetti and meat sauce. But, as you may know, I like to add vegetables whenever and wherever I can to recipes. So I shredded a couple of handfuls of vegetables, tossed them into the sauce, and added some extra herbs and spices to make this absolutely incredible “hidden vegetable” pasta sauce. It has more flavor, more color, and more texture (read: fiber). It’s a win-win-win!
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Shown with Homemade Garlic Bread.
Balance Your Costs with Vegetables
My favorite trick for stretching ground meat in recipes is to use vegetables or beans to replace half of the ground meat. This time I shredded vegetables, which mimicked the texture of the ground meat, but added a subtle sweetness and a whole lot of extra flavor, texture, and nutrition to the sauce. This sauce is so delicious that I couldn’t stop sneaking spoonfuls while I took photos!
Can I Make This Sauce Vegetarian?
If you want to make a vegetarian version of this hidden vegetable pasta sauce, I suggest mincing an 8oz. container of mushrooms and sautéing them with the onions and garlic. The minced texture will mimic the ground meat and mushrooms have that umami flavor that is similar to ground meat.
Is Hidden Vegetable Pasta Sauce Freezer Friendly?
This sauce freezes great if you want to make a double batch and have it on hand in your freezer for busy nights. Just make sure to cool the sauce completely in the refrigerator first, then transfer to the freezer. The sauce will stay good in the freezer for months. To reheat, empty the freezer container into a sauce pot and heat over medium-low, stirring occasionally, until heated through.
Spaghetti with Hidden Vegetable Pasta Sauce
Servings 4Ingredients
- 1 small zucchini ($0.57)
- 2 carrots ($0.16)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.25)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.16)
- 1/2 lb. ground beef ($2.50)
- 1/2 tsp dried basil ($0.05)
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp Freshly cracked black pepper ($0.03)
- 1 pinch crushed red pepper (optional) ($0.02)
- 1 24oz. jar pasta sauce* ($1.49)
- 12 oz. spaghetti ( $0.75)
Instructions
- Use a cheese grater to grate the zucchini and carrots. You'll want about 1.5 cups of each, but the amount is flexible. Dice the onion and mince the garlic.
- Add the olive oil and ground beef to a large, deep skillet. Cook the ground beef over medium heat until it is fully browned. Add the diced onion and garlic and continue to sauté a few minutes more, or until the onions are soft and translucent.
- Add the shredded zucchini and carrots to the skillet along with the basil, oregano, salt, freshly cracked pepper, and a pinch of red pepper. Continue to sauté until the vegetables are wilted (about five minutes).
- Add the pasta sauce to the skillet and stir to combine. Allow the contents of the skillet to come up to a simmer, then turn the heat down to low and simmer the sauce as you prepare the spaghetti. Stir the sauce occasionally as it simmers.
- Cook the spaghetti according to the package directions, then drain in a colander. Return the drained spaghetti to the pot with the heat turned off. Add one cup of the prepared sauce to the pasta and stir to coat. Divide the pasta into serving bowls and top with additional sauce.
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Notes
Nutrition
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How to Make Hidden Vegetable Pasta Sauce – Step by Step Photos
Start by preparing your vegetables. Use a cheese grater to grate one small zucchini and two carrots. You’ll want about 1.5 cups each, but this is flexible so don’t sweat it if you have a little more or less. Also dice one yellow onion and mince two cloves of garlic.
Add 1/2 lb. ground beef in a large deep skillet with 1 Tbsp olive oil and cook over medium heat until the beef has browned. Once browned, add the diced onion and minced garlic. Sauté for a few minutes more, or until the onions are soft and translucent.
Add the shredded zucchini and carrots to the skillet along with 1/2 tsp dried basil, 1/2 tsp dried oregano, 1/4 tsp salt, about ¼ tsp freshly cracked pepper, and a pinch of red pepper flakes (optional). Continue to sauté the vegetables until they soften, or about five minutes.
Finally, add one 24oz. jar of your favorite pasta sauce and stir to combine. Allow the sauce to come back up to a simmer, then turn the heat down to low and continue to let the contents of the skillet simmer as you begin to prepare your spaghetti.
