Olive Garden Meat Sauce
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Olive Garden is one of my favorite restaurants and I love to recreate their dishes at home and this recipe for their Meat Sauce is spot on! It’s rich, thick and meaty perfection!
One interesting thing about this meat sauce recipe is that I was in Italy this past summer and our chef made us a traditional bolognese. I went through the recipe with her and it was almost identical! So I guess some things at Olive Garden are authentic!
What You Will ❤️ About Olive Garden Meat Sauce
- MEATY! It combines ground beef and Italian sausage for a hearty meaty spaghetti sauce.
- Comfort Food – this is so comforting on a cold night – a big bowl of pasta and a thick sauce
- Easy to Make! The sauce is all made in a Dutch oven so it’s super easy!
Olive Garden Meat Sauce Ingredients
The meat sauce is comparable to an Italian ragu or bolognese – which I found out – are the same thing. They just call it different things in different regions. In contrast to their marinara sauce, which is lighter and slightly sweet, the meat sauce has red wine, beef and pork.
All the usual suspects with a couple of add-ons that make it Olive Garden perfection:
- Onion, Celery & Carrot – the trifecta of yum when it comes to veggies!
- Garlic, Rosemary, Sage – the touch of sage adds so much! These aren’t the usual “Italian seasonings” but trust me – they’re perfect!
- Salt and Olive Oil – every recipe’s ingredients – right?!
- Ground Beef & Italian Sausage – gotta have the combo – it’s what they use!
- Crushed tomatoes – a big can and get a good brand – they’re the star!
- Red wine – I’m not a wine drinker – so I buy the little individual bottles and use one of those!
How do you make meat sauce?
This Olive Garden Meat Sauce is perfect over spaghetti or even linguine. Cook and drain your pasta while the sauce simmers for an easy dinner! (Don’t miss out on the Marinara sauce either!)
- Get out your Dutch oven! Start with olive oil and add your celery, onion, carrot and garlic. Saute until tender for 5 minutes.
- Add meats – brown ground beef and sausage until pink is gone
- Deglaze the pan by adding the red wine and cook until the liquid is reduced and mostly gone
- Add tomatoes, rosemary, sage and salt and stir the sauce mixture
- Simmer for an hour on the stovetop and serve over spaghetti noodles!
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Tips, Tricks & FAQs
Store leftovers in an airtight container (I like these glass ones) in the refrigerator for up to a week. You can freeze up to three months. Reheat in the microwave for 1-2 minutes.
Yes – I recommend a lean ground beef and Italian sausage. But – for a healthier version – substitute ground turkey for the ground beef. You’ll keep the fattiness from the sausage but cut back with the turkey.
Sure – I have made this multiple times and added mushrooms when I sauteed the pork/beef. You could also use fresh tomatoes instead of canned if they’re really ripe and skinned.
What to serve with Olive Garden Spaghetti & Meat Sauce
I had dinner all laid out and man I’m not sure who was drooling more – me or
the dogs!!?!! Salad, fresh Romano cheese to grate on top – a little sprig of
fresh basil and a big bowl of spaghetti – I was ready!
Other Olive Garden Recipe Favorites
Olive Garden Spaghetti Meat Sauce
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion finely diced
- 1 carrot finely diced
- 1 celery stalk finely diced
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1/2 lb ground beef
- 1/2 lb Italian sausage
- 1 cup red wine
- 28 oz crushed tomatoes
- 1/4 tsp rosemary
- 1/4 tsp dried sage
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Heat oil in Dutch Oven.2 tbsp olive oil
- Add celery, carrot, onion, garlic and cook about 5 minutes.1 onion, 1 carrot, 1 celery stalk, 1 tbsp minced garlic
- Add ground beef and sausage and cook 10 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally.1/2 lb ground beef, 1/2 lb Italian sausage
- Deglaze pan with wine and reduce until liquid is nearly gone.1 cup red wine
- Add tomatoes, salt, rosemary and sage and stir.28 oz crushed tomatoes, 1/4 tsp rosemary, 1/4 tsp dried sage, 1 tsp salt
- Cover and simmer for about 1 hour, stirring frequently.
- Serve over spaghetti!
Hmmmm . . Rosemary, Sage. No oregano, basil? Interesting. I've never had their meat sauce; I order the spaghetti and meatballs. Yum!
how long does deglazing the pan take and reduce wine before adding other stuff?
About five minutes – you don’t want the pan to be dry – but you don’t want a bunch of liquid
also does the sauce freeze?
Thank you! on medium heat? sorry new to cooking with wine?
