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.
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?
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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.
This post contains affiliate links.
This is my family’s go-to spaghetti sauce. I’ll never buy jarred sauce again! Thank you for this perfectly awesome recipe!
Wasn’t too impressed with the Worcester sauce, I’ll try without it next time
Made this for my family last night and I literally CRIED. I have been struggling with store bought sauces that almost immediately begin to give me heartburn and indigestion. I began to think I should just try making my own, after all my mom always did! I tried to remember how she did it, but she she passed away in 2001 when I was just 13, so ill I could really remember was the tomato sauce, tomato paste, and that she added onion and bell pepper(which I did add). So i googled those things and came across this recipe. As soon as I tasted the first bite…tears..it was if I was transported back to 1990 something and my mom had just made spaghetti. Thanks so much for this recipe. I absolutely will be making this again…and side note..no acid reflux, indigestion, or heartburn!!❤️
So simple and so good! Not a huge worcestershire fan you could use a little less of that and the sugar but overall a great sauce recipe. Served with rigatoni.
Made a double batch of this yesterday evening; was hesitant to use so much tomato paste but it was worth it! Extremely tasty!! And simple 🙂
Slight modifications: added a lot more Italian seasoning, swapped sugar for erythritol/monkfruit, and threw in a tiny bit of MSG near the end. Actually forgot to season the hamburger at the start lol.
Delicious and easy. I simmer for an hour. Won’t buy spaghetti sauce in a jar ever again!
Easy and delicious!
Made this tonight, simple to make, but sauce was a game changer!
Hello Lauren,
I am making this Spaghetti sauce recipe today. House smells amazing! My Family is so excited to eat dinner tonight. It tastes as good as it smells! (shh…I already had some).
Thanks for the recipe Lauren.
-Craig
I always start with 2 pound of fresh ground beef, 1 pound, Italian sausage, two onions, chopped three bell peppers, chopped a lot of various seasonings tomatoes sauce,l diced tomatoes, 1 quart one habanero pepper, a jar of Ragu with mushrooms, 1 pound jar of mushrooms and cook and do everything you’re done
So what does this have to do with the recipe shown???????
This is similar to how I make spaghetti sauce, I add parmesan cheese ,finger licking. The Italian sausage adds soo much flavor!!
Great – and easy – recipe! But please, please, please – spaghetti is pasta. It is not a noodle. Pasta and noodles are made from different ingredients and are not the same. To coin a phrase, it’s like apples and oranges.
Stop knit-picking…no one cares
👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
Awesome comment
Exactly how I would put it
OMG I was just thinking the same exact while reading. And if you’re gonna change the entire recipe means you’re not following recipe so post your own on your own page.
Quit correcting, make the recipe or write one of your own, but nobody cares about your self importance. We only care about the taste of the food. People like you have no purpose other than pissing everyone else off.
Yum!!!! I used ground chicken, and half a can of plum tomatoes (along with the tomato paste). This recipe is a keeper…. Thank you!!! ❤️
Delicious
Excellent taste. I used fresh tomatoes from the garden and blended them with my immersion blender. Followed the recipe exactly, and loved it.
So simple and tasty are the2 best words to describe this recipe. Best of all it’s pretty low cal since I use spiral squash noodles for the pasta. I used stevia for sugar and I can’t taste the difference. I’ll keep this recipe handy.
This is sooo good. Made it with half sausage and half ground beef. Perfect blend of salt, sweet, and tang. Will make over and over!
This is the best I’ve tasted!
Simple, and soooo tasty just as is!
Thanks!
My mom shared this recipe with me and it’s fantastic. We all loved it. Planning to make it again tonight! Thanks for sharing.
Perfect blend! I did add some minced garlic.
Excellent recipe! When my Italian husband gives me his MMMMMM rating, I know it’s good. Thank you!☺️
I made this for a lasagna with the pasta made from scratch, with just 90/10 sirloin ground beef. Definitely a keeper!! I also used half the sugar, but substituted roasted garlic and an habanero for both the garlic powder and the red pepper flakes. I also didn’t have Italian seasoning but that was ok. The parsley did the trick with the rest of the ingredients beautifully, our family loved it.
I made this for my family last night and it was delicious ! I’ve made it twice now and both times have been a hit. They cleaned the pot!
Hi Crystal,
You can definitely can add the stewed tomatoes to the recipe. You can add the stewed tomatoes with or without the juice in the can.
If you add it with the juice, skip the additional water the recipe calls for. I never add water to my recipe. I let the stew tomatoes with juice be the liquid. You can’t mess up this recipe.
This is absolutely delicious!!! I will never go back to store bought sauce.
Made it exactly as stated. Delicious! I’ll never buy sauce again! Thank you so much! 💓
I used this recipe and made a couple of changes and turned out fantastic. The changes made were: 1) instead of garlic powder, I used 1 1/2 teaspoons of minced garlic; 2) added sliced mushrooms; 3) used half the tomato sauce but added a can of Manwich Bold.
I like chunky tomatoes in my sauce. What can I do to modify this? Should I sub out like 2/3 of the tomato sauce w diced toms and a little water and add at the same time? I just want to check so I don’t mess it up. Thanks
I make a very similar sauce to this based on my mother’s recipe. To about 1 lb of ground beef I add a small (15 oz) can of tomato sauce, a small can of diced tomatoes (petite diced, if I can find that), and a small can of tomato paste. Oh, and I use minced fresh garlic!
Very good sauce. I like that I can control the amount of sugar. I only used 1t. And it was plenty. I will make it again.
Did half ground beef and half sausage. I didn’t have worcestershireor anf red chili flakes. Did everything else exactly as noted. Oh, and added bell pepper. This was so delicious!!!! Will definitely be making again.
Can you pressure can this recipe?
Made it exactly per recipe. Used Half Beef / Half Italian Sausage. All I can say is WOW! Love this sauce. This one is a for sure keeper. Thanks for sharing this one with us.
Do you cook the beef and onion in a skillet and then transfer everything into a pot for the remainder?
