Italian Sausage Spaghetti Sauce with Zoodles

Love pasta and meat sauce but don’t have all day to simmer over the stove? This easy weeknight recipe is for you. It uses whole ingredients with minimal processing, no added sugar and no processed carbs. Plus, the spaghetti sauce with zoodles is on the table in about 40 minutes.

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I love spaghetti with meat sauce. It’s hearty, warm, delicious and, believe it or not, easy to make. My mom used to make meat sauce that would take ALL DAY to cook. I don’t know why it took that long. Maybe someone told her it should cook all day to be really good. (She wasn’t a great cook, more about that another time.) But, when I was a kid it seemed like it took FOREVER to be done. That wasn’t good because I wanted to eat it NOW. I wanted it to be cooked QUICKLY.

I feel pretty much the same now that I’m an adult. When it’s time for dinner, I want it to be done now, or at least pretty soon. Like you, I’m busy most days. I don’t meander into the kitchen at 3 p.m. with hours to put together a fantastically complicated meal. Sometimes on the weekends, yes. But most days, I’m getting home from work and answering the question, “what’s for dinner?” before I can get my jacket hung up. Sound familiar?

This recipe is easy. You’ll be surprised because it tastes like it took a long time, but it’s just a bit outside the 30 minute mark if you let it simmer for 20 minutes. And simmering time shouldn’t really count, should it? Is that cheating? You tell me.

We have this meal about every other week. It’s quick to put together and I know everyone will eat at least some of it. My husband and I usually have the spaghetti sauce with zoodles, but the boys get regular pasta. Most of the time I cook 1 cup of medium shells for them. That’s just enough for them to be full without a lot of leftover pasta that’s frequently forgotten in the fridge. If you’re better about eating leftover pasta, make more and have it ready to go for lunch the next day. If you’re eating the zoodles, feel free to cut extra and have that for lunch the next day. Leave them raw and put leftover sauce on top. The next day microwave the container and it’ll reheat the sauce and lightly cook the zoodles at the same time.

Making the zoodles

I have a fancy attachment to my KitchenAid mixer to make spirals. Yes, it takes a few minutes to haul out the mixer and hook up the attachment, but then it’s really easy and quick. There are handheld spiralizers too, if you don’t have a mixer or don’t want to fork out for a big attachment. When I do make spirals I usually do enough for several meals. You can store the leftover spirals in a plastic container with a paper towel; they last 3-4 days.

My spiralizer attachment leaves these cute stumps, maybe rods is a better word. What do you call them?

Making the sauce

Sneak in the mushrooms by cutting them really small. Grayson won’t eat mushrooms. So, I lie and say there’s no mushrooms in it. Yes, you read that right. I lied to my son the last time I made this. He asked me outright if there were mushrooms in it. I said “no.” Because otherwise I would have had to pick the mushrooms out of his bowl or leave them out of the recipe entirely. Neither are good options if you ask me. Guess what? HE ATE A WHOLE BOWL. I guess he likes mushrooms more than he thinks, right? If your family doesn’t mind mushrooms, go ahead and keep them in larger chunks, it’s a nice complement to the bell peppers. You can use green bell peppers too.

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I use Hempler’s Sweet Italian Sausage. It doesn’t have added sugar so works for Whole30 and doesn’t feel like it has a lot of questionable additives. You can use Hot Italian Sausage if you want a your sauce to be spicy. You can break up the meat with a spatula or better yet, a ground meat chopper. I got one as a gift from Grandma. Honestly, I didn’t think much of it when I first got it. But, it’s actually one of my favorite kitchen tools. It breaks up the meat much more easily than using a spatula. And it’s good for smashing larger chunks of soft veggies and breaking up things like rice.

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Tips & Tricks for making Spaghetti Sauce with Zoodles

• Want to use fresh herbs? Use 3x as much, so a tablespoon, which is three teaspoons.
• Crush the seasonings in a mortar and pestle to help release the flavors. This isn’t required but it’s a nice touch.
• Don’t have oregano, rosemary and basil? Use 1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning instead. The herbs are a bit different, but it’ll still taste good.
• Cut the mushrooms small to avoid angst from anyone who says they don’t like them. They won’t notice them and mushrooms add a great flavor along with fiber, minerals, potassium and antioxidants.
• Microwave the squash in a ceramic bowl covered with a plate. You can use microwave-safe plastic wrap, but a plate works fine and doesn’t add to the landfill. No need to add any water to the bowl.
• Don’t have Italian Sausage? You can use ground beef, ground pork, or a combination of both.