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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Recipe
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
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.
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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!!
I have made this several times and can’t get enough of it! I have to make a double batch and freeze some. I use one lb.. of Italian sausage and one lb. Of ground turkey. Other than that.. DON’T CHANGE A THING!
Thanks for sharing Donna! I love the half/sausage/have turkey combo. Delicious!
What can i do to make it thicker?
Hi Matt, you could add more tomato paste, if you’d like it thicker. You’d probably need to add more seasonings if you do so. You could also crumble the cooked ground beef in your food processor into really small pieces, which will thicken the sauce up once you stir the meat it.
This recipe is a keeper! I wanted spaghetti tonight but didn’t have jarred sauce. A quick Pinterest search turned this up. The simplicity seduced me. It was delicious! Family loved it. I quit counting the “mmmhms” (translates to delicious) after several. Added to rotation. Thank you!!
This is definitely the most delicious recipe ever. Spices are just perfect. ALL my friends like this sauce and I’m making it for my friend from Oregon. She has requested it. I made it for her the last time she was here. Make extra, it freezes wonderfully.
So I made this tonight, only we didn’t have tomato sauce so I substituted a can of diced tomatoes instead. It turned out really bland and not really all that delicious. (We also didn’t have time to simmer it for 30 minutes, it probably only got 15). Adding salt helped some, but it still really wasn’t so good. Is it because of the diced tomatoes? We have a lot leftover and wondering if there’s something I can add to it to make it better tomorrow night…
Hi there, I would definitely stick with the tomato sauce next time. The tomato sauce has a much thicker and richer consistency and taste. If you have to use diced tomatoes you would need to add additional tomato paste. Simmering also helps add flavor, and at the end, you can always taste it and add additional spices as needed, to taste.
The real ingredients, falls apart with the Sugar and Worchestershire Sauce though, but others than that, awesome Sauce 🙂
Would this still be good without the Worcester sauce?
Sure, you can leave it out 🙂
But why would you?
My family loves this spaghetti sauce and it’s become regular in our dinner rotation. I always make a double batch and freeze half – perfect dinner for a busy weeknight.
This is my go-to spaghetti sauce recipe. I like your suggestion to spin the beef a few times in a food processor. That makes it even better!
My question is do you spin the beef after it’s been cooked before you put it in the sauce.
Yes, I spin it right after browning it 🙂
This really is the greatest spaghetti sauce in the world. I make it all the time and triple the recipe, then use it for meatball subs, lasagna, spaghetti meatballs and a number of other things. It freezes well and is a great quick go to when I don’t have time to make dinner, just pull some out of the freezer.