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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!!
We loved this sauce! I forgot to add the sugar, however, I’m happy that I did based on others comments. I did the 1/2 lean ground beef, and 1/2 Italian sausage … very yummy!!! I will make this sauce every time going forward. Thank you for the recipe .
Did it come out good I’m trying to make it for the 1st time forgot to add stuff I didn’t have have allot of sauce tho I hope it’s good as it looks. Just letting it simmer now
Whipped this up in my dutch oven to cut down on more dishes, absolutely love this recipe. So easy to double the batch for lunches or freezer. Thanks.
This is the way I make mine. Very good. I had my 3 boys and all their friends to feed when they were growing up and this was a perfect dish for that.
I was looking for a meat sauce recipe for canning purposes and came across this one. I don’t care how good it might be, it’s nowhere as good as the tears from all the Karens in the comment section! Here’s an idea…Replace the water and sugar so many of you are upset by with your liberal tears. Use sparingly as they’re definitely salty AF! 🤣🤣🤣🤣
To Marko
Who said Karen’s are liberals.. every Karen I know is conservative.
As far as this recipe, it was awesome! I used the sauce recipe, minus adding the ground beef, because I put meatballs in the sauce to simmer in my crock. Turned out delish, and I followed the sauce part to a tee👍
You get a lot of bang for your buck with these simple ingredients! I used Italian sausage (breaking it up as it cooked), 2 cloves chopped garlic, and about a cup of chopped mushrooms, sautéing them along with the sausage and onion. Worcestershire sauce is a great addition. I forgot to add sugar but the sauce was great without it.
Love this recipe! I used 2 fresh cloves of garlic instead of powder and use Veggie broth in place of water I also add about 1/4 cup of fresh grated Parmesan cheese to the sauce. Spaghetti sauce you will not find in my house anymore because making my own is not only easy, but my family would prefer this sauce instead.
Very simple recipe and oh so tasty. The first time I made it my family said “well there’s no need to buy spaghetti sauce from the store anymore”. I definitely recommend this to anyone, it is all worth it.
WAY too much sugar! Really did not enjoy this sauce. Will not make it again.
Great recipe!
I used ground turkey, fresh garlic and chicken broth instead of water. I also put the browned meat in a food processor, as suggested, and pulsed it twice. The end result was perfection. This is my new go to sauce.
This was great! The only thing I changed was just to do like 2-3 pinches of suga, used diceced tomatoes instead of paste (I was out), and omitted the water since i didn’t drain the tomatoes. Will definitely make going forward.
Great recipe! Reduced water. Only 3 tablespoons tomato paste, pinch of baking soda= reduces acidity. Thanks so much!