Spaghetti with meat sauce (Greek Makaronia me kima)

Greek spaghetti with meat sauce is a traditional meal. Spaghetti is topped with a generous portion of a rich, flavourful meat sauce and sprinkled with grated mizithra cheese. This is perfect comfort food, delicious any time of year but especially as the weather gets cooler.

Μακαρόνια με κιμά. Stop! Before you read any further, you need to be prepared to forget everything you already know about making meat sauce.  If you don’t know anything, then google “how to make a great meat sauce for spaghetti”, learn a few things, and then go ahead and forget those. That’s because my parents’ meat sauce recipe is so beautifully unusual that you’ll be left wondering what you have gotten yourself into.  If you’re worried that it’s going to be a flop…relax.  There’s always take-out.

So, what makes this meat sauce different?  Well actually, if you have Greek parents like I do, then it might be quite familiar to you. However if your parents do not come from the birthplace of democracy and modern medicine, chances are you’ll find it odd. Except for the onion, there are no finely chopped vegetables, sautéed until soft and sweet. There is no browning of the ground meat, no gentle stovetop simmering for hours.  There is no added cheese, no tomato paste, no secret spoonful of sugar, and no fresh (or dried) herbs.  Instead, you will lightly sauté some onion and then toss the rest of the straightforward ingredients together in a pot where your ground meat will basically boil in tomato sauce. There’s a little more to it than that…but barely.

Why I love this recipe

Quick and easy A great meat sauce does not need to simmer on the stove for hours. This kima cooks up in about 45 minutes, so you can make it any night of the week.

Delicious Don’t let the short list of ingredients fool you! The spices and combination of meat makes this an incredibly flavourful meat sauce.

Comfort food Nothing says comfort like a great plate of spaghetti topped with this meaty meat sauce!

Famous Have you heard of Cincinnati chili? Well, it is basically this recipe, made famous at Greek-owned restaurants like the Skyline in Cincinnati. So good!

Key ingredients

As is often the case with Greek cooking, in this recipe a few simple ingredients come together to create a dish which is remarkably delicious.  And once again, the quality of these ingredients is key.  In particular, the meat that is used will greatly influence the sauce.

Spaghetti I use a regular semolina spaghetti. When I can find a Greek brand, I use that but it is not essential.

Onion I use a plain yellow onion. It cooks up nicely and is not too overpowering.

Olive oil As always I use Greek olive oil, for its excellent flavour and aroma.

Tomato sauce I use my homemade tomato sauce whenever possible. When it is not, then I rely on a good quality strained passata.

Ground meat I like to use a combination of ground veal and ground pork. The flavour is great. I use freshly ground meat whenever possible.

Ground cinnamon Using cinnamon in meat sauce is a very typical thing to do in Greek cooking. If you think it sounds weird, don’t stress! It is actually delicious.

Ground nutmeg A wonderful spice that is used commonly in Greek cooking. I try to grate my own nutmeg, as I need it to maximise freshness.

Whole cloves I list these as optional, because I hate cloves! If you use them, remember how many you added, so you can fish them out. Biting on a whole clove is nasty!

Grated mizithra cheese This hard Greek cheese is made of sheep or a combination of sheep and goat milk and is used in Greek cooking the way you would use parmesan or grated ricotta cheese. It is salty, and so delicious.

How to make

Nothing could be easier than making this meat sauce recipe. Follow the steps and have a meal ready in an hour.

Step 1
Heat oil in a medium to large sized saucepot and cook onion for about 5 minutes over medium high heat until soft and very slightly caramelized.

Step 2
Add the rest of ingredients: tomato sauce;  meat;  1 tablespoon salt;  cinnamon; nutmeg;  and cloves if you are using,  to the pot.   Stir well.

Step 3
Reduce heat to low/medium and cook, uncovered for approximately 45 minutes. Stir regularly to prevent sauce from sticking to the bottom.

Step 4
When sauce is almost ready, boil your pasta.  Add 1 teaspoon of salt to a pot of boiling water and cook spaghetti according to the instructions on the package.

Step 5
Drain pasta once cooked.  Serve on plates.  Top with meat sauce and sprinkle with mizithra cheese if desired.

Storing and reheating

You can keep cooked meat sauce in the refrigerator for 3 days.

Meat sauce freezes well. Thaw in the refrigerator and reheat either in the microwave or on the stovetop.

Recipe substitutions

My Greek parents taught me to use equal quantities of both pork and veal in their meat sauce.  Although you can certainly substitute either of these for another type of meat, I suggest that you stick to the original recipe, at least the first time.  We doubt you will play around with it too much later on, as the original version is so good.

My parents always serve this meat sauce with spaghetti, and so do I. Although you can certainly substitute penne, macaroni or fancy bow-tie shaped pasta, I truly think that spaghetti is the perfect companion for this sauce.

Recipe variations

Another delicious pasta recipe that uses meat sauce is the classic Greek pastitsio. This baked casserole dish includes pasta, meat sauce and béchamel sauce. Once assembled it is baked.

Helpful hints

My parents always use the best cut of meat they can find for their spaghetti and meat sauce and then grind it themselves. Here they use pork tenderloin and veal front and end up using 1 1/2 pounds of ground meat total.  If you don’t have the ability to grind your own meat then I strongly suggest that you make friends with your local butcher, because he or she can do it for you.  Go ahead, introduce yourself.  Feeling a little intimidated making nice with someone holding a meat cleaver?  Looking for an ice breaker?  Tell them about Mia Kouppa.  Don’t be shy…I won’t mind.

I realize that not everyone has a kitchen scale, so I measured that 1 1/2 pounds of ground meat is the equivalent of approximately 3 cups of ground meat.

The cloves listed in the recipe are optional…primarily because I hate cloves, and I am convinced that there is a significant portion of the population that hates them too.  So, if you don’t have a strong opinion either way, add the cloves; they are traditional.  If you are a clove-hater like me, omit them and be happy (and relieved that you won’t accidentally bite into a whole clove which was mistakenly left in the sauce – gross!).

Serving size

This recipe makes enough meat sauce for 4 generous servings of pasta, each with a very generous serving of meat sauce (just look at the pictures!).  Even at that, you will likely have sauce left over.  It freezes very well and is perfect to have on hand for a last minute supper idea or take-along lunch.

Related recipes

Looking for some more pasta dinners, how about these?

Pasta with Nea Fytini

Pasta with cherry tomatoes and greens

Spanakopita mac and cheese

Thanks for sharing!