Smoked Italian Spaghetti Sauce
Smoked Italian Spaghetti Sauce, this recipe gives boring pasta sauce an upgrade made with sausage on the smoker or Traeger pellet grill!
Equipment
- Smoker
- Traeger/Pellet Grill
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion diced
- 1 pound ground Italian sausage (remove casings if needed) cut or torn into smaller pieces
- kosher salt, pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, Italian seasoning
- 7 to 9 cloves garlic minced
- 2 24 ounce jars pasta or marinara sauce (or two 28 ounce cans crushed tomatoes)
- 1 cup chicken broth (or water)
- 6 ounces chopped, fresh spinach
- 1 cup chopped, fresh basil leaves
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Put the olive oil, diced onions, and pieces of sausage in a large Dutch oven or large soup pot. Season with kosher salt, pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, and Italian seasoning.
- Set the smoker or pellet grill to 225 degrees, turn super smoke on if you have that option. Put the pot on the grill grate for 30 minutes. Add the garlic and let smoke another 30 minutes.
- Break the sausage apart in the pot (I used a wooden spatula) and add the pasta/ marinara sauce, spinach, basil, parmesan cheese, and more kosher salt, pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, and Italian seasoning. Pour 1/2 cup of the chicken broth or water into the empty pasta sauce jars, shake with the lid on, and pour into the sauce (this will get all of the sauce from the jar and help with sauce consistency).
- Leave the sauce on the smoker (still at 225 degrees) for another 1 1/2 to 2 hours, stirring a few times. Taste for seasoning and add more kosher salt, pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, and/or Italian seasoning if needed.