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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!!
🙂 good
Trying it out tonight . Making pasta and didn’t realize only jar sauce I had contained mushrooms which I cannot feed my husband . He is allergic. So I looked in cabinet had everything on list so let’s see if it passes my finicky eaters.
I had company coming over and thought of this recipe,so i tried it,and added a few extra ingredients,diced up red,yellow and green bell peppers very fine,and some.dried mushroom diced very fine,,,and it turned out better than any store bought sauce I’ve ever tried,after dinner i had people asking what kind of sauce i used,and i told them it was homemade,everyone wanted the recipe,so i gave it to them,,As for being a guy,i surprised myself,Never will i buy That stuff in a store again,Thank you so very much…
Was craving spaghetti, but I always like a good meat sauce and not many recipes out there are this simple. Thanks for sharing. I loved it! I had all the ingredients and didn’t need to make a special grocery trip to get anything “special”. I had recently made a tomato tortellini soup that called for the can of tomatoes to be drained. I always hate wasting that great tomato juice. So I used that in place of the water called for in your recipe. I also didn’t have tomato sauce but had a jar of marinara, so I used that in place of a can of sauce. This was so simple and delicious. Would definitely recommend this recipe and will be making this again for sure. Thanks 🙂
OMG!!!!!!! I just made this spaghetti sauce and it is soooooooo good! I added fried mushrooms and sweet bell peppers. I will bookmark this recipe and definitely use it again!
I made this recipe today for supper. Very good. I put the cooked hamburger and onions though the food processor as you suggested and I was pleased with the finer texture. It was a hit and will be making again.
Made this last night for guests. Used ground chuck and some mild sweet Italian sausage. We didn’t have any basil, which I imagine would have been delicious, but the sauce still came out wonderfully. Everyone raved. Thank you for this terrific recipe.
Best spaghetti sauce ever! I refuse to eat jarred sauce anymore. Delicious and easy!
This was too sweet for my taste, wil try without the sugar next time
This is the most amazing spaghetti sauce. My husband will no longer let me used canned so beware! I omit the water as the sauce without it is perfect consistency for our liking.
Try substituting a cup of chianti for the water.