Everyone loves a good pasta sauce. This sauce can be easily made vegetarian by using the substitutes listed in the Tips and Variations. To make the vegetables barely noticeable in this sauce, make sure they are cut very small. If you have a food processor, you can pulse the mushrooms and onions until they are very finely chopped so they almost disappear.
Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add ground meat or alternative and cook for about 5 minutes, breaking up the chunks and stirring to cook evenly.
Add onions, mushrooms, carrot, and zucchini, and cook for 5 minutes.
Add garlic powder, tomatoes, and water. Cook for about 30 minutes to an hour. The longer you cook your sauce, the more flavour it will have! Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
If using ground meat, the final internal temperature of the sauce should be 165˚F (74˚C) when using an instant read thermometer.
Serve with your favourite pasta, or try out some zucchini noodles or spaghetti squash for even more vegetables!
To make this recipe vegetarian, use a ground meat alternative. These can usually be found in the refrigerated section of the grocery store where the vegetarian foods are. You can also use a can of lentils that has been drained and rinsed.
To make this recipe quick for a weeknight meal, use a store bought pasta sauce instead of the crushed tomatoes.