To Mike,
Cook the beef and onion in a large pot, drain grease and add other ingredients. One pot only needed
I typically drain the excess grease from the pan I’m cooking the meat in to my large pot that I cook my pasta in. I think it adds more beefy flavor to the pasta an then right before Altona I add my pasta to my sauce to finish it off. Just a suggestion
This was very delicious. Thank you for sharing such an easy recipe for homemade spaghetti sauce.
This is my go-to recipe for a meat sauce. The whole family loves it. Thank you for providing this recipe.
The only thing I did was double the recipe and it is a fantastic sauce no more jars this is too easy to make to not make it fresh every time
So flavorful! We made it with some hot sausage and it was amazing. We’ll be using it for our next lasagna. Better than ANY sauce you can buy in a can or a jar.
Great recipe! I love the versatility. I’ve made it twice now and the second time I decreased the sugar by half, added mushrooms, and doubled the recipe. For pasta, I used the mini bowtie pasta. It made enough to easily feed 8 people. Thank you! This is definitely my go to sauce now!
Absolutely LOVED this recipe! Thank you for sharing
Really great go to meat sauce! Added some mushrooms, a green pepper and half the sugar, but the recipe as is works really well, too. Thank you!
Delicious! This is my go to spaghetti sauce now. It’s so easy to make and everyone loves it! I use 1/2 ground beef and 1/2 ground Italian sausage and have added 2 cloves of chopped garlic. I usually double the recipe- serving a family of 6.
What Italian uses Worchestershire sauce in a spaghetti recipe??? Did not taste like any spaghetti sauce I’ve ever had. Yuck.
We use this sauce weekly! It’s our favorite and my kids love it.
Quick question- what is a serving size for this?
Unless you grow and can your own tomatoes, grow all your own herbs, butcher your own cattle and make your own noodles…..this is scratch.
So I can’t “bake a cake from scratch” unless I grow and mill trees that I’ll use to build equipment to mill the flour I grow along side the cattle and chickens I raise for milk and eggs. All while building a home made oven that will bake the cake in pans forged from steel that I created by mining ore from the earth…. You see how ridiculous your comment is.
I do grow and can my own tomatoes, grow my own herbs and butcher my own cattle so I guess this is scratch. Not everyone has this liberty. But doing it this way, allows you to know exactly what’s in your food. So don’t be so damn crunchy. Some of us enjoy cooking. Thanks to the author for the recipe
Made it and loved it. So simple to make!
I plan on canning this sauce. In order to plan for how many pint/quart jars I’ll need, do you know how much this recipe will yield?
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!
I used 1/2 the amount of sugar & still way too sweet. Would be good with less sugar.
Makes more sauce than a jarred sauce and fresher taste. Substituted with fresh green chillies instead of chilli flakes for MORE heat. Served with fresh grated cheddar, tasted fantastic! Will be my go to sauce for pasta! More cost effective and very flavourful! Adjust herbs to your preference! So grateful for this recipe! Thank you for sharing!
This sauce is delicious! It will now be my go to recipe for spaghetti sauce. Thank you!
Again, why are you putting water in your sauce? It’s absolutely unnecessary. This recipe is like a catholic nun smacking students’ hands with a nerf bat. Totally ineffective.
This was easy to make and delicious! I served it with garlic bread from the freezer section and salad. Will make this again- might add mushrooms and peppers
I did add more salt and pepper at the end.
I love this recipe and this is the only spaghetti sauce aI make now. Thank you for the goodness!!
I hate ‘to taste’ as an amount. Low ball an amount and say ‘more than that can be added if you like’.
This is the most Karen comment, why is everyone a Karen now days? Just add it to your taste preference. I know lots of people that would add no salt.
I am going to make this spaghetti sauce it sounds good 👍
I think this sauce would give a little kick to stuffed peppers.
I didn’t have any spaghetti sauc so I thought I would try this one because it looked the best. The only thing I substituted was the water and pepper flakes. Instead I used a can of
Habanero diced tomatoes. We loved it it’s only for the people who love hot foods
This is the spaghetti sauce my husband makes. He frequently throws a can of chopped tomato in the pot to up the veggies in our meal. When our kids were still home we would eat the leftover sauce as soup for lunch the next day.
I love to cook! I really enjoyed the sauce. It was so thick and delicious.
Keep up the great work. We love you for what you do. I’m looking forward to trying more of your recipes.
Can I thin the sauce out so it’s not so thick and chunky but develop same taste?
Yes. Use a splash of beef stock.
This is so wonderfully good that my husband said I am no longer allowed to purchase store bought and I have only been using top shelf which is expensive. He said that he could just grab a bowl and eat it by itself as if it were a bowl of soup or chili. And I will add that it was truly almost as easy as opening a jar but oh so much more fun when the results were this darn great. GAME CHANGER in my home!!!
Fantastic! I added a can of drained Rotelle for a little “zest.” The Rotelle did not improve the flavor of the sauce, just made it “warmer.” This is my new go-to recipe for meat sauce. Simply delicious!!
Way too sweet and tangy for my liking. I would put maybe 1/2 tablespoon of sugar.
This recipe was easy to make and a hit in my household. My 20 month old asked for seconds and my husband said he wants this in rotation each week.
Adding this to my meal planning rotation for my family. Thanks for sharing!
Was looking for a recipe to use up a lot of tomato sauce I had in my pantry. I am so happy I chose this one. I have tried numerous other spaghetti sauce recipes but non compare to this easy one. The flavor was spot on, the ease was perfect, and the taste was amazing! In you are on the fence deciding …… don’t be, just make it. You will be pleasantly surprised.
One table spoon of sugar is way to much. It was so sweet I couldn’t eat it and had to throw it away! Probably good if you cut the sugar in half at least.
You felt the need to rate the recipe 1 star, though you said it would probably be good with less sugar?
If you double the meat do you double the seasonings?
Of course !!
Easy to make. Family enjoyed the flavor which was different from my usual sauces. It’s a keeper and recommended. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
How is this made from scratch if it’s all canned tomato sauce? Lol
We like to use canned tomato sauce because it’s made from high-quality, vine-ripened tomatoes that are processed at the peak of freshness. This ensures that our sauce has a consistent flavor and quality, no matter what time of year it is.
