Italian Red Gravy (Gluten Free)

This gluten free Italian red gravy is a traditional sauce that’s simmered with lots of fried meat.

Do you have special memories connected with certain foods?

When I was a young girl, my good friend was Italian. She often invited me to come with her to her grandmother’s house on Sunday. There were always large homemade meatballs, succulent pork chops, sweet Italian sausage, and pasta.

There was always joking and laughter as her aunts, uncles, and cousins gathered together. They treated me like family, and I’ll never forget their warm smiles. 

This is the sauce, which they called Italian red gravy, that her grandma would make. It’s a traditional sauce that’s simmered with lots of fried meat.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small onion finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove finely chopped
• 2 stalks celery finely chopped (optional)
• 2 carrots finely chopped (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 28-ounce cans gluten free tomato puree
• 1 6-ounce can of gluten free tomato paste
• red wine
• a bay leaf
• and oregano 

And meat

• pork chops
• meatballs
• Italian sweet sausage

Instructions

*Free printable recipe card is available at the end of the post.

• In a large dutch oven pot, heat the oil over a medium flame. Then add your onions and garlic, celery and carrots (optional) and sauté until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes.
• Turn flame down to a simmer and slowly add the tomato puree, tomato paste, bay leaf, salt and oregano and stir.
• Then add a splash of wine.
• Finally add meat: browned pork chops, meatballs, and Italian sweet sausage.
• Stir now and then and simmer covered over low heat until the sauce thickens, about 3 hours.

Pro Tips And Recipe Notes

• For the juiciest chops, the most important tip that I can give you is to brine the chops. Just soak the meat in salt water for an hour. This traps the moisture in the meat. Rinse the salt water off and pat dry when finished brining. You’ll be left with tenderized, juicy chops. Then you can brown the chops and add to your simmering sauce.
• For your meatballs, here is my gluten free meatballs recipe or if you prefer grain free low carb meatballs here. Add them to your simmering sauce.
• Not all sausages are gluten free so be sure to check the ingredients. Brown your Italian Sweet sausage before adding them to the sauce. 

Happy cooking! And if you have any questions please reach out to me in the comments or shoot me an email, and I’ll respond ASAP.

More Traditional Italian/American Recipes

Gluten Free Chicken Parmesan (includes step by step tutorial with photos!)

Gluten Free Classic Italian Lasagna (lots of tips and photos!)

Chicken And Peppers (the secret family recipe!)

Mushroom Risotto 

Osso Buco

Strawberry Granita

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Gluten Free Italian Red Gravy

This gluten free Italian "red gravy" is simmered with lots of fried meat.

 

Course Side

Cuisine Italian-American

Keyword gluten free, homemade spaghetti sauce from scratch, Italian tomato sauce recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 3 hours

Servings 12

Calories 63kcal

Author Barbara Bianchi

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small onion finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove finely chopped
• 2 stalks celery finely chopped (optional)
• 2 carrots finely chopped (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 28-ounce cans gluten free tomato puree
• 1 6- ounce gluten free tomato paste
• red wine
• 1 dried bay leaf
• oregano to taste
• parmigiana cheese to taste optional
• gluten free meatballs fried
• pork chops browned
• Italian Sweet sausage browned

Instructions

• In a large dutch oven pot, heat the oil over a medium flame. Add the onions and garlic, celery and carrots (optional) and sauté until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes.
• Turn flame down to a simmer and slowly add the tomato puree, tomato paste, bay leaf, salt and oregano to taste.
• Then add a splash of red wine. Add the meats.
• Stir now and then and simmer covered over low heat until the sauce thickens, about 3 hours.

Notes

• Calorie count does not include meat that you may add.
• For the juiciest chops, the most important tip that I can give you is to brine the chops. Just soak the meat in salt water for an hour. This traps the moisture in the meat. Rinse the salt water off and pat dry when finished brining. You’ll be left with tenderized, juicy chops. Then you can brown the chops and add them to your simmering sauce.
• For your meatballs, here is my gluten free meatballs recipe or grain free low carb meatballs here. Add them to your simmering sauce.
• Not all sausages are gluten free so be sure to check the ingredients. Brown your Italian Sweet sausage before adding them to the sauce. 

Nutrition

Calories: 63kcal

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