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You already know noodles paired with a tomato sauce that’s high in added sugar is a no-no on keto. So how can you quench cravings for your favorite comfort food without completely blowing your net carbs?
This keto spaghetti sauce recipe is a good place to start. Of course this may lead you to the question – can you eat spaghetti sauce on a keto diet?
The good news is yes – you can have this keto friendly spaghetti sauce anytime you’re in the mood for homemade spaghetti (sans noodles). In fact, creamy spicy spaghetti sauce is one of my favorite recipes when it comes to sticking to a low-carb diet.
Keep reading to learn how to turn one of your favorite comfort foods into an easy keto meat sauce that’s ready in less than 30 minutes.
Is Spaghetti Sauce Keto?
Many keto chefs will steer you away from zhushing up a quick keto pasta sauce from a jar in favor of a homemade keto marinara sauce recipe. While there’s no denying making your own sauce from scratch tastes amazing, who’s got the time?
If you’re a lazy keto gourmet like me, you want a dinner your whole family will love on the table fast! Using a low carb tomato sauce that’s naturally low in grams of sugar is the way to get this done.
Some of my favorite grocery store low sugar spaghetti sauces include:
- Rao’s Homemade Marinara Sauce
- Thrive Market Organic Marinara Sauce
- Cucina Antica Tomato Basil Sauce
- Primal Kitchen Tomato Basil Marinara Sauce
- Yo Mama’s Original Marinara
Most of these sauces are low in grams of carbs, with around 4 grams of net carbs per 1/2 cup serving. Even better, none of these low carb sauce brands contain toxic vegetable oils – which is definitely something to look out for when searching for a delicious keto marinara sauce.
Always scour the nutrition label of any low carb product you buy to look both at the carbs, as well as the ingredients. Most keto-friendly products don’t provide the full disclosure that some of their ingredients can keep you out of ketosis, even when low carbs are advertised on the label.
Creamy Keto Meat Sauce Ingredients
The ingredients list for this low carb spaghetti sauce meal are pretty basic. Keeping keto meals simple makes sticking to keto simple.
The base of this low-carb pasta sauce is made up of ground beef and a low sugar marinara sauce. Butter and heavy cream are added to the low carb marinara sauce to add both flavor and fat. (This is a keto spaghetti sauce recipe, after all).
Since nutrients are nearly as important as eating enough healthy fats on keto, low carb vegetables are added into this great recipe. My favorite veggies to add to a low carb spaghetti sauce include chopped bell pepper and diced onion. Of course, chopped zucchini, mushrooms and even fresh tomatoes all make great additions.
Since flavorful meals are key on a low carb diet, I prefer a sweet and spicy spaghetti meat sauce. To accomplish a spicy meat sauce, I add crushed red pepper flakes. If you want to add sweet to your sauce, sprinkle some cinnamon on top once the sauce is complete.
Other spices used in this rich sauce include minced garlic and Italian seasoning. If you’re looking for even more flavor, add fresh basil and black pepper to taste.
What About the Meat Sauce Calories?
At this point you may be wondering how you’ll even lose weight with all of the fat that’s added to this creamy keto sauce. While every other diet guru screams at you about the calories – weight loss isn’t actually about the calories.
While you never want to overeat fat on a keto diet, it’s still important to eat enough healthy fats to get into ketosis. This is especially true when it comes to women who’ve spent too many years following low calorie diet advice. The only place the calories in vs calories out advice takes you is to another yo-yo diet extreme.
After years of struggling with yo-yo diets, I finally lost 100 pounds and kept it off by eating more calories. Well, more nutrients to be precise – but more nutrients comes with more calories!
Many women who lose weight for a couple of weeks, but then get stuck in a weight loss stall on a ketogenic diet, do so because they don’t eat enough fat. When your body is so used to calorie restriction, it won’t let go of stored fat easily. That’s why it’s so important to eat enough fat on a ketogenic diet – like with the extra healthy fats added to this keto spaghetti sauce recipe.
How to Make Creamy Spicy Spaghetti Sauce
The Sauce
The first step is to combine the ingredients for the keto spaghetti sauce. This process is easy since you start with a sugar-free tomato sauce, and then zhush it up with spices and healthy fats.
If you prefer to make your own keto marinara sauce with fresh garlic and canned tomatoes, that’s an option too. Since not all of us have those types of culinary skills, or the time, you can whip up a homemade keto spaghetti sauce by combining a low carb pasta sauce with the remaining ingredients.
Start by melting 2 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan over medium-heat. As the butter melts, stir in the minced garlic. Allow it to lightly brown and then begin adding the heavy cream into the saucepan.
Add in 1/2 a cup of heavy cream and stir. Allow the sauce to thicken a little before adding the additional 1/2 cup of heavy cream.
Stir on occasion while allowing the sauce to thicken. Give the garlic sauce around 5 minutes to thicken each time after adding the cream. Then pour the marinara sauce on top to create the creamy spaghetti sauce. Stir well to combine.
The Ground Beef
The second step in this easy keto spaghetti sauce recipe is to brown the beef. You can do this while the sauce is cooking.