Probably the same way it is from scratch using garlic powder and granulated sugar without instructions on how to dry and crush garlic cloves out process sugar cane.
Thanks for the recipe.
This sauce is amazing and it is so easy! It is the only recipe we use!
Hi – I am trying to make spaghetti pie with the homemade pasta sauce- but I see in ingredients that it calls for Chicken Broth but nowhere in the recipe does it state how much or anything about Broth? Please help as I am trying to make this.
Thank you
Hi Ann Lee,
I’ve looked over both recipes (SPaghetti pie, marinara, and spaghetti sauce) and didn’t see a mention of chicken broth in any. Which recipe did you see chicken broth listed in?
This is THE BEST. I use a little more sauce (because, sauce is life) and add some parmesan cheese at the end. Really, this is excellent and my absolute staple. Thanks for sharing!
Healthier than canned pasta sauce! I cook it an hour for a deeper flavor. What’s the serving size(1/4 cup, 1/2 Cup, 1 cup)?
This is the spaghetti sauce that started it all for me! Just made it again last night for my wife and a friend of hers. They loved it … as I do, of course. I have since gotten the nerve to try making spaghetti sauce from scratch, going through the hassle of blanching the tomatoes and cooking it for several hours in a slow cooker. No matter … THIS is the sauce I can always go back to and always have a good meal. Easy to do and tastes great. And isn’t that what we’re after? Enjoy!
I made this last night for my family, and it wasn’t bad. A little more similar to a chili sauce than a spaghetti sauce. I followed the directions pretty closely and it just wasn’t quite what I was hoping for. It’s not bad at all, just not a true spaghetti sauce in my opinion. It could be the worcestershire sauce. It was missing the tomato profile.
This has been my go-to spaghetti sauce for almost a year now and I’ve tried many. Everyone in my family loves it! It’s my husband’s favourite. I’ve followed the recipe as is and wouldn’t change a thing. It’s so easy to prepare. We love it!
I like every recipe you have shown so far. Your the best!! How about an easy pineapple cake with a cream cheese topping. Did you do this already? I’M 71 an a male and you have me baking again
Followed basically…:)
Added a dollop of Italian red wine, a few tbsp of Irish butter, and hot Italian sausage rather than the pepper flakes along with the ground beef. Yumms!
Best ever spaghetti sauce!
I thought I had a jar of Spaghetti sauce and didn’t. So I immediately looked on line and searched for an easy homemade spaghetti sauce and found this one. It’s going to be my 1st time trying out this recipe. Luckily I had all ingredients. Hoping it’s going to be good. We will see, it’s on the stove cooking now. I’ll comment once we try it. Thank you
My husband and I are obsessed with this recipe. Literally SO good and so much cheaper than buying jar sauce! We also never add the Worcestershire… hopefully we aren’t missing too much haha!
Great recipe!
Lauren I’ve used your spaghetti sauce recipe 3 times and my family and friends all want it. They love it thanks for sharing
I added 5 cloves of garlic with the water and subbed balsamic vinegar for the Worcestershire! The family LOVED IT!
This is a fantastic spaghetti recipe. Thanks for sharing it. So yummy!
Do you have a instant pot version?
Thank you again!
Thanks! Yes, here’s my Instant Pot Spaghetti recipe: https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/instant-pot-spaghetti/
Amazing home made sauce! I reduced the Worcester and sugar and add more oregano to taste. It doesn’t need hardly any salt as the flavours are great!!!
I’m trying to help my husband track his food, is the nutritional info for the total sauce or per serving?
Thank you, we love this recipe!
So glad to hear you both love the sauce! The nutritional info is per serving and there are 5 servings per recipe!
This is the BEST SPAGHETTI SAUCE I have ever had….or made! Coats each strand of pasta perfectly. THANK YOU
This is my go to spaghetti sauce recipe. Super easy and I always have the ingredients on hand. Thanks!
Very good sauce. Will adopt as one of my go to sauces.
Simple, easy, cheap, and customizable. I loved it. Thank you
This recipe is absolutely perfect. I will never use another recipe.
Excellent
So if I want to add minced garlic instead of powder, how much would you recommend??
3-4 tsp of minced garlic!
Delicious and then some!!!!
I don’t know if I reviewed this before, but twice is just as nice. This is requested in my house at least every couple of weeks. It is soooooooo good. Thank you Lauren.
Can I replace the tomato sauce with tomato purée? I have a ton of extra purée I’m trying to avoid wasting. Thanks I’m advance!
Sure!
A really great sauce with room to add your favourite veggies!
It’s great if and only if San Marzano tomatoes are used for both sauce and paste. Otherwise expect flat average flavor.
If I wanted to make this with fresh tomatoes, would I just substitute them for the tomato sauce? Or would you substitute them for the tomato paste as well?
You would still need to use tomato paste! let us know what you think!
Easy and fantastic.
Made this tonight and it was quite the hit! Thanks for the recipe!
Can this be done in a slow cooker?
Yes! Brown the meat and add everything to the slow cooker. Cook on low for 3-4 hours!
I love this sauce! I go half beef mince/ half original bratwurst sausage meat.
Tastes delicious in stuffed peppers!
I make this sauce in a big batch then portion it in servings….freeze…
I’ve made my mother’s spaghetti recipe for over 60 years and have always hated chunks os tomato in the sauce. When I saw this recipe with no chunky tomatoes, I decided to give it a try. OMGosh, what a delicious and easy recipe. This will be my go-to recipe from now on. And yes, the cup of water called for in the recipe is a needed ingredient. This makes for a full-bodied spaghetti sauce. Ten stars in my book!
This sauce is awesome I make it all the time! I think the only way it could be better would be to make the sauce from scratch by letting tomatoes ripen and turning them into sauce … but who has that much time ! This recipe is bomb,I recommend switching the ground beef to Italian sausage crumbled, dynamic flavor change
My go to spaghetti sauce. My husband loves it.
