Sausage and Beef American Goulash

Sausage and Beef American Goulash ~ a family favorite with a slight twist that's easy peasy for weeknight suppers!

My husband grows tomatoes in the summer and we always cook them down and can them for sauce year round. With this fabulous tomato sauce we create spaghetti sauce and it's just delicious! There's nothing like homemade but if you don't have homemade sauce or the time to put it together, I have a recommendation. The closest sauce to homemade (in my humble opinion) is Ragu's Homestyle Sauce. I did a post using the sauce quite some time ago and I meant every word about how good it is.
This dish is usually made with just ground beef. It's also been called American Chop Suey. We enjoy it every now and again and it's a huge hit with kids. Make the meal more well rounded with a salad and perhaps a loaf of Italian bread.

We are cooking about a half a box of pasta which will serve four nice portions, a whole box figure at least six. You can elect to decrease the pasta cooking time by one minute and add the cooked pasta to the sauce and let it simmer for a couple of minutes, or cook the full seven minutes and keep the pasta on the side.

• 3/4 lb. sweet Italian sausage (out of casings)
• 3/4 lb. ground chuck beef
• 4 cups spaghetti sauce
• 1 box elbows - feeds six
• salt (for pasta)

1. Take the sausage out of the casings and break down into chunks with your hands.
2. Then in a large frying pans with deep sides, add in your Italian sausage and brown over medium high heat until almost done.
3. Next add in your ground beef, breaking it down. Turn the meat over and stir occasionally and let it brown.
4. Last add in the spaghetti sauce. 
5. Let this cook together for about 20 minutes or so until the flavors develop.
6. Serve with elbow macaroni cooked according to box directions.

How easy is that for a tasty weeknight meal? When I figured the cost, I did add in a large jar of sauce (as I had my own), and it came to $14.45, feeding six for $2.40 each.