How to Make Spaghetti with Ground Beef and Ragu Sauce

5 from 2 votes

Simple, Easy and FAST! Ready in 20 minutes start to finish!

Prep Time5

Cook Time15

Total Time20

Course: main

Cuisine: American

Keyword: how to make spaghetti with ground beef and ragu sauce

Servings: servings

Calories: 871kcal

Cost: $8

Before starting the sauce, pour 4 quarts of water into your 6 quart stock pot. Add 1 Tbs of salt to the water. Place the lid over the top and heat on high while preparing the sauce. When the water is boiling well, it is ready for the noodles.
Preheat the oven to broil.

In a large skillet, heat 2 tbs of vegetable oil over medium heat. Remove the ground beef from the package and tear into small pieces scattering them into the hot pan. Add the salt
Heat over medium to medium high heat until the meat is just past pink. Use your spoon to break the meat up into smaller pieces and stir meat and flip over frequently. When just past pink, add the jarred Ragu sauce all at once.
Stir well and add the garlic and onion powder. Add the black pepper and stir well. Reduce heat to low and continue to heat and stir while cooking the noodles.

Lay the pieces of bread onto a baking sheet and cover with pats of butter.
Sprinkle each piece of bread with garlic powder and salt. Set aside until the noodles are within 3 minutes of being done.
When the noodles are within 3 minutes of being complete, put the garlic bread into the broiler. Watch them carefully and remove when toasty and butter melted.

When the water has reached a rolling boil, add the spaghetti noodles. Use a wooden spoon to gently press the noodles down into the water until completely covered.
Replace the lid onto the saucepan but allow a gap between the lid and the pot so that steam can escape and so that the pan doesn't boil over. If it seems that the pan will boil over, cut the temperature down. Stir the noodles frequently while heating. When you add the noodles to the water, the boil will stop for a short period and then return. When the boil returns, cut the heat down to about medium. Continue to stir frequently.
Set a timer for 9-10 minutes (or according to the cooking time on the noodle package). After 9-10 minutes, check the noodles for doneness. They should be slightly chewy but no longer crunchy at all. Pour the noodles into a strainer and then pour back into the stock pot.
Serve plates with noodles, sauce and your crusty garlic toast!

You'll want to check out my tips on how to boil pasta perfectly for the best pasta results.
Browning the ground beef perfectly is something else you'll want to master. Here's some great tips.
Always add 1 Tbs of salt to your pasta water. This gives the pasta a lot of flavor.
If the sauce is thicker than you like, add water 1/4 cup at the time. (Use some of your pasta cooking water).
Is the sauce thinner than you like? Just allow it to simmer longer and the water will cook out of it and make it thicker.
Do you like a creamier sauce? Add a bit of parmesan and cream a few minutes before you are going to serve it.
Many people suggest adding some of the pasta cooking water to your sauce. Only do this if it is thicker than you prefer.
Want to know what goes into a Ragu sauce?