This is my go to spaghetti sauce recipe! It tastes so much better than store bought. I like to add mushrooms and a can of crushed tomatoes to have some more texture. It also does not take long to make it either which is a plus when in a hurry. So delicious! 😊
I was very happy with the spaghetti sauce I made using this recipe…my husband and I both loved it! I didn’t have a can of tomato sauce, so I used petite diced tomatoes, and crushed the tomatoes while they were cooking. (I thought later I could have blended them). As an afterthought, I also added a couple of teaspoons of minced garlic in addition to the garlic powder because you can never have too much garlic! I didn’t have any fresh Basil leaves, so I didn’t use basil and didn’t miss it.
My husband had to have two helpings of spaghetti because he loved the sauce so much! I will definitely be using this recipe going forward!
This has become my go-to spaghetti sauce recipe! Quick and so yummy
Followed the recipe exactly and it was absolutely comfort food deliciousness! I make lots of pasta sauces from scratch from simple marinara to all-day cook sauces, but this is my favorite because it’s super easy and tastes just like my step-mom used to make and I was never able to duplicate. Thanks so much!
I will never go back to store bought spaghetti sauce again. Thank you for sharing this recipe. 😁
I making this today love home made spaghetti sauce .
What I took a sample taste was so yummy.
Thanks for sharing
We’ll enjoy it tonight with our spaghetti noodle and garlic bread
Has anyone tried this without the meat? is it still good vegetarian? I just find meat so gross.
Yes, you can leave the meat out, no problem. You could also add diced sauteed veggies if you want; bell pepper, mushrooms, shredded carrot, chopped zucchini…
I’ve tried it with lentils before too! if you like lentils, I’d suggest giving it a try!
I made this using plant-based veggie crumbles! So Yummy and it tastes just exactly the same. I didn’t do anything to alter the recipe and I followed it as directed
My family love spaghetti
My family loved it and they even had seconds. Thank you
I added a little wine for that
Italian flare. I love the spice combination too! Thank you!
This recipe is our favorite spaghetti sauce to date!!! I’ve never made it homemade before this recipe and our family will never go back!!! Thank you!
Delicious! This is my go-to sauce recipe now.Thanks for sharing.
Took about ten minutes to prepare..very easy and very good
I used brown sugar ,and I added 14.5oz fire roasted diced tomatoes . It’s better than I expected. Only complaint is there wasn’t any leftovers. Two thumbs up !
This is a great recipe. I added a little cumin, sweet red peppers and minced garlic. Thanks for a really good addition to my spaghetti squash.
I cook for the local senior center once a month and this is a good recipe for that. Very tasty and easy to do in large quantity (I’m cooking for 40 people) I do half ground beef and half sausage. The sausage and ground beef don’t fall apart when browned and stay “clumpy”, so I run them through the food processor after browning. I had to modify the procedure a bit. Basically, I build the sauce and add the meat to it after.
This is perfect… I have to cook for 40 people… How much pasta did you cook and do you multiply this recipe how many times???? I would think at least 6 times this recipe… TIA
Great recipe, I used hot Italian sassauge and added mushrooms. Mmmm. Going to make lasagna with it next.
This has become a favorite in our household. Everyone will eat it and likes it, even the 1 year old!
I double the onion, add a clove of fresh garlic, and double all the sauce and seasonings (not meat) so there is more liquid. Love it! ❤️
Great taste, easy fixing (makes me smile and my son loves it.
I’ve made homemade spaghetti for years and finally gave it up and went Prego . This recipe was so easy (eyeballed all the measurements too!) and so good I really don’t have any excuse to ever buy prego again!
I was nervous about Worcestershire so I scaled it back – adds a depth to the flavor for sure!
Loved this recipe. I was out of sauce, but I had a can of tomato sauce and tomato paste. So glad I could make such a great sauce with ingredients I had at home. Thanks so much for sharing!! Can’t wait to make it again!
The only way I really deviate from this is I let this simmer at least an hour minimum to bring out all those lovely flavors!! When i have the time i let this dinner for 3-4 hours. This is my go to recipe and my husband and I love it!
Okay……..let’s try this one more time. Autocorrect is a double edge sword……and at times I’m extremely annoyed by it. Funny, Allen is a common last name and ours is spelled exactly the same. Anyway, I will no longer “buy” not “by” the pre-made sauce in the jar. Moderator, please delete the previous post. Thank you Moderator. Thank you Lauren for sharing.👋🏾
I got ya Matthew! Thanks for leaving the review 🙂
This was okay, I just wanted to try a new recipe and had all the ingredients on hand. If I were to make this again, I would certainly reduce the amount of worcestshire sauce, it was just too much, and it was all I could taste quite frankly.
It was great just a little too sweet for my taste.
Sauce is very delicious. Can it be canned?
I’m deathly allergic to parsley and cilantro so I throw in black cocoa powder for depth of flavour but otherwise this is our go to recipe! 🐈⬛🐈⬛🐈⬛
I love this sauce! The only modification I make is to add green pepper and substitute the tomato sauce with crushed tomatoes.
Been a very long time I made spaghetti sauce from scratch. I did add sausage which doubled it. This is a great recipe!!! I think I’ll go back to homemade!
This is one of the easiest and most delicious spagetti sauce recipes that I have tried. Much better than any jar sauce. My boyfriend and I love it!
looks delicious – have you ever tried it with San Marzano tomatoes?
I made this recipe today, used I lb of ground chuck. I used Prego traditional sauce with a tomato paste. Since I didn’t have an Italian seasoning, I used Oregano, along with other seasoning listed. It turned out delicious! Better than any other meat sauce I have tried in the past. Saving this recipe!
Spaghetti sauce was so good. Adding the Worchestershire sauce, sugar and crushed red pepper flakes. Yummy!
my favorite recipe for sauce! Thank you
It was ok had a Really flat taste to me
My go to now. Great recipe
This is the best homemade sauce recipe I’ve tried and I’ve tried several. Easily better than Prego.
I made this 2-3 years ago and I only use this recipe for spaghetti sauce. I love it! And so does my husband.