Brown the beef in a large skillet over medium-high heat. As it browns, stir in a teaspoon of minced garlic. Sprinkle it with Italian seasoning and add crushed red pepper to taste. Remember, a little goes a long way; you can always add more later if you decide you want a little more spice in the sauce.
Another option for this sauce is to replace ground beef with ground Italian sausage. Both varieties make for a delicious sauce.
Once the spices are mixed into the meat, you can add in the chopped veggies. Add them sooner if you prefer soft vegetables, or towards the end if you like crunchy veggies.
Combine and Serve
Once the meat is browned, remove from the heat and pour the sauce over the meat. Use a wooden spoon to combine well. Feel free to sprinkle with parmesan cheese for another layer of creaminess in this creamy spaghetti sauce.
How to Serve Low Carb Spaghetti Sauce
Skip regular pasta since even many versions marketed as keto-friendly are still too high in carbs. The good news is delicious keto sauce recipes can be used as an all-in-one keto meal. This means less work for a successful low carb diet!
My favorite way to serve this delicious keto friendly sauce is by itself in a bowl. You can eat it with a spoon just like a chili.
If you want to pack even more nutrients into your keto spaghetti sauce recipe, this sauce is delicious served over zucchini noodles.
Spaghetti squash is another easy keto noodle substitute you can use to enjoy alongside this chunky sauce. Many keto dieters also swear by shirataki noodles in keto recipes.
Keto Spaghetti Sauce FAQs
How long does meat sauce last in the fridge?
When stored in an airtight container, keto meat sauce will last 3-5 days in the fridge.
Can you freeze spaghetti sauce with meat?
You can freeze spaghetti meat sauce. This sauce will maintain its quality for 4-6 months in the freezer as long as it’s stored properly.
How to thicken spaghetti sauce?
With the inclusion of veggies and meat, this sauce is already thick enough to be a delicious keto meal. If you want to thicken the sauce even more, allow it to simmer longer in order to boil out some of the water.
How long can spaghetti sauce sit out?
Spaghetti sauce with meat should not be left at room temperature longer than 2 hours.
What to make with leftover spaghetti sauce?
Use leftover spaghetti sauce as its own meal. You can also use this sauce to add to keto pizza, for low carb lasagna, or even as a dipping sauce.
The Keto Friendly Spaghetti Sauce Wrap Up
Pasta lovers rejoice! This keto spaghetti sauce recipe made with low sugar pasta sauce is the perfect replacement for your favorite comfort food. This sweet and spicy spaghetti meat sauce is the perfect option when you’re craving Italian dishes with a low carb count.
If you love this recipe, you’ll also love the original recipe: sweet and spicy spaghetti sauce. It’s a slightly different take on this creamy sauce. Garlic basil chicken is another low carb Italian favorite!
Don’t forget to save this to your keto ground beef meal ideas on Pinterest. If you love this recipe, your low carb friends might too – so please share on social media.
Keep scrolling for the recipe card and nutritional information.
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The Best Keto Spaghetti Sauce
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Creamy Keto Spaghetti Sauce
A creamy keto spaghetti sauce recipe with meat. Add your favorite chopped vegetables and Italian spices to flavor a low sugar marinara sauce to create a healthy keto meal your whole family will love.
- Author: Nissa
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: Recipe Serves 4 1x
- Category: Keto Dinner or Lunch Recipe
- Method: Stove top
- Cuisine: Keto / Low Carb
- Diet: Diabetic
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 lb 80% ground beef
- 1 cup low sugar marinara sauce
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 sweet onion, chopped
- 1 green pepper, chopped
- 3 tsp minced garlic, divided
- Crushed red pepper
- Italian seasoning
Instructions
- Melt 2 tbsp butter over medium heat in a saucepan.
- Once melted, stir in 2 teaspoons minced garlic until lightly browned.
- Once garlic browns, add ½ cup heavy cream to the saucepan.
- Stir frequently until sauce thickens, approximately 5 minutes.
- Repeat with remaining ½ cup heavy cream.
- Once the sauce thickens, add the low-sugar marinara sauce. Stir well to combine.
While Cooking Sauce:
- Brown ground beef in a skillet.
- While meat is browning, add 1 tsp minced garlic and season generously with Italian seasoning.
- Add crushed red pepper to the desired level.
- Mix in diced onion and green pepper while beef is browning.
- Once browned, pour thickened sauce over beef mixture and stir.
- Serve over zucchini noodles or in a bowl like a chili.
Notes
- For a thicker sauce, allow the creamy keto sauce to simmer even longer. This will help reduce some of the water.
- Add the vegetables in sooner for softer vegetables, or towards the end for vegetables that are crispy.
- Save on cook time by chopping vegetables ahead of time and storing in the fridge in a green container.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container for easy keto meals for up to 3-5 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: Recipe Serves 4
- Calories: 512.8
- Sugar: 9
- Sodium: 343.6
- Fat: 36.4
- Saturated Fat: 17.6
- Trans Fat: 1.5
- Carbohydrates: 14.6
- Fiber: 3
- Protein: 31.8
- Cholesterol: 148.9
Keywords: Keto Spaghetti Sauce Recipe, Keto Friendly Spaghetti Recipe, Low Carb Spaghetti Sauce
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