Spaghetti with Meat Sauce (Light Version)
ミートソーススパゲティ（さっぱり味）
By Aoi, licensed nutritionist · From a Japanese preschool lunch menu
Meat sauce spaghetti is a fixture on Japanese school lunch menus, and this is the lighter, fresher-tasting version we make in the preschool kitchen. The sauce leans on plenty of finely chopped onion and carrot cooked down until sweet, with canned tomatoes, ketchup and a little chuno sauce doing the seasoning, so it stays mild and tangy rather than heavy. Children love that it clings to every strand of pasta, and because the seasoning is gentle there is no need to cook a separate batch for grown-ups: one pot feeds everyone at the table.
Toddlers to adults. The whole family can eat this exactly as written.
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Ingredients
Amounts for 1 child (1 serving). An adult counts as 2 servings.
One serving here is 1.5× the portion served to a child in a Japanese preschool, sized for Western appetites. An adult counts as two servings. Tap an ingredient to check it off.
Ingredients
- 90 gspaghetti
- 60 gground beef and pork mixA blend of ground beef and ground pork, sold pre-mixed in Japanese supermarkets. Substitute: Equal parts ground beef and ground pork, or all ground beef.
- 60 gonion
- 36 gcarrot
- 0.4 ggarlic paste (tube)Grated garlic sold ready to use in a squeeze tube, a staple in Japanese kitchens. Japanese school lunch kitchens grate fresh garlic for its aroma, but for cooking at home Aoi says the tube works just fine. Tube pastes often contain added salt, oil and other ingredients, so check the label. Substitute: Use freshly grated garlic in the same amount. 1 teaspoon of paste is about 5 g.
- 2.4 gvegetable oil
Seasonings (A)
- 54 gcanned diced tomatoes
- 16.8 gketchup
- 8.4 gchuno sauce (Japanese medium-thick brown sauce)A sweet, tangy, fruit-and-vegetable-based brown sauce that sits between thin Worcestershire and thick tonkatsu sauce. Substitute: Tonkatsu sauce, or Worcestershire sauce mixed with a little ketchup.
- 1.1 gsalt
- a pinchpepper
Ingredients
- 75 mlwater
- 4.5 ggrated Parmesan cheese
About the Japanese ingredients in this recipe
- ground beef and pork mix (合いびき肉)
- A blend of ground beef and ground pork, sold pre-mixed in Japanese supermarkets. Substitute: Equal parts ground beef and ground pork, or all ground beef.
- garlic paste (tube) (にんにくチューブ)
- Grated garlic sold ready to use in a squeeze tube, a staple in Japanese kitchens. Japanese school lunch kitchens grate fresh garlic for its aroma, but for cooking at home Aoi says the tube works just fine. Tube pastes often contain added salt, oil and other ingredients, so check the label. Substitute: Use freshly grated garlic in the same amount. 1 teaspoon of paste is about 5 g.
- chuno sauce (Japanese medium-thick brown sauce) (中濃ソース)
- A sweet, tangy, fruit-and-vegetable-based brown sauce that sits between thin Worcestershire and thick tonkatsu sauce. Substitute: Tonkatsu sauce, or Worcestershire sauce mixed with a little ketchup.
Directions
Video is in Japanese — the steps below are synced to it, so tap ▶ on a step to jump to that moment.
- 1
Finely chop the onion and carrot. Place them in a microwave-safe bowl, cover loosely with plastic wrap so there is a gap for steam to escape, and microwave at 1200W for about 5 minutes.
- 2
Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan and sauté the vegetables from step 1 over medium heat for about 3 minutes. Note: Cooking the vegetables down to about one-third of their raw volume gives the sauce a rich, deep flavor.
- 3
Add the ground beef and pork mix and the garlic paste, and cook over low heat, stirring, until the meat is no longer pink.
- 4
Add the Seasonings (A) and simmer over low heat for about 15 minutes. Let the sauce cool slightly so the flavors can meld.
- 5
Cook the spaghetti in boiling water without adding salt, following the package directions. Once drained, toss with a small amount of vegetable oil (not included in the ingredient amounts). Note: For young children, boil the spaghetti about 3 minutes longer than the package says so it is nice and soft.
- 6
Plate the spaghetti, spoon the sauce over the top, and sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.
Tips for the Best Results
- Tomato-based sauces develop their flavor as they cool. If you have time, let the sauce cool completely once, then reheat it just before serving.
- No need to cook a separate portion for the children: this recipe works for toddlers and adults alike, so the whole family can eat the same meal.
Freezing Instructions
Spread the sauce in a thin layer in freezer bags, one meal's worth per bag, and freeze. To serve, reheat in the microwave and pour over freshly boiled spaghetti.
Keeps for about 2 weeks (but the sooner you eat it, the better).
Nutrition
Nutrition values do not include the noodles.
| Per | 1 serving | 1 adult serving | Your total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy | 262.5 kcal | 525 kcal | 262.5 kcal |
| Protein | 13.7 g | 27.5 g | 13.7 g |
| Fat | 16.5 g | 33 g | 16.5 g |
| Carbohydrates | 18.5 g | 37.1 g | 18.5 g |
| Fiber | 3.1 g | 6.1 g | 3.1 g |
| Salt equivalent | 2.3 g | 4.5 g | 2.3 g |
| Calcium | 94.5 mg | 189 mg | 94.5 mg |
| Iron | 2 mg | 4.1 mg | 2 mg |
| Potassium | 574.5 mg | 1149 mg | 574.5 mg |
| Phosphorus | 147 mg | 294 mg | 147 mg |
| Energy | Protein | Fat | Carbs | Fiber | Salt equiv. | Calcium | Iron | Potassium | Phosphorus | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 serving | 262.5 kcal | 13.7 g | 16.5 g | 18.5 g | 3.1 g | 2.3 g | 94.5 mg | 2 mg | 574.5 mg | 147 mg |
| 1 adult serving | 525 kcal | 27.5 g | 33 g | 37.1 g | 6.1 g | 4.5 g | 189 mg | 4.1 mg | 1149 mg | 294 mg |
Values are per serving (1.5× the Japanese preschool portion); an adult serving is double. They were calculated by a licensed Japanese nutritionist using the Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan. "Salt equivalent" is sodium × 2.54, the standard Japanese measure. Allergen flags cover egg, milk and wheat only and come from the nutritionist's records. Soy sauce and miso are made with wheat but are usually allowed on Japanese wheat-free school menus, so check with your doctor.