Hi Lauren, I think your receipe is TOTALLY DELICIOUS and SCRUMPTIOUS!! Thank you for sharing and I look forward to trying more of your receipes.
This is an excellent recipe that we will make again. I cut the sugar to 1 tsp for a first try and it’s great.
Delicious!! Thanks for the recipe – it’s a keeper! 👍
It’s not sauce It’s chilly You want a real recipe I’ll send you one
Go away
Bland too sweet. Never again. I should have known better. Nothing Italian tasting. I had to fix it.
So negative :O why not just comment your adjustments rather than being so bitter?
Chili – lol .. i would like to see your recipe.
Wow! That comment was rude, not to mention your spelling and punctuation.
Excellent sauce
I tried your spaghetti sauce receipe for 2 hard to please teenage boys.
They loved it and went for seconds.
Thank you for sharing!
Quite good!
Hello, does the nutritional count include the spaghetti noodles or is it just for one serving of the meat sauce?
This has become my favorite spaghetti sauce recipe. Not a ton of ingredients and doesn’t take a long time to make and the taste is delicious. Thank you for sharing it.
Great recipe and very easy to make, but I halved the water and I think I should have left the water this time.
I’m an idiot who couldn’t cook anything before trying this.
A couple changes though.
Do not put water into it! Makes a world of difference without water.
You don’t have to put a whole onion into it..
One pound of beef is way too much.
I think the sauce is only enough for 1 to 2 people.
I love to cook and I love pasta. I make my own more than I use store bought but the store bought sauce was always too acidic and just didn’t work for me (heart burn) I found your recipe and I will never go back to pre made. The worchesterchire (I can’t spell it any better than I can pronounce it I guess) and the sugar balance it out and make it so much better tasting and less acidic. Add that to fresh made pasta and its amazing. Thank you
If a sauce is too acidic, add a pinch of baking soda and stir it until it quits fizzing. Not too much or it will taste bland. Also works great in tomato soup, before you add the milk. Keeps the milk from curling so the soup is nice and creamy. I also throw a pinch into coffee grounds before brewing.
Absolutely delicious recipe! My family loved it! It’s the first time I made homemade spaghetti meat sauce, I usually always buy the pre-made jars of sauce, but now I’m never going to. Will be saving this recipe for next time.
instead of 15 oz of tomato sauce I used 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes 3 oz tomato paste instead of 6 oz and 1/2 cup low sodium chicken stock instead of 1 cup of water. I did this because I didn’t have an extra can of tomato sauce and didn’t want to go to the store 🤷🏼♀️. I did add 2 – 3 grated garlic cloves which I added when browning the ground beef and onions. It was way too good!
Great taste, easy and quick sauce recipe!
My wife passed away last November.. I loved her sauce so much.. by luck I saw your recipe… it almost like hers taste.. I tried it and love the taste.. thank you ….. ps I’m having learn how to cook that was always her thing lol…
I’m so sorry to hear about your loss, Conrad. I’m sure she’s proud of you learning to make recipes that remind you of the food she cooked for you with love. I tried this recipe this evening and it was delicious! Your wife must have been a fantastic cook. ♥️
Mine is similar but I use fresh garlic. Also grated a carrot in place of sugar. Great recipe.
I made this recipe as written and it was so delicious! I usually use jarred pasta sauce from the grocery store so my husband could immediately tell the difference and thoroughly enjoyed it. Super easy to make, delicious for dinner with spaghetti noodles, salad and garlic breadsticks 😉 Thank you!
This is THE spaghetti recipe. My family loves it. Wouldn’t change a thing. I follow the recipe precisely every single time. 🤗🤗
This is my go to Spaghetti Sauce Recipe, however though, I add ground Lamb, and Ground Veal, omitting the Sausage, Sometimes I’ll add Ground Turkey instead of Hamburger, It’s an Awesome recipe!!!!!!
I want to make meatballs instead of having the meat in the sauce, do you think this will effect it drastically?
Not at all, that’s fine!
This was one of the best spaghetti sauces I’ve had. Followed the recipe except used 1 tablespoon of dried basil instead of fresh and I added one extra teaspoon of sugar in the sauce it came out perfect! It came together quickly and I will be making this again… soon! ĹThank you so much for sharing this!!!
So I made this tonight with a few tweaks
I used a can and 1/2 of tomato sauce, no tomato paste and I added 1/2 can of petite tomatoes drained.The next time I won’t add so much hamburger and I added a little more of all the ingredients
It was amazingly delicious! My family loved this so much, there wasn’t leftovers for me to take for lunch!
Excellent! This sauce had that taste that made you want more. Authentic. I’m definitely making this one again.
Very good recipe. I added onion and green pepper to the hamburger while it was cooking. After all the ingredients were added I then added portobello mushrooms and 8 Oz of spaghetti noodles to the instantpot. I pressured it for 5 min and natural release for 5 after that quick release. Came out perfect. Oh a doubled the tomato sauce and the paste. I also added a cup of water. Might be fine to use 16oz of noodles but be sure to break them in half and layer them do not stir after this.
This is a new family favorite in my house. I usually hate spaghetti but my family doesn’t. I’m the cook of the house so if I don’t like it I’m not making it. This sauce makes me CRAVE spaghetti 🍝 my only wonder is if I could thin it slightly without altering the flavor??? How would you suggest I do that?
Mane you could use extra tomato sauce and skip the paste
I would think by using less meat!
Add a little of the water from your pasta before you drain it. The starch in the water will help it adhere to the pasta better as well as thin it a little
Add beef broth to make it thinner.
Delicious Spaghetti Sauce. And it doesn’t take 8 hours.
Try it in the instantpot. Cook the hamburger and everything in it and pressure for 5 min, natural release for 5, then quick release. It’s done in no time.
THANK YOU 😀 use my instant pot for everything.
Love this recipe- easy to make with normal spices- best ever.
Love the recipe simple and easy. Not hard to make at all instructions read clearly. I may have tweaked a few things using fire roasted tomatoes with garlic no cup of water and it came out so mouthwatering good! Thank you
Love love loveeeeeeeeee this recipe!! It was super easy and quick to make. The fam and I loved it. I added some chili oil to give it some kick and let me just say it was 👌🏽 *chef’s kiss* amazing!!
