We eat A LOT of pasta in our house, and rigatoni with meat sauce is always a hit. This healthy pasta sauce combines lean beef with tons of veggies (a great way to get kids to eat lots of vegetables!)
This is an easy meal to make. Although the sauce needs to simmer for about 30 minutes, there isn’t very much hands-on time. You can make a big batch of the sauce to freeze for future dinners, too!
Rigatoni With Meat Sauce
Servings: 4
Calories: 421kcal
Ingredients
- 8 ounces uncooked rigatoni noodles (or other large pasta)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion (chopped)
- 1 carrot (chopped)
- 1 celery stick (chopped)
- 3 garlic cloves (minced)
- 12 ounces 96% lean ground beef
- ½ teaspoon dried rosemary (crumbled)
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme (crumbled)
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- ½ cup dry red wine
- 1 24oz. can whole tomatoes (undrained)
Instructions
- Boil a large pot of water and cook the pasta according to package instructions.
- Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet or saucepan and cook the onion, carrot and celery for about 3 to 5 minutes until the veggies are soft.
- Add the garlic. Stir and cook for 1 more minute.
- Add the ground beef. Stir and cook until the beef is no longer pink.
- Add the tomato paste, thyme and rosemary. Stir it around and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the red wine and stir for 1 minute until the alcohol cooks off.
- Add the can of whole tomatoes, along with all the juices inside the can. Put the lid on the pot and bring the sauce mixture to a boil.
- When the sauce boils, turn the heat down to "medium-low," and let the sauce simmer for about 30 minutes.
- Occasionally check on the sauce and give it a stir. Use the edge of the spatula to break up the whole tomatoes into smaller pieces.
- Spoon the sauce over the cooked noodles.
