
I’ve been making a variation of this veggie-packed meat sauce for years- my family is just a little bit obsessed with it! Sauteed onions and mushrooms with lots of garlic are paired with ground beef (use whatever meat you like), 2 cups(!) of shredded vegetables (our favorites are zucchini and sweet potato) and your favorite sauce. It’s so delicious you’ll forget there’s five vegetables in it!

Five Veggie Meat Sauce
Makes 4 cups (about 6-8 servings)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
8 oz mushrooms (about 2 cups) chopped
1 lb ground beef
1/2 tsp sea salt
cracked pepper, to taste
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
1 cup grated zucchini or broccoli stems
1 cup grated sweet potato or carrot
1 jar marinara sauce (or favorite jarred tomato sauce)
1 bay leaf
optional: rosemary or thyme sprig
optional: splash heavy cream to finish
parmesan to serve
- Turn Instant Pot to saute function or heat a large saute/cast-iron pan to medium. Add olive oil.
- Add diced onion and mushrooms and cook until translucent. Add in ground beef and season with salt and pepper. Cook until meat is no longer pink.
- If using slow cooker: transfer mixture to slow cooker along with remaining ingredients (except heavy cream). Cook on low heat for 6-8 hours or high heat for 4-5 hours. Remove bay leaf and any additional herbs and serve.
- If using Instant Pot: Stir in garlic, Italian seasoning and grated vegetables. Cook 2-3 minutes before adding marinara sauce, bay leaf and and parmesan rind (if using). Set Instant Pot to high pressure/manual and cook for 30 minutes. Release pressure, remove bay leaf and parmesan rind and serve.

Five Veggie Meat Sauce
- Yield: 4 cups 1x
Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
8 oz mushrooms (about 2 cups) chopped
1 lb ground beef
1/2 tsp sea salt
cracked pepper, to taste
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
1 cup grated zucchini or broccoli stems
1 cup grated sweet potato or carrot
1 jar marinara sauce (or favorite jarred tomato sauce)
1 bay leaf
optional: rosemary or thyme sprig
optional: splash heavy cream to finish
Instructions
- Turn Instant Pot to saute function or heat a large saute/cast-iron pan to medium. Add olive oil.
- Add diced onion and mushrooms and cook until translucent. Add in ground beef and season with salt and pepper. Cook until meat is no longer pink.
- If using slow cooker: transfer mixture to slow cooker along with remaining ingredients (except heavy cream). Cook on low heat for 6-8 hours or high heat for 4-5 hours. Remove bay leaf and any additional herbs and serve.
- If using Instant Pot: Stir in garlic, Italian seasoning and grated vegetables. Cook 2-3 minutes before adding marinara sauce, bay leaf and and parmesan rind (if using). Set Instant Pot to high pressure/manual and cook for 30 minutes. Release pressure, remove bay leaf and parmesan rind and serve.

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