This is the way I make my Spaghetti Sauce with one exception….I puree carrots and add to the mixture instead of the sugar. I will try any way to get my family to eat veggies!!! They have never suspected! LOL It makes my sauce thicker too. I love your website. I just happened up on it about two months ago. Thank you for sharing all these delicious recipes! You’re the best!
What a perfectly fine idea 👍.
Shall try it
Paul
First time making it and I like more than the jars I buy from the store.
Taste wonderful ! I usually use ready made sauce. This is so much better.
Great recipe, on your 3X listing however I think the meat should be 1 1/2 pounds of each meat instead of 1/2 pound each. Keep up the great recipes.
I’ve tried a number of homemade spaghetti sauces and this is my favorite of all! Thank you so much.
Our family will never buy store bought spaghetti sauce again. This is our go to recipe now!
This is exactly what I’ve been looking for. I kept looking up marinara sauces and then adding meat. All I wanted was to use one 15 oz. can of tomato sauce because there are only two people eating.
I added a diced green pepper, subbed fresh garlic for powdered and served over spaghetti noodles. It was the bomb
THIS IS BY FAR, THE BEST RECIPE!!
Can I freeze this spaghetti sauce?
Yes, it freezes well!
I love to try to do something for my family
I need to make a batch of this for a lasagna. It only says this makes 5 servings. I don’t know what that means. 5 people? How much of this recipe would I make for a pound of pasta? I can gauge it from there. Thanks.
The recipe says it’s for one pound of pasta…soooo
Love this recipe. I used ground turkey and threw in some mushrooms today. It’s a great sauce for any pasta.
Loved it!! So good– thank you for sharing!
” Thanks, for the info. I, love homemade spaghetti. DELICIOUSLY made from scratch.
I made this tonight and was very pleased. I was especially pleased to have left out the sugar but it had a sweetness that clearly wasn’t lacking from my omission. Will have several meals to go in the freezer, as well as leftovers tomorrow night.
Hi Shelly. How much sauce did this recipe make? I want to make a lasagna for Easter but I have no idea how much sauce this makes.
I made this recipe yesterday. Absolutely love it and will definitely make it again. I had spaghetti dinner last night and enough for another meal Today and put two servings of sauce in the freezer for future. I have saved it and will recommend it
Made this today and everyone loved it! I did use a few substitutions that others mentioned in the comments: a can of diced tomatoes + some red wine in place of the water; and I cut down the sugar because I was worried about it being too sweet. I like a subtly sweet marinara on pizza, but not so much for spaghetti. I otherwise followed the recipe as written and it was a hit!
The first time I made it we thought it was too sweet too. How much sugar did you end up using?
My husband, who’s always been brutally honest about his Italian-American momma’s spaghetti sauce, pronounced this amazing AND delicious! I WIN!!! ✊🏻😆
I used half mild Italian sausage and half ground beef. I added a teaspoon of oregano to the spice blend and omitted the red pepper flakes. Definitely a keeper!
The spaghetti sauce is great. It’s a time saver. Keep your recipes coming!
This was fantastic!!! I didn’t have tomato paste so I left that out and skipped the water too but added diced tomatoes… so delicious!! Will make again and again and again!
Just what I was looking for! I used breakfast sausage (my preference) , subbed beef broth for water, left out salt. Simmered in a crockpot for several hours. Great basic sauce, make it your own!
Way too bland. Never, EVER add water to a sauce. Why people do this is beyond me and makes us Italians cringe. Use red wine or broth, water will kill all the flavors you’re trying to achieve. Also, green peppers are a must.
Do you use the same amount of wine as water that is called for? (1 cup)
You would add Chicken broth instead of water?
Or maybe “to each their own”…
My search is over for the PERFECT spaghetti sauce! The only change I made was add a can of my favorite diced tomatoes in place of the water, we love a funky sauce, and a half teaspoon of baking soda to cut the acid. Wonderful! Thanks for great recipe!
I added Ed canned mushrooms and artichokes and 2t vinager as I had no onion Italian seasoning or parsley came out good I believe. Thanks for writing this recipe ☺️
This sauce is the perfect base for sneaking vegetables to your veggie hating kids. I have added up to 4 cups of additional vegetables and nobody had a clue. I’m talking mushrooms, any color of bell peppers, carrots, zucchini, yellow squash, broccoli, green onion, green beans, spinach, kale, collards… anything really. The secret is to shred them up in the food processor (or a hand held shredder would work) and add them after browning the meat. Simmer on low for about 2 hours until the vegetables have lost any resemblance of their former selves. Adjust seasoning to taste (I always add extra garlic, Italian seasoning and Worcester shire sauce when I make it this way) and like magic, they’ll never know.
This sauce is fabulous just as it is! I’m so impressed. Very good!
Juat getting sauce to simmer. It smells great.
Great recipe! I substituted the died/powdered for fresh garlic and fresh parsley (had them on hand) and added about 2 tablespoons red wine. I absolutely loved it- red pepper flakes takes it to another level.
Good add ons. I also added a small pat of butter, and a piece of Parmesan rind along with Red wine. It tastes very good to us. I have a Bay plant so added a couple of fresh leaves. No sugar this time.
My go to recipe now. Delicious. I cook it early in the afternoon and let it simmer for several hours before serving. Fantastic
Sorry, I thought the sauce was too bland. No flavor at all.
I tried this too and it was bland.
This is a super easy, super good recipe for spaghetti sauce. I do half hamburger and half sausage, which gives it more flavor. This is my “go to” pasta sauce from now on. I’m not going to try any others!
What kind of onion did you use?
This is insane! So quick and easy, I no longer buy jars of pre-made sauce, and make sure I have the ingredients on hand. My 4 year old daughter loves this s’ghetti!!
I love this sauce! It’s the best spaghetti sauce I’ve ever made. I didn’t change a thing.
