Get ready to elevate your pasta game with this copycat version of Olive Garden’s famous Spicy Three-Meat Sauce that brings Italian comfort food straight to your kitchen. This rich, hearty sauce combines savory ground beef, well-seasoned Italian sausage, and flavorful pepperoni in a robust tomato base enhanced with hot cherry peppers for just the right amount of heat.
Why the Olive Garden Spicy Three-Meat Sauce is so good
Get ready to elevate your meat sauce with a copycat version of the Spicy Three-Meat Sauce that Olive Garden serves. It’s everything you love about Italian comfort food, just turned up a whole lot of notches. With its rich tomato base, savory ground beef, well-seasoned Italian sausage, peppery pepperoni, and just the right amount of hot cherry peppers, you won’t be able to get enough of this sauce.
It is excellent on spaghetti, amazing in a lasagna, fantastic as a dipping stick for fried mozzarella sticks, or even spread on toasted garlic bread. Once you try it, you’ll want to say “addio” to ordinary jarred pasta sauces.
Spicy Three Meat Sauce ingredients and why they are essential to this recipe.
For recreating Olive Garden Spicy Three-Meat Sauce at home, you’ll need:
- Yellow onion – builds a sweet, aromatic base for the sauce. Yellow onions are more balanced in flavor than the white or red ones.
- Red bell peppers, chopped – adds mild sweetness and color to the sauce.
- Olive oil – is the cooking medium and gives the vegetables some richness and a floral, fruity flavor.
- Marinara sauce – provides the base for the sauce. Homemade is great, but a good jarred variety is okay as well.
- Crushed tomatoes, canned – adds texture and fresh tomato flavor to the sauce while helping to thicken it.
- Hot cherry peppers, finely chopped – contribute both heat and flavor. For the best results, I recommend this jar of hot cherry peppers.
- Ground beef – bulks up the sauce with its mild beefiness.
- Ground Italian sausage – brings classic Italian flavors and larger chunks of meat that stay juicy.
- Pepperoni chopped fine – contributes its unique taste to the sauce.
- Italian seasoning – pumps up the classic Italian flavorings.
- Salt – enhances the flavor of the other ingredients.
- Black pepper – introduces a warm, mild bite that balances out some of the richness of the meat.
How to make Spicy Three Meat Sauce Olive Garden style
To prepare this hearty ragu:
- Cut the yellow onions and red peppers into medium dice.
- Sauté the cut vegetables in a large stockpot in olive oil over medium heat.
- When the onions are translucent, add the marinara sauce, the crushed tomatoes and the roughly chopped sliced hot cherry peppers to the pot.
- Stir well and bring the sauce to a boil, then reduce it to a simmer.
- While the sauce is simmering away, brown the ground beef in a large skillet. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the cooked beef to the pot with the sauce. Drain all but a tablespoon of the beef drippings from the skillet.
- Chop the Italian sausages into bite-sized pieces and finely chop the pepperoni. Sauté both in the same skillet as the ground beef until the Italian sausages get some color.
- Stir the cooked Italian sausages and pepperoni into the sauce and simmer for 20 more minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent the sauce on the sides and bottom from burning.
- Taste the sauce and season with salt and pepper as needed.
What to serve with Olive Garden’s Spicy Three Meat Sauce
No matter how you decide to use Three Meat Sauce, why not add a few popular options from the Olive Garden menu to complete your meal?
Toasted Ravioli. Opting to use pre-made ravioli makes this recipe super simple to do. A light coating of breadcrumbs and a few minutes in the fryer transform basic ravioli into something truly special.
Olive Garden Sangria. This red wine-based cooler is refreshingly cool on hot summer days, but it’s also enjoyable to drink all year round. This simplified recipe calls for red wine, cranberry juice cocktail, grenadine, a dash of sweet vermouth, fresh fruit, and simple syrup.
Soft Breadsticks. There is nothing quite like the warm, soft, and fluffy breadsticks they serve at The Olive Garden. Bring home this essential part of the restaurant experience with this easy-to-follow recipe.
Storage and reheating instructions for Olive Garden Spicy Three Meat Sauce
- Refrigerator Storage: Store leftover sauce in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
- Reheating Method: Reheat in a covered saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. Watch heat carefully to prevent boiling or scorching
- Freezing: Store in a freezer-safe container for up to 1 month. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating for the best texture
More Olive Garden copycat recipes
- Alfredo Sauce
- Angry Alfredo with Chicken
- Bolognese Sauce
- Five Cheese Ziti al Forno
- Marinara Sauce
- Spaghetti and Meatballs
Check out more of my sauce recipes and the best copycat Olive Garden recipes on CopyKat!
Olive Garden Spicy Three Meat Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 48 ounces marinara sauce (2 jars)
- 16 ounces crushed tomatoes (1 can)
- 1/4 cup finely chopped hot cherry peppers
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 pound ground Italian sausage
- 1/2 cup finely chopped pepperoni
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 pound dry thick spaghetti
Instructions
- Sauté the onion and red bell pepper in olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. When the onions become translucent, add the marinara sauce, crushed tomatoes, and hot cherry peppers. Turn the heat down to a simmer.
- Brown the ground beef and Italian sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Drain any excess fat from the skillet.
- Transfer the ground meat to the large pot with the sauce. Add the pepperoni and Italian seasoning and simmer for about 20 minutes.
- While the sauce is simmering, prepare the spaghetti according to the package instructions.
- Season the sauce with salt and pepper and serve over the spaghetti.
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