Stir the sauce occasionally as it simmers. The vegetables will continue to soften as the sauce simmers, further “hiding” them in the sauce.
Cook 12oz. of spaghetti according to the package directions, then drain in a colander. Return the pasta to the cooking pot with the heat turned off and add about 1 cup of the sauce. Stir to coat the pasta with the sauce.
Divide the pasta into serving bowls, then top each bowl with additional sauce. This stuff is seriously so good, my mouth is watering just looking at that bowl!
And don’t forget, this sauce is freezer-friendly! Just make sure to cool it completely in the refrigerator first, then place in a freezer-safe container (I used freezer bags), label, date, and freeze for later! It can be thawed in a saucepot over low, stirring occasionally.
I made this for my family and it was delicious. We normaly have spaghetti with peppers and onions. So this was different for us.but thanks for giving me something different and more healthy while filling to eat.i definitely am going to stick with this.
This was incredible. Easy way to sneak in veggies.
This recipe is a game changer for me. I’d never have thought to put shredded vegetables in a meat sauce, but the additional texture is fantastic (chewy, without being crunchy). Destined to join the regular rotation, I think.
Is 1/2 lb or 2lbs? On the pinterest ingredients screen it indicates 2lbs?
It’s 1/2 lb. Pinterest auto-pulls that information and it always messes it up for some reason. I’ve emailed them and they haven’t offered a solution. So, my suggestion would be to never trust the ingredients listed on a pin, but always visit the site and get the information there. :(
This turned out great, although I subbed the beef for turkey and used the Barilla Tomato & Basil sauce, and no zucchini. Still wonderful, next time I will add the zucchini.
Doubled the garlic and added a touch more salt to the sauce. Delicious. Any recipe that can make me like zucchini and carrots is a good one.
I need to start reviewing these recipes that I make. Seriously. I have made over 20+ BB recipes, and haven’t reviewed a single delicious one.
This really made me want to eat spaghetti, and I’m not big on it AT ALL. I love variety, so the vegetables made me want to try it. It made the sauce so savory! Defs dug the sauce. If I had to be honest, 4/5 WITH spaghetti (only because I’m not a huge fan), but 5/5 on the sauce alone.
Back in my starving student days I would often make egg plant spagetti sauce. Just add a whole cubed egg plant to the mix after you have sauted the other veg. Cook until soft in the sauce. Peeled or not, depending on your taste, it gives even a greater sense of having a full pot of sauce with “meaty” chumks. Cooked in the sauce it also does not absorb oil the way sauteing egg plant so often does.
Sounds like a great way to enjoy spaghetti AND get lots of veggies. Can’t wait to make this.
We do this too, but we go for a Bologhnese-style sauce. We also use 1 lb organic grass fed beef, 1 cup beef stock; half pound mushrooms, 1 red pepper, 1 cup wine, diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Onions, garlic and herbs, salt and pepper as per your recipe. Dash of pepper sauce to keep things interesting. Makes seven portions for USD10 and works great out of the freezer as lunch or supper.
Did you peel the zucchini before you shredded it? I wouldn’t think you’d have to, just wondering! Looks amazing and spaghetti was already on the menu for next week so now I’ve I got to use this recipe!
Nope, I just shredded the whole thing, peel and all. :)
Thank you so much for this recipe. I made it for my fiance and we both are loving it (for lunch three times this week!). I also made the sauce, without the meat (we used ground turkey) and put it over a baked panko-crusted chicken. It was amazing. Thanks for giving me confidence in the kitchen – it feels great when I can watch others enjoy my cooking!
This is a really good way to get more veggies into your diet and cut down on red meat. This is going into my weekly food routine starting tomorrow..Thanks for posting it.:-)
We tend to make our spaghetti sauces like this a lot – except with pork & veal mince instead of ground beef (in my part of the world, they’re actually cheaper than decent ground beef some days). It’s fantastic for kids who hate vegetables, or for adults who claim to hate them. My brother-in-law gets me to make it up for him so that he doesn’t ‘see’ the veggies, but still actually eats some. Most awesome.
Hey, have you ever tried making the spaghetti from spaghetti squash? My friend does it all the time to make it truly vegetarian. She says it tastes about the same too
And leave out the beef obviously