I must have 20 different spaghetti sauce recipes and this was the best so far and really simple. Thanks
This was an easy and delicious spaghetti sauce. Loved how thick it ended up being. I’m not a big pasta person so I put it on top of butternut squash “noodles”. Just love this.
Just made the sauce and I’m on board with everyone else….YUM. I cook all the time and have various sauces I make. This one is great because everything on the ingredient list is usually in my cupboard and doesn’t require a mad dash to the store 😜Thanks for clearly having your “mom” hat on when you came up with this one!
If you grate the onion vs chopping it you will not need to add any sugar. It a trick I learned from a restaurant owner/chef in the North End (old Italian neighborhood) of Boston 25 years ago. Why the difference between grate vs chopped no idea but it works.
I wish I would have seen this tip before I made the sauce. The sauce was good, but I did find it a bit to sweet for me.
Think I’ve just found my new go to sauce. I love a great homemade bolognese, but this is so simple yet so incredibly flavorful with very little fuss. And I’ll always have everything on hand (I stumbled upon this recipe when searching for a sauce sans carrots, after just returning from a trip and needing to make dinner for the family)! Try it – you won’t be disappointed.
It’s going in the recipe book. Every one of my picky eaters gave this recipe twi thumbs up. Thank you!
I try this out on my husband first, he love it and so did I . Them made it the community about 150 people. It was a great everyone love it. Now I an going to try to can just the sauce, no meat.
Nice basic recipe. I added more spices amount wise. Yummy. So easy. I don’t know why people buy jarred sauces. I also like adding mushrooms. Didn’t this time since one member of our family doesn’t like them.
It was great and easy I love the recipe I sent it to other family members I will always make this thanks a lot.
My 16yo son, who doesn’t like spaghetti, decided this was good enough for seconds!
I love this sauce and my 6 year old does too! She now does not like any jarred Spaghetti sauces…says it tastes gross. I love making my own stuff from scratch <3
I rarely leave a review, but felt I had to after making this tonight. It was delicious! My husband LOVES spaghetti and we always use a jar sauce. I wanted to try a quick homemade sauce and this fit the bill. I did add some minced garlic, as we love garlic, and used a tsp of dried basil since I didn’t have fresh, but otherwise followed it exactly. My husband said it was the best he had ever had! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I will be making this again very soon!
How much spaghetti noodles should I make to go with? Whole 16 oz box?
Thanks!
Wonderful. I recommend it.
Spaghetti sauce was great, thanks I will make it again
I’m making this for first time,my daughter loves spaghetti I have to find low calorie spaghetti noodles cause wife has her on 1700 calorie diet a day
I do low carb too, I use artichoke noodles ,simply amazing with this sauce
This was the first time in my life I ever tried to make homemade spegetti sauce and wOW this recipe is a definite keeper!! I never knew how easy it could be to make it myself and it is SO much better than store bought. I didn’t have ground beef on hand, so I chopped up a bag of Turkey pepperoni and let it simmer with the sauce. So so good! Family loved it! Thank-a-you for sharing this recipe!
For a vegetarian option, I skipped the meat added crushed tomatoes and Hitachi mushrooms for some texture. Awesome sauce!
This was so good and easy to make!! I will definitely be making again and again!!
Man was this sauce awesome! I usually by Rao’s which is not cheap and the family thought this blew it out the water. Did half ground meat and half Italian sausage. Didn’t have tomato paste so left it out but was good! Won’t buy sauce again!
I was always afraid to make my own spaghetti sauce from scratch. Spaghetti is my husband favorite meal. He can cook anything from scratch and you’d think it was from a 5 star restaurant. We live 18 miles from town so just going to the store for one item to make anything is a waste of my time. Was so excited to find your spaghetti recipe and I had all the ingredients right in my Cunard without going to town to the store made me excited to try it! It’s amazing! Thank you for posting your recipes!
I have 5 #10 cans of San Marzano tomatoes with sauce and basil. Would love to prepare this and pressure can it. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Happy New Year!
I think this is a keeper! I used to use sauce from the jar but nothing tastes as good as homemade. I like adding green pepper and black olives to it too!
Excellent sauce!
Awesome sauce😎👌. Made this for our Christmas dinner tonight. It was amazing. I did however hit it with fresh garlic minced and a little garlic salt to taste. The whole family went back for seconds almost didn’t have enough 😁. Thanks for the recipe👍
It was delicious and easy to make. I will not use the sauce that’s ready-made in the jar anymore.
I made this recipe several times and I make it just like the recipe says to make it. I love it! I am finding your recipes very tasteful and easy to follow. Most important to me is the ingredients you use are not weird or hard to find. Condiments I can easily use in other recipes. Thank you again.
This is my go to spaghetti recipe. My three year old request spaghetti at least 3 times a week. I’ve added fire roasted tomatoes and it’s great. It’s quick and easy yet so flavorful. Since I’ve tried this recipe I’ve yet to go back to jar sauce. Thank you sooo much.
Amazing!!! We also used it for pizza’s, lasagna and marinara! Yum
I made the “3X” recipe and canned it!!
Thank you!
I had started with the store bought pasta sauce and soon knew it was a mistake. The flavor was bland to say the least. So I decided to look for a simple homemade sauce that I could incorporate into what I already started and the flavor, because of this recipe is awesome!
I am only ten and the only part in making the spaghetti sauce I needed help with was draining the grease. It is a perfect dinner time meal plus, it only takes 30 minutes to make.
User ground venison. Amazing as it always is with beef! Thanks for the simple and delicious recipe. Kids and husband cleaned the pot….I’ll have to make a double batch next go around!
This recipe never fails me. The family absolutely loves it! Thanks for sharing!
why add sugar??
The sugar helps balance the acidic bitterness from he tomatoes. If you don’t want to add it, you could grate some fresh carrot in, instead.
Jay, believe it or not lots add sugar to their spaghetti sauce, my grandma is Italian and she added sugar, or sometimes I use grape jelly, it doesn’t make it sweet, my mom added sugar to her chili, trust me when I say it makes a difference! Give it a try, you will be impressed !
