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Easy homemade spaghetti sauce, using ingredients you probably already have in your pantry! This recipe is a family dinner staple!
Spaghetti Sauce
This spaghetti sauce recipe may be the first thing I learned to cook, completely by myself, when I was really young. As I got better at cooking and baking (and because I loved it so much) I can specifically remember two recipes my Mom would let me make all by myself: this homemade spaghetti sauce, and our family's favorite Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies.
She'd be nearby for supervision, but it was a huge confidence boost for me to cook all on my own! And an even bigger confidence boost when my older brothers said they liked the food 🙂
This Homemade Spaghetti Sauce recipe has been a family staple for as long as I can remember. It's really simple and the flavors are fantastic.
This is one of those meals that always tastes amazing–and it's perfect for busy weeknights this time of year! Plus, there's no picky eater that would ever say no to spaghetti!
How to make homemade spaghetti sauce:
First brown the beef and onion. Chop the ground beef finely as you go. After it's browned I often like to add it to my food processor to pulse it once or twice so that it's finely crumbled. It makes the sauce extra smooth (although some people like their spaghettie sauce with larger peices of meat in it,)
Next, add the tomato sauce, tomato paste, seasonings, Worcestershire sauce, and sugar and bring the mixture to a simmer. Add water and simmer for 30 minutes or longer, to get more depth of flavor. The longer you simmer it, the more the flavors will blend together beautifully.
I use this sauce all the time in my Spaghetti Pie, Million Dollar Spaghetti, Slow Cooker Lasagna and Instant Pot Spaghetti.
Spaghetti sauce, marinara sauce and pizza sauce; what's the difference?
There is all sorts of confusion surrounding these terms, but spaghetti sauce, marinara sauce, and pizza sauce are usually all tomato based sauces. Marinara sauce, or pasta sauce is a slow-simmered sauce that is often made with tomatoes, garlic, and herbs. In America, we often refer to marinara as a meatless, tomato-based sauce.
Spaghetti sauce is essentially any sauce that you put on spaghetti. Traditional spaghetti sauce is often just a more complex marina sauce that has additional spices and may be made with meat, vegetables, cheese, etc.
Pizza sauce is typically uncooked and refers to any sauce you put on pizza. This sauce is usually simple, with few ingredients and is meant to cook with the pizza for added flavor.
Tips for making ahead and freezing spaghetti sauce:
This homemade spaghetti sauce can be easily made ahead of time. Store it in the fridge for 3 to 4 days or freeze it. Before freezing spaghetti sauce, allow the mixture to cool completely. Label a gallon freezer bag and fill it with the sauce. Store it on a flat surface so that it freezes into a flat shape that will store easily. Store it for up to 4-6 months. To use, place frozen sauce in a pot and reheat on the stove until warm.
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Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef, (or ½ lb ground Italian sausage and ½ lb ground beef)
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, , to taste
- 1 medium onion, , chopped
- 15 ounces tomato sauce
- 6 ounces tomato paste
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 Tablespoon dried parsley flakes
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- crushed red pepper flakes, , to taste
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, (optional)
- spaghetti noodles, , for serving
Instructions
- Season ground beef with salt and pepper.
- In a large skillet, add the beef and chopped onion and brown. Drain excess grease.
- Add tomato sauce, tomato paste, Italian seasoning, parsley, garlic powder, crushed red pepper, worcestershire, and sugar to the skillet.
- Stir well to combine and bring to a boil. Add water and stir well.
- Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add chopped basil before serving, if desired.
- This sauce tastes great in Spaghetti Pie, Million Dollar Spaghetti, Slow Cooker Lasagna and Instant Pot Spaghetti.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Have you tried this recipe?!
RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
*I originally shared this recipe in September 2015. Updated July 2018.
So good! I have made this at least 5 times already. I always make a big pot and freeze half for another night for dinner ☺️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This recipe turned out great. It was even better than my recipe straight from Italy.
My family LOVES this sauce! It’s so good and easy to make! Thank you!
I made this sauce for my lasagna. It was the best I’ve ever tasted! Loved it and will continue to make it.
This recipe is seriously delicious, having made sauce hundreds of times this one is a true keeper. I’ve made your recipe about 10 times and it never fails. Thank you
Thank you so much for this keeper of a recipe. I have been looking all over and attempted so many recipes for homemade spaghetti sauce and am so glad to have found ‘THE ONE!’ It is absolutely ‘fantabulous!’ And I love pressing the easy button too!
I’ve tried a number of homemade spaghetti sauces and this is my favorite of all! Thank you so much.
Holy moly!! This is seriously good!! I was nervous that the seasonings wasn’t enough but it packed enough punch!! Soooo yummy and I made a huge batch so I’m sure the flavors will start to deepen and develop over a couple of hours. Thanks for sharing your yummy recipe!!
Easy and satisfying. 10/10 would recommend 👍🏻
Sadly this isn’t entirely from scratch as I wanted. I have home grown tomatoes and actually need a recipe literally from scratch. 😓
How to make tomato sauce from home grown tomatoes: cut tomatoes up and heat in pot. As they begin to get soft, mash with potato masher to release liquid. Bring to a boil. Mash further. Run through cheese cloth, fine mesh strainer, or food mill. Return filtered sauce to pot and boil down to desired consistency. Voila! Tomato sauce!
Just made some yesterday. Looking forward to trying it out on this recipe 😋
Tina, what do you save thru strainer the pulp of the tomatoes or the juice. I’m making homemade sauce right now, thanks.
After boiling and mashing the tomatoes, I press them thru a fine mesh strainer with the back of a large soup spoon. This presses some pulp thru. Whatever is left in the strainer, I toss. Its mostly seeds and the skin that is discarded.
Here is the link for canning tomato sauce Ball. It’s tested for safety in home canning!
https://www.freshpreserving.com/blog/homemade-tomato-sauce
I’ve made this recipe twice now and love it. This is now my family spaghetti recipe. I especially like what the Worcester sauce adds to it. The only change I make is simmering the sauce with a few chunks of carrot for sweetness, rather than putting in sugar.
Easy and delicious!
Very good. Simple and quick to make.
My husband suggested spaghetti for supper yesterday. We had angel hair pasta but no jarred sauce. I have several cans of tomato sauce in the pantry. I found your recipe and it was a hit! We are 4 months into sheltering in place (older, many health issues) and I have learned how to use what we have because I can’t go out to the grocery. I won’t go back to a manufactured spaghetti sauce because this is better!
I tried this recipe today, and it was so good! I served it over some homemade cheese raviolis, and everyone loved it. Thanks so much!
This recipe convinced me to make my own from now on. My alterations were to add one can of diced tomatoes (plus juice), oregano, savory, 3 bay leaves, and only use 2 tbsp. of basil. It brought the tang of the tomatoes down, and was enjoyed by my entire family. I’ll never go back to pre-made!
Oh yeah, other alterations: sub the beef with Italian sausage, and don’t use water.
I have literally stopped buying my favorite jarred sauce. This recipe is so easy to make and it tastes phenomenal! The only other thing I add to it is one can on low sodium chicken broth. It gives it a deliciously rich flavor. You need to try this recipe. I PROMISE you will stop buying jarred sauce.
I failed to add when I reached for the bucatini I was out I used rigatoni. Wonderful!
I have made homemade gravy a number of times. So many that I no longer by jar/canned sauce.
I found this sauce to be easy to put together and so tasty. My improvisations were to add fresh green bell peppers and mushrooms. I leaned a bit on the crushed red pepper.
One of my favs!