Spaghetti with Meat Sauce and Lentils is an update of the spaghetti with meat sauce that I often served as a young mom with school age kids. Fast and familiar. The kind of manageable meal that feeds a family.
Throwing a can of lentils in the meat sauce has little sensory impact. The spaghetti looks and tastes very similar to the original. For me, it’s mostly about nutrition, but there’s also the benefits of economy and sustainability.
The strategy – adding lentils to a meat sauce – is an example of nutrition by addition. The focus is adding nutritious foods to enhance your meals, rather than restricting or eliminating. It’s a good concept, easily applied to any meal.
My current food goal is fiber. And lentils are full of it. I still enjoy a beefy spaghetti dinner but with added fiber from the lentils. It’s a way to increase the number and variety of plants in your meals, which research suggests is good for you and your gut. Check it out!
Spaghetti with Meat Sauce and Lentils is also frugal given the relative low cost of lentils compared to ground beef. The lentils nearly double the yield of the sauce without doubling the meat, the priciest ingredient.
This recipe makes a lot. It’s an intentional “dinner double” strategy that I use. Make enough sauce for spaghetti dinner tonight and save the rest in the freezer for another meal, at which point I’ll mix it up with rigatoni. I’ve tried halving the recipe, but it’s impractical if I’ve purchased a one pound package of ground beef.
As it is, Spaghetti with Meat Sauce and Lentils makes about 5 cups of sauce. That’s plenty for two pasta meals, generously sauced. I think you could stretch it to three pasta meals by enriching the portions with butter.
So, lentils are a thrifty way to stretch a meal, but they’re also eco-friendly. They’ve got a relatively low carbon footprint and help to improve soil health. Nerdy types can dig in at usapulses.org.
I’ve opted to use canned lentils in this recipe for convenience. They’re precooked, making them a good choice if you’re unfamiliar with dried lentils. In my experience, canned lentils may not be as widely available as canned beans, but I find them in large grocery stores, also Trader Joe’s.
More Please?
Lentils are versatile. I keep dried red lentils in the pantry for soup. And I’ve used this green lentil salad in a rice bowl. You might be surprised by the variety of lentil recipes out there.
Lentils are a surprisingly good source of plant protein. Using them in a dish like Spaghetti with Meat Sauce and Lentils is a good way to try a flexitarian way of eating, which emphasizes plant-based foods with meat less frequently.
Spaghetti with Meat Sauce and Lentils
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- 1 carrot finely diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 Tablespoon tomato paste see note
- 1 teaspoon Italian herb blend see note
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, more to taste
- 1 15 oz can lentils drained
- 1 28 oz can whole plum tomatoes
- 1 inch piece parmesan rind optional
- 1 pound dried spaghetti
- parmesan, shredded for topping as desired
Instructions
- Heat oil and butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add garlic. Cook, stirring, for about 30 seconds or so.
- To the pan, add onions and carrots with a pinch of salt and saute for 4 to 5 minutes.
- Stir in the Italian herbs, oregano, crushed red paper flakes, basil, and fennel seeds.
- Stir in the tomato paste and sauté for about 5 minutes. Frequent stirring is important to avoid scorching the tomato paste.
- Add ground beef to the pan with ½ tsp salt and continue cooking, stirring often to break up the meat, until meat is cooked through.
- Add lentils to the pan and stir well to combine, adding a small pour of additional olive oil if desired to coat the lentils.
- Add the tomatoes with their liquid. If using, add the parmesan rind. Bring to a boil while stirring and breaking up the whole tomatoes with a flat spatula. Then reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes.
- Taste the sauce for seasoning, add more salt if needed.
- Boil the spaghetti in a separate pot of salted water according to the package instructions for al dente noodles.
- Continue to simmer the meat and lentil sauce until it's reduced to your liking. For me that means saucy but not watery. Keep the finished sauce hot till the spaghetti is ready. Remove and discard the parmesan rind.
- Combine half the sauce (about 2 ½ cups) with cooked and drained spaghetti (from one pound dried). Garnish with shredded parmesan for serving if desired.
- Store the remaining half of the sauce in the freezer for another meal. See note about sauce yield.
Notes
- Total yield of the meat sauce with lentils is 5 cups. This is enough to generously sauce cooked pasta from 2 pounds dried. This recipe calls for using half the prepared sauce (2.5 cups) on cooked pasta from 1 pound dried and freezing the remaining sauce (2.5 cups) for another meal.
- The recipe calls for a single Tablespoon of tomato paste which is easy if you buy tomato paste in a squeezable tube. If not, use ketchup or omit. Cooking tomato paste until it browns slightly is said to enrich the flavor of the sauce and it’s a good trick to keep in mind. But this recipe works without it.
- Italian seasoning is a blend of dried herbs including marjoram, rosemary, thyme, savory, sage, oregano, and basil. I like the pop of rosemary it brings to spaghetti sauce. If you don’t keep it in your pantry, substitute with an equal amount of dried Italian herbs like oregano, basil, and crushed rosemary.
- You probably already know about saving your parmesan rinds for a flavor boost in sauces and soups. If not, here’s a good place to start. I keep mine well wrapped in the freezer.