I think this is a very common question – while you certainly can omit, I never have. I probably only put half a tablespoon, but the author is right – it’s really useful in balancing the acidity of the tomato.
The sugar balances the acidity. If you are sugar free, try a little baking soda or butter; each of those items have a similar effect.
Easy to follow directions. Ingredients found in most kitchens. Easy to put together!
Only thing different, I also added Oregano as I didn’t have Italian Seasonings on hand .
This tasted absolutely wonderful. I will be making it a staple in my house . Thank you .
Mary
Delicious and easy to make.
This spaghetti sauce is absolutely delicious!!
Are men allowed to cook? 71 yo man here. Been cooking full sized since I was 12 or 13.
This sauce is excellent. Few ingredients that go together well. Simple and quick and very tasty.
Thank you for sharing
I am not a big speghetti fan but my family are. In baking this sauce recipe i took a curious taste and wow!! I loved it! 👌🏾
I will continue to make this sauce going forward.. no more buying speghetti sauce
I have to agree with previous commenters!
Your recipe was perfect! Hit all the marks. Quick, easy and tasty! And all pantry ingredients! Thanks!
I don’t think I’ve ever reviewed a recipe because I’m always so busy. I honestly don’t really like spaghetti sauce. However it’s a quick, easy , cheap, and doesn’t require a lot of dishes. I usually triple a recipe like this and freeze into a few separate dinners.
After this recipe I absolutely love spaghetti! I have made this recipe a half dozen times and threw out every other sauce recipe I had in my book. It’s tasty and everything blends together perfectly. Its not too chunky nor too smooth , it’s just perfect. I do sometimes throw in some diced tomatoes and I’ve substituted crushed for sauce. I just wanted to stop by and say thank you for sharing this sauce!
This was really good! I can’t use spaghetti sauce out of a jar anymore because of the sodium content. I used the no salt added tomato paste and tomato sauce for this, and added No Salt to put the salty flavor in. It worked! I also used ground turkey instead of ground beef. This is a great way to avoid all the sodium, and it was very good. Will definitely make again.
Last minute decision to make spaghetti. We usually have jar sause and I ” Doctor it up” but we were out. So I did a search for some sause. Looked at a couple then decided on this one. Wow! What a great sause! Just like the recipe said I had all the ingredients in my cupboard. It came together quickly and tasted so yummy. The pepper flakes add a little heat which my son in law loved! I didn’t have parsley so added Basil instead. Everyone enjoyed it! This will be my spaghetti sause going forward. 😋 No more “Jar Stuff” for us! 😀
Best homemade sauce
Best spaghetti recipe I have found!!! I added sautéed mushrooms and olives😋
Awesome sauce
This is the best sauce I’ve tasted so far! Made exactly as written (except I used crushed tomatoes instead of tomato sauce) the flavor is perfect. Definitely gonna be a regular for me now 🙂
Lauren, this is without question the best mid 80’s american diner meat sauce. I’ve been trying forever to replicate but never hit the right notes. It’s just simplicity and what you got. It’s so simple but still brilliant for how tasty it is. I am a horrible person and I lie and say it’s mine and give no credit to you. But I used my real name, so in a court of law…
This was a real winner….super easy to make and tastes great. Followed recipe exactly.
My family absolutely loves this sauce, with the exception of my sister, who still believes she makes the best sauce….she doesn’t.
My 71 year old Mom hates jars of spaghetti sauce. I told her I was making a homemade sauce and I have never seen her eat so much. It was perfectly seasoned. Thanks for sharing this with us
For how simple it is it turned out wonderfully, better than any homemade sauces I have previously made. Will keep this recipe, thanks!
I always use your spaghetti sauce recipe every time I make spaghetti. My family loves it and will never go back to my old sauce recipe. Thanks for sharing.
I made this one yesterday. I was more than pleased with it. Easy to make and good to eat. Thanks for the recipe.
I have been using this recipe for about a year now and it is always a hit! I absolutely love it and will never eat spaghetti out of the jar again. Thank you for sharing this!!
My husband cannot have store bought sauce as it makes him sick. So this is our go to recipe for spaghetti sauce and he loves the flavor and taste of this.
Made this tonight for my Family, and they loved it! Tasted like what my Mom used to make! Definitely will be sharing.
I accidently bought crushed tomatoes instead of tomato sauce, can I still make this and if so how much would I use and would I need to change any of the other ingredients?
Great recipe. My family loved it the first time I made it and wondered why I hadn’t done this before. Now that I have been on a whole food/plant based diet for 2 months, this is still my go to recipe with modifications. Thanks for sharing.
I tried the recipe and left out the Worcestershire sauce because I didn’t have any, I really liked the recipe, it was easy and tasted better than what you buy at the store. Thank you for sharing.
Delicious! Though not Italian, i grew up in a wonderful mixed- ethnic area. Lucky me. And this has the aroma and taste of some of the freat Italian ” gravies” , I was lucky enough to taste, from the Nonni’s thenselves. Thank you!!
This sauce is delicious. The kids devoured it and asked for leftovers the next day. Easy to make and uses pantry staples readily on hand. This is definitely going to be a repeat.
Amazing!!
What is it about this simple sauce? It is excellent. I’m 63 and have been cooking dinner for 53 years. I’ve made dozens of different tomato sauces over the years and this is the best yet. This is why I think it works:
1) grinding up the cooked beef and/or sausage is brilliant. I’d never thought of that before. It gives the sauce a thicker consistency.
2) I think the Worcestershire sauce and sugar and garlic powder, with the other spices is spot on.
3) the tomato paste with water in addition to the tomato sauce (not canned tomatoes) gives it a deep, tomato flavor. And in fact there is a lasagna recipe I use from a 1953 Betty Crocker cookbook that has a similar tomato sauce recipe and people always rave over my lasagna.
I won’t change a thing. It is perfect as is. And I almost always tweak recipes. I made a huge stockpot of this sauce today (7x) the original recipe. My 5 yo grandson loves spaghetti and especially likes mommom’ s sauce. So I’m going to fill their freezer with 32 Oz containers of sauce. I’m also