Easy Keto Spaghetti Meat Sauce with Low Carb Marinara

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My whole family loves this keto spaghetti sauce recipe made with ground beef and low carb vegetables, which made it an easy original recipe for me to use to transition to a low carb lifestyle. Before losing 100 pounds on a keto diet, I made this same homemade spaghetti sauce recipe as a typical weeknight dinner, but it definitely wasn’t a keto friendly spaghetti option since I still used regular pasta and chose any old chunky sauce from the grocery store that looked good.

To turn this into a great recipe for keto, I picked up the best sauce I could find with reduced grams of sugar, like Rao’s pasta sauces, and tossed in some extras like plenty of fresh garlic, diced onion, bell pepper, and then spiced this low carb pasta sauce up with black pepper, red pepper flakes, garlic powder and maybe even a little bit of onion powder if I was in the mood.

When I first began reducing carbs in my diet, I kept this low carb marinara sauce really simple by reducing the amount of pasta I used each week. While some suggest you go cold turkey into ketogenic macros, I knew my body and knew I wasn’t ready for that. After all, I’ve tried all-or-nothing diets for more than 20 years … and I failed each and every one. By allowing myself time to come off of the carbs my body relied on slowly, I was finally able to stick to a low carb diet for the first time ever. This means I got real results for the first time ever!

All of that to say, you can keep this low carb sauce keto friendly by adding in keto friendly noodles like zucchini noodles, shirataki noodles, or noodles made from spaghetti squash, but don’t feel like you need to add those noodles to make this keto meat sauce into a keto meal. I never added those, and I really don’t even put in the extra work now, since I like to keep my keto recipes simple. To make this sweet & spicy spaghetti sauce simple, I just scoop some into a bowl and eat it like a chili.

Also, many keto chefs of the world like to get all fancy pants with a homemade sauce made by throwing whole tomatoes into an immersion blender and blending in tomato paste. While a homemade keto spaghetti sauce like this sounds amazing, who’s got the time?

Wait, is that even how you make a delicious keto marinara sauce? Because I clearly have no clue 😂 But I think that’s why my lazy keto recipes work – you don’t have to slave over the perfect keto tomato sauce for a couple of weeks in order to make a keto diet work. Just grab your favorite low sugar marinara sauce and spice it up with a few keto friendly spices. You can find plenty of options when it comes to a keto friendly marinara sauce store bought. Keep your low-carb diet as simple as you need to so you actually stick with it.

When I first started on my low carb path to success, I counted how many grams of carbs each meal had and then I ate enough food to feel good, but never stuffed. I also used a food journal to keep track of carbs, which on keto, ahem, we count total carbs – not net carbs. And just like that, poof! I was down 100 pounds before I knew it.

OK, so perhaps it took just a little bit more work, but keeping keto simple with easy recipes like this quick keto pasta sauce is what kept me on track for the long haul. That, and improved digestion so my body could actually process all of the delicious fat and protein we’re meant to eat on a real food keto diet. But that’s a different blog for a different day.

Alright, let’s ditch the weight loss tangents and get back to keto meat sauce. This recipe is pretty straight forward, so I’ll just add a few notes that aren’t included on the recipe card. Feel free to use these suggestions to make this your own keto marinara sauce.

• Speaking of marinara sauce, you can start out with a smooth sauce, but if keto marinara sauces are your preference (ie, sans the meat), that might not quite work out as a full keto meal since you need some protein and plenty of fat in order to stay satiated on a keto meal plan.
• Feel free to make this your own sauce by replacing the ground beef with Italian sausage or ground pork instead.
• Make sure you use a low carb tomato sauce without a bunch of added sugar since food manufacturers add sugar to EVERYTHING. You can check the nutrition label for ingredients and verify your choice by the total carb count. Usually I’ll go with any red sauce that’s below 8 grams of carbs per serving.

 

• I add cinnamon to this sauce to add a little sweetness, but it’s not necessary if it adds too much flavor for you. In full disclosure, I usually leave cinnamon out of the full recipe. If you’re wondering is cinnamon keto – yes, it’s perfectly keto legal and can even help lower blood sugar, so I always add a dash of cinnamon to my dinner while leaving it out of the full recipe since my husband doesn’t love the sweetness it adds.
• I add a little olive oil for flavor, but you want to wait until you turn the heat down since olive oil turns rancid at high cooking temperatures.
• Make a double batch and store leftovers in an airtight container since this recipe makes an easy keto lunch idea later in the week. Just be sure to reheat it over medium heat stovetop since the microwave will kill the flavor and the nutrition!
• You can remove the beef to turn your mixture into a dipping sauce or low carb pizza sauce. I have an amazing sausage crust keto pizza recipe if you need any ideas 😉 Or, leave it in to use with your favorite low carb lasagna recipe.
• Top with parmesan cheese if you love it, or leave it off if dairy stalls your keto results.
• Last but not least, add this to your keto Italian recipes or family friendly keto meals Pinterest board because you’ll definitely want to make this rich sauce for dinner again and again!
• And of course, I am an Amazon associate, so this blog does contain affiliate links.

 

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Recipe Serves 4

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