For those that have access to venison, you have to try this recipe for Venison and Sausage Meat Sauce with Noodles! Don’t have venison? Any ground meat will work!
Pretty hard to beat a good, hearty meat sauce, right??
In my opinion, it’s one of the easiest meals to throw together in a pinch, is super forgiving, and is a simple way to include a mix of protein and veggies in one pan! Serve with a carb source and you’ve got a whole meal!
I know not everyone has access (or cares for) venison, but if you do have some hanging around in your freezer, you must try this Venison and Sausage Meat Sauce with Noodles!
Tyler recently got into deer hunting a few years ago and killed his second buck with a bow last fall. He did all the hard work of processing it, cleaning it, and portioning it out himself! It’s A LOT of work, and has helped both of us appreciate where our food comes, and everything that is required to transpire in order for it to end up on our plates. It’s a connection to your food that just plucking it off the shelf in a box can’t hold a candle to, in my opinion!
We had a few cuts of venison in the freezer that Tyler slightly thawed out, then put through our meat grinder to make this. For those without a meat grinder, you can just as easily use pre-ground meat of any sort.
We ended up mixing the venison with some sausage for some extra flavor, and fat since venison is a very lean cut of meat. Trust me — DON’T skimp on the sausage part, it adds such a great depth of flavor!!
Whether you use ground beef, chicken, turkey, or venison, the meat sauce comes together very simply. Start by sauteing the garlic and onion, add in the carrots, and then add the meat to cook. Season as desired, then add in the spinach, basil, pasta sauce and continue to cook for 15-20 minutes to allow the flavors to come together.
While that happens, we made the spaghetti noodles. We eat gluten free, so we opted for cassava flour spaghetti noodles from jovial foods. Cassava is a starchy root veggie and is a great carb source that also provides a fair amount of vitamin c and copper!
Serve the noodles topped with a hefty portion of the meat sauce, finish off with some fresh basil and your fav hard cheese (we love pecorino romano), and call it a meal! Feel free to serve with a side salad if you wish, but remember you’ve already stuffed that meat sauce with veggies like onion, garlic, carrot, and spinach — covering allll the bases of protein, fat, carb, and non-starchy veggies!
Venison and Sausage Meat Sauce with Noodles
Ingredients
- 1/2 tbsp ghee or avocado oil
- 1 yellow onion, peeled and diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 whole carrots, peeled and diced
- 1 1/2 lb ground venison or any ground meat
- 1/2 lb ground sausage
- 2 cups spinach fresh or frozen
- small handful fresh basil leaves plus extra to garnish
- 1 jar spicy arrabbiata pasta sauce or your fav pasta sauce
- sea salt, to taste
- ground pepper, to taste
- 1-2 tsp garlic powder
- 1-2 tbsp Italian seasoning
- pinch red pepper flakes
- 1 package cassave flour spaghetti noodles
- pecorino romano, to garnish
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat, add in onion and garlic and sauté for 60 seconds until fragrant. Add in carrots and continue to cook for 3-4 min until softened.
- Add in meat to cook, stirring occasionally and breaking up with a spatula. Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes as desired.
- Once meat is mostly cooked, add in frozen spinach, fresh basil, and marinara sauce. Allow mixture to come to a boil then drop heat to medium low and allow to simmer for 15-20 min
- While meat sauce simmers, cook noodles according to package.
- Taste sauce and adjust seasoning as desired, then serve with noodles and finish off with fresh basil and freshly shaved cheese. Enjoy!!
