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Revolutionize how you cook meat sauce with my Sugo di Carne! The king of Italian meat sauces, this rich and ultra-flavorful sauce infuses peeled tomatoes and tender ground beef with red wine and herbs for an unforgettable flavor.
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It's hard to call Sugo di Carne just a meat sauce! This Italian classic is hardly any old sauce- and when you try it, you'll understand. Loaded with whole peeled tomatoes, herbs, and lots of red wine to deepen the flavor, this sauce promises to be something special before you even add any beef.
The secret is in the cooking time. By letting the sauce simmer in red wine for over an hour, the flavors merge together beautifully, becoming more intense and flavorful as time goes on. This is a sauce worth waiting for!
And the best thing about it? Sugo di Carne is perfect for making ahead. Cook up a big pot of beef sugo at the start of the week and store it in the freezer in small portions, and you'll have days worth of easy dinners!
What is sugo?
Sugo is an Italian tomato-based sauce made from ripe tomatoes, olive oil, onions, garlic, and seasonings. Variations on sugo include sugo di carne, which adds beef to the sauce. In this case, the name sugo essentially means "sauce", but it can also refer to the cooking juices from cooking down either meat or vegetables.
Italian Meat Sauce Ingredients
- Ground beef
- Peeled canned tomatoes
- Onion
- Olive oil
- Garlic
- Red wine
- Red pepper flakes
- Basil
- Salt and pepper
- Pasta
How to Make Sugo di Carne
- Heat oil over medium heat in a skillet. Once hot, add ground beef and brown until cooked through. Drain grease, remove beef from the skillet, and set aside.
- In a large Dutch oven or pot over medium heat, heat the remaining olive oil. Once hot, add in onion and minced garlic. Cook for 3-5 minutes or until fragrant.
- Pour in a can of whole peeled tomatoes and stir to combine. Mash tomatoes with the back of a wooden spoon, if you prefer.
- Pour in red wine and stir to combine.
- Season the sauce with red pepper flakes and fresh basil. Stir to combine.
- Add the browned ground beef with the sauce and combine well.
- Let the sauce simmer for at least 1 hour, covered, stirring occasionally. You can let it go longer if you'd like, it only gets better the longer it cooks!
- Serve sugo di carne with pasta and enjoy!
Sugo Recipe Tips
- Use a good quality red wine for this recipe! The wine's flavor will only get stronger and more distinct as the sauce simmers, so it's important that the wine itself tastes good.
- You can crush the tomatoes or not, depending on the consistency you enjoy most. I like crushing half of the tomatoes and leaving the rest whole for a chunkier sauce.
- This is a great sauce for starting early, and making extra! Start a big batch, let it cook over an hour or more, and freeze in several-cup batches for easy dinners later on!
- Make sure to cover the pot. If it's not covered, the liquids can boil off too much, and the meat will burn.
Sugo Sauce FAQ
Sugo di carne is a traditional Italian sauce - the "sugo" - with added beef- the "carne"! This sauce is classically made with fresh or peeled tomatoes instead of pureed, cooked with red wine and spices for long periods to enhance the flavors.
Sugo can refer to several different things: the liquids from cooking meat (like meat drippings), any sauce added to pasta, or specifically a simmering sauce made from tomatoes (as in this recipe). Ragu, however, is specifically a mince-based sauce. This variety of sugo di carne using ground beef in tomato sauce is technically also a ragu.
The secret to a delicious meat sauce is red wine and a long cook time! By adding red wine, the flavors of the tomatoes and herbs will be enhanced by the natural flavor and sweetness of wine. It also pairs beautifully with beef and helps the entire sauce merge together, aided further by letting it simmer for an hour or more!
Beef Sauce Recipes
Try my One Pot Spaghetti for another great beef pasta recipe!
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📋 Recipe
Sugo di Carne
Equipment
- Dutch oven or large soup pot
- Skillet
Ingredients
- 1 lb Ground beef
- 28 oz Peeled tomatoes one large can
- 1 small Onion chopped
- 3 Tablespoons Olive oil divided (1 and 2 Tablespoons)
- 3 cloves Garlic minced
- ½ cup Red wine
- 1 pinch Red pepper flakes
- 4 leaves Basil fresh, chopped
- Salt and pepper to taste
See our Beef Temperature Chart for helpful tips on cooking any cut of beef!
Instructions
- Heat 1 Tablespoon oil over medium heat in a skillet. Once the oil is hot, add the ground beef and brown until cooked through. Drain grease, remove beef from the skillet, and set aside.3 Tablespoons Olive oil, 1 lb Ground beef
- In a large dutch oven or pot over medium heat, heat the remaining 2 Tablespoons olive oil. Once hot, add in onion and minced garlic. Cook for 3-5 minutes or until fragrant.1 small Onion, 3 Tablespoons Olive oil, 3 cloves Garlic
- Pour in a can of whole peeled tomatoes and stir to combine. Mash tomatoes with the back of a wooden spoon, if you prefer.28 oz Peeled tomatoes
- Pour in red wine and stir to combine.½ cup Red wine
- Season the sauce with red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to taste, and fresh basil. Stir to combine.1 pinch Red pepper flakes, 4 leaves Basil, Salt and pepper
- Add the browned ground beef with the sauce and combine well.
- Let the sauce simmer for at least 1 hour, stirring occasionally. You can let it go longer if you'd like, it only gets better the longer it cooks.
- Serve sugo di carne with pasta and enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Use a good quality red wine for this recipe! The wine's flavor will only get stronger and more distinct as the sauce simmers, so it's important that the wine itself tastes good.
- You can crush the tomatoes or not, depending on the consistency you enjoy most. I like crushing half of the tomatoes and leaving the rest whole for a chunkier sauce.
- This is a great sauce for starting early, and making extra of! Start a big batch, let it cook over an hour or more, and freeze in several-cup batches for easy dinners later on!
- Make sure to cover the pot. If it's not covered, the liquids can boil off too much, and the meat will burn.
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