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!
While I’m typically an alfredo girl – there’s something about a big bowl of meaty spaghetti sauce and you’ll be shocked at how easy this was to make! Next time though – I’m adding mushrooms. 🙂
What’s in Olive Garden’s Meat Sauce?
All the usual suspects with a couple of add-ons that make it Olive Garden perfection:
- Onion, Celery & Carrot – the trifecta of yum!
- Garlic, Rosemary, Sage – the touch of sage adds so much!
- Salt and Olive Oil – every recipes ingredients – right?!
- Ground Beef & Italian Sausage – gotta have the combo
- 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?
- Get out your Dutch oven! Start with olive oil and add your celery, onion, carrot and garlic. Saute until tender for 5 minutes.
- Add ground beef and sausage – cook 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
- Simmer for an hour and serve!
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
Copycat Olive Garden Spaghetti Meat Sauce
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!
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.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
- Simmer for about 1 hour.
- Serve over spaghetti!
Nutrition
Serving: 0.75cupCalories: 303kcalCarbohydrates: 4.7gProtein: 16.5gFat: 20.9gSaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 61mgSodium: 721mgPotassium: 348mgFiber: 0.8gSugar: 1.6gCalcium: 25mgIron: 2mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Unknown says
Hmmmm . . Rosemary, Sage. No oregano, basil? Interesting. I've never had their meat sauce; I order the spaghetti and meatballs. Yum!
bridgett says
how long does deglazing the pan take and reduce wine before adding other stuff?
FoodHussy says
About five minutes – you don’t want the pan to be dry – but you don’t want a bunch of liquid
Bridgett bohanan says
also does the sauce freeze?
Bridgett says
Thank you! on medium heat? sorry new to cooking with wine?
FoodHussy says
Yup – you want the sauce to be simmering – so not boiling – but bubbling and yes – you can freeze it! 🙂
Bridgett bohanan says
thank you!!! 🙂
Joni Gonzales says
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!
FoodHussy says
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?
Bridgett says
Thank you! You recipe is amazing! 🙂
Jackie says
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?
FoodHussy says
no removing anything – just add wine, scrape all the yum off the bottom, add remaining ingredients and simmer
Morgan says
Tastes exactly like olive gardens sauce .. don’t forget to drain the meat before you put the wine in though !
Rich Falcioni says
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
FoodHussy says
Thanks – glad you liked it!!
Jennifer Hewitt says
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.
FoodHussy says
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/ 😉
Jean says
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.
FoodHussy says
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.
KBrew says
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 😋
Barb says
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!
FoodHussy says
hooray!! glad you loved it!
Terri says
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
Bill says
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.
FoodHussy says
I don’t have their meatball recipe but I’ll add it to the list!
Miranda says
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.
FoodHussy says
thanks! glad you liked it!
Cynthia Velez says
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!
Judy Earl says
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.
Nancy Mullenix says
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.
Bryan Barker says
I’m thinking of adding mushrooms (not canned).
Ever tried that?
FoodHussy says
Oh yes – mushrooms are delicious with it!!
Danielle says
This is my husband’s favorite meat sauce. Thank you for the recipe!
FoodHussy says
So glad you like it!
Cindy says
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.
FoodHussy says
Aw thanks!!!!
Kathy says
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!!!!!
HeatReid says
Can you deglaze with something other than wine without changing the flavour
FoodHussy says
yes – you can use beef broth