Olive Garden Spaghetti Sauce

This copycat spaghetti sauce has a secret ingredient that sounds weird until you taste it: grape jelly. Half a cup melts into the sauce during simmering, adding a rounded sweetness and glossy body that sugar alone can’t replicate. It’s the same trick some competition BBQ cooks use, and it works just as well on pasta.

Ground round steak is leaner than regular ground beef, so you get meaty substance without a greasy sauce. Brown it well and crumble it fine with a fork so it distributes evenly.

Onion soup mix pulls double duty as both the onion component and the seasoning base. Combined with vegetable juice cocktail (like V8), stewed tomatoes, and jarred spaghetti sauce, you build layers of tomato flavor from three different sources. Each brings a slightly different acidity and texture.

The whole sauce comes together in under 45 minutes, which is fast for something that tastes this layered.

Pro Tips

• Stir often during the last 15 minutes as the jelly melts; it can stick to the bottom if left unattended
• Let the sauce simmer uncovered if you want it thicker; covered keeps it looser
• This sauce freezes well for up to 3 months

Variations

• Use ground Italian sausage for half the beef for a spicier, more complex sauce
• Add a teaspoon of Italian seasoning if you want a more herby profile
• Swap grape jelly for red currant jelly for a slightly tarter sweetness