Yup – you want the sauce to be simmering – so not boiling – but bubbling and yes – you can freeze it! 🙂
thank you!!! 🙂
I’m addicted to Olive Garden. I get their takeout several times a month. I loved their fried lasagna chip nachos with meat sauce and cheeses that they recently discontinued!! So sad lol. Now I’m trying to make them myself. I have perfected diy fried lasagna chips but my meat sauce isn’t even close. I’m going to try yours,but I have zero experience cooking with wine and only drink very sweet Moscato. Do you mind sharing exactly what you use? I googled cooking with wine and am still not clear what to buy. I’m not a very good cook and know nothing about wine, so I’m afraid to experiment. But I’m dying to recreate the nachos. Thank you!
i just bought the cheapest red wine that came in a four pack at the grocery store – any cheap red is fine – definitely NOT moscato. what’s in the lasagna chips? how do you make them?
Thank you! You recipe is amazing! 🙂
Sorry for sounds dumb, I’ve never “deglazed” anything haha but! Do you remove part 1 from the “dutch oven” then do part 2 in the same pan? OR do I use a different pan?
no removing anything – just add wine, scrape all the yum off the bottom, add remaining ingredients and simmer
Tastes exactly like olive gardens sauce .. don’t forget to drain the meat before you put the wine in though !
Thank you for posting this recipe. We just ate at Olive Garden a few nights ago and as usual I ordered their spaghetti and meat sauce. Wonderful! – I’ve been looking for some years now for the recipe and found yours. I thought that rosemary and sage couldn’t be right, but I made it today and it was spot on for their sauce.
Thank you again!
…Rich
Thanks – glad you liked it!!
Im trying this tomorrow, ty!
Do you have a recipe for their capellini Primavera…not to be confused with pomodoro which was on their menu long after the Primavera disappeared. I worked there 20 years ago and it was amazing but never to be seen again.
I don’t have their recipe done but I do have Panera’s Pasta Primavera – and I do love capellini! https://www.thefoodhussy.com/restaurant-review-new-pasta-primavera/ 😉
I love Olive Garden meat sauce and meat balls…however, I just made this recipe..used fresh herbs too…followed to the letter…waaay too much crushed tomato …I simmered the required time. Tomato overpowers the sauce…I may try recipe again but cut crushed tomato. Was so looking forward to it.
Sorry you didn’t love – I did side by side tastings and feel it’s a solid copycat but you can always do your own thang.
Made my own 28 oz crushed tomatoes ( San Marsano & German queen fresh from the garden vine) – I did not use the exact spices as our family is sensitive to even to OG version, but I will make this again and the version I needed up with was fairly spot on and most importantly delicious 😋
This was SO good!! My mother in law is an OG meat sauce junkie. I made this tonight and the whole family, including my MIL, loved it! I think the key was to let it cook down a bit with a splatter cover so it thickens. It was a huge hit with my family. We will definitely make this again!
hooray!! glad you loved it!
So Very Good! I added mushrooms and wonder if that is why the sauce was a little runny. Either way it was fabulous and will be making this for company
Hi, Hussy. I’ve been looking for this for years. I will make it. Can you tell me about OG meatballs? Anything special to them? Just meat? Any spice? I truly appreciate you fine recipe. Thank you for your time. Bill.
I don’t have their meatball recipe but I’ll add it to the list!
Delicious meal, i blitz the veggies in a food processor to save a little time but I must say that I REALLY approach how you set up your recipes, as someone who sometimes makes recipes from a phone it’s a lifesaver to not have to scroll up and down all the time.
thanks! glad you liked it!
This is the best spaghetti sauce ever. It is spot on for Olive Garden sauce. I make it often and freeze left overs for later use.
It is my favorite!
Followed the recipe exactly. Was as good as Olive Garden’s. I’ve made it twice and just can’t believe how good it is.
Made it and loved it. Especially how thick it is. I’ve been trying different meat sauce recipes and this one hits the nail on the head. Thank you.
I’m thinking of adding mushrooms (not canned).
Ever tried that?
Oh yes – mushrooms are delicious with it!!
This is my husband’s favorite meat sauce. Thank you for the recipe!
So glad you like it!
I have made this multiple times and absolutely love it. I make a double batch and freeze one container for later. This is my go to sauce. Thank you so much for the recipe. It is so good.
Aw thanks!!!!
This was spot on! I have been searching for a good copycat and this hits all the notes. I did drain the grease from pan before deglazing however and added a parm rind as well as some brown sugar because I like my sauce on the sweeter side. So yummy!! Thanks so much for sharing this!!!!!
Can you deglaze with something other than wine without changing the flavour
yes – you can use beef broth
Absolutely delicious. Made exactly as recipe directed. No substitutions. I wish I had doubled it!!
what is the proper amount of noodles to use, when using 3x the recipe
I would say 2-3 lb
I did not use the wine so it may have been even better but this was delicious and everyone loved it.