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Carrot and Zucchini Meat Sauce recipe. A comforting classic Paleo veggie meat sauce recipe with a twist of added veggies!
Meat sauce is one of those recipes that is always on my regular rotation. It’s quick and easy to make, it’s filling, it’s healthy, and it’s delicious.
I often try to make different variations and my most recent favorite is this Carrot and Zucchini Meat Sauce.
It’s got all the amazing flavor of classic meat sauce, but with the extra crunch, flavor, and vitamins from carrots and zucchini.
This meat sauce is a naturally Paleo, dairy-free, gluten-free, Whole30 recipe. I love when recipes are naturally “clean”.
This just means that they taste best and work best using only real food ingredients, and that you aren’t making any changes to the recipe by using only real food.
Comfort food that’s good for you? Yes please!
Ingredients needed to make this Paleo Veggie Meat Sauce recipe:
- olive oil
- carrots
- ground beef
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- dried oregano
- dried basil
- salt and pepper
- tomato paste
- crushed tomatoes
- strained tomatoes
- water
- zucchini
Tips on how to make it:
I like starting off by cooking the carrots. This ensures that they won’t be too crunchy.
Then, add the ground beef to the carrots.
Note: you can use 1/2 of a diced onion instead of onion powder and 2-3 cloves of minced garlic instead of garlic powder if you choose.
My husband tends to get migraines when I use fresh onion, so I have been avoiding it in my cooking. He is fine with onion powder though.
Anyways, make sure to add the spices to the ground beef at the beginning to really get the flavors into the meat.
After that you’ll add your crushed and strained tomatoes and let everything simmer.
Then, only add the zucchini to the meat sauce for the last 15 minutes of cooking, so it doesn’t get soggy. If you want to cook this sauce for longer (meat sauce does taste delicious when it cooks for a while), then just add the zucchini during the last 15 minutes.
Recommendations on what to serve with the sauce
I personally love eating this Carrot and Zucchini Meat Sauce on top of zoodles, spaghetti squash, quinoa pasta, or steamed broccoli.
It’s also great on top of baked potatoes, couscous, or rice.
The possibilities are really endless!
My personal favorite is on top of quinoa pasta. 🙂
I hope you enjoy this Paleo veggie meat sauce as much as my family does!
Other meat sauce recipes you may enjoy:
Arrabbiata Meat Sauce (Paleo, Whole30)
Carrot and Zucchini Meat Sauce (Paleo, Whole30)
Ingredients
- 1 Tbs olive oil
- 2 cups sliced carrots
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 2 tsp garlic powder, divided
- 1.5 tsp onion powder
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 2.5 tsp dried basil, divided
- 1.5 tsp salt, divided
- 3/4 tsp black pepper, divided
- 4 Tbs tomato paste
- 3 cups crushed tomatoes
- 2 cups strained tomatoes
- 1/4 cup water
- 3 cups sliced and quartered zucchini, ( this was 2 medium zucchini for me )
Instructions
- Add olive oil and sliced carrots to a large pot and cook over medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Add ground beef, 1.5 tsp garlic powder, 1.5 tsp onion powder, 2 tsp dried oregano, 2 tsp dried basil, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper, and mix. Cook until meat is browned.
- Add the tomato paste to the pan and mix.
- Add the crushed tomatoes, strained tomatoes, and water, and then lower the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes. Then add the zucchini, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp basil and cook for 15 minutes more, until the carrots and zucchini are tender.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Great sauce, Great meal !