Copycat Olive Garden Meat Sauce - The Food Hussy (2024)

May 27, 2020 · FoodHussy · 42 Comments

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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!

Copycat Olive Garden Meat Sauce - The Food Hussy (1)

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. 🙂

Copycat Olive Garden Meat Sauce - The Food Hussy (2)

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!

Copycat Olive Garden Meat Sauce - The Food Hussy (3)

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!

Copycat Olive Garden Meat Sauce - The Food Hussy (4)

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!

Olive Garden Salad
Air Fryer Garlic Bread
Air Fryer Oreo Cheesecake

Other Olive Garden Recipe Favorites

Giant Stuffed Shells
Stuffed Ziti Fritta
Pasta fa*gioli

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!

4.16 from 150 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 25 minutes mins

Course Entree

Cuisine American, Italian

Servings 6 people

Calories 303 kcal

Equipment

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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.
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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!

Video

Nutrition

Serving: 0.75cupCalories: 303kcalCarbohydrates: 4.7gProtein: 16.5gFat: 20.9gSaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 61mgSodium: 721mgPotassium: 348mgFiber: 0.8gSugar: 1.6gCalcium: 25mgIron: 2mg

Keyword copycat, olive garden

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Reader Interactions

Comments

Unknown says
May 27, 2020 at 6:06 pm

Hmmmm . . Rosemary, Sage. No oregano, basil? Interesting. I've never had their meat sauce; I order the spaghetti and meatballs. Yum!
Reply
bridgett says
July 29, 2020 at 2:02 pm

how long does deglazing the pan take and reduce wine before adding other stuff?
Reply
- FoodHussy says
  July 29, 2020 at 8:15 pm
  
  About five minutes – you don’t want the pan to be dry – but you don’t want a bunch of liquid
- Bridgett bohanan says
  July 30, 2020 at 9:11 pm
  
  also does the sauce freeze?
Bridgett says
July 30, 2020 at 7:48 pm

Thank you! on medium heat? sorry new to cooking with wine?
Reply
- FoodHussy says
  July 30, 2020 at 9:21 pm
  
  Yup – you want the sauce to be simmering – so not boiling – but bubbling and yes – you can freeze it! 🙂
- Bridgett bohanan says
  July 30, 2020 at 11:52 pm
  
  thank you!!! 🙂
Joni Gonzales says
August 1, 2020 at 1:41 pm

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!
Reply
- FoodHussy says
  August 1, 2020 at 7:01 pm
  
  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
See Also
Chicken Parmesan Casserole
August 2, 2020 at 12:26 pm

Thank you! You recipe is amazing! 🙂
Reply
Jackie says
January 19, 2021 at 2:54 pm

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?
Reply
- FoodHussy says
  January 19, 2021 at 11:56 pm
  
  no removing anything – just add wine, scrape all the yum off the bottom, add remaining ingredients and simmer
Morgan says
February 24, 2021 at 12:24 am

Tastes exactly like olive gardens sauce .. don’t forget to drain the meat before you put the wine in though !
Reply
Rich Falcioni says
February 28, 2021 at 10:51 pm

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
Reply
- FoodHussy says
  February 28, 2021 at 11:42 pm
  
  Thanks – glad you liked it!!
Jennifer Hewitt says
March 26, 2021 at 9:40 pm

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.
Reply
- FoodHussy says
  March 26, 2021 at 10:09 pm
  
  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
September 7, 2021 at 6:41 pm

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.
Reply
- FoodHussy says
  September 7, 2021 at 9:55 pm
  
  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
  August 26, 2023 at 4:42 pm
  
  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
January 20, 2022 at 12:17 am

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!
Reply
- FoodHussy says
  January 20, 2022 at 12:22 am
  
  hooray!! glad you loved it!
Terri says
June 5, 2022 at 11:13 pm

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
Reply
Bill says
June 29, 2022 at 9:23 pm

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.
Reply
- FoodHussy says
  June 29, 2022 at 9:34 pm
  
  I don’t have their meatball recipe but I’ll add it to the list!
Miranda says
September 25, 2022 at 6:59 pm

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.
Reply
- FoodHussy says
  September 25, 2022 at 7:17 pm
  
  thanks! glad you liked it!
Cynthia Velez says
November 27, 2022 at 11:53 am

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!
Reply
Judy Earl says
December 23, 2022 at 4:49 pm

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.
Reply
Nancy Mullenix says
December 31, 2022 at 3:52 pm

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.
Reply
Bryan Barker says
February 14, 2023 at 7:32 pm

I’m thinking of adding mushrooms (not canned).
Ever tried that?
Reply
- FoodHussy says
  February 15, 2023 at 12:25 pm
  
  Oh yes – mushrooms are delicious with it!!
Danielle says
May 4, 2023 at 3:39 pm

This is my husband’s favorite meat sauce. Thank you for the recipe!
Reply
- FoodHussy says
  May 4, 2023 at 3:43 pm
  
  So glad you like it!
Cindy says
June 14, 2023 at 3:11 pm

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.
Reply
- FoodHussy says
  June 14, 2023 at 9:56 pm
  
  Aw thanks!!!!
Kathy says
September 14, 2023 at 9:09 am

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!!!!!
Reply
HeatReid says
October 17, 2023 at 10:43 am

Can you deglaze with something other than wine without changing the flavour
Reply
- FoodHussy says
  October 17, 2023 at 11:01 am
  
  yes – you can use beef broth
Marcie says
January 28, 2024 at 7:34 pm

Absolutely delicious. Made exactly as recipe directed. No substitutions. I wish I had doubled it!!
Reply
Carlos says
March 6, 2024 at 9:30 pm

what is the proper amount of noodles to use, when using 3x the recipe
Reply
- FoodHussy says
  March 8, 2024 at 8:46 pm
  
  I would say 2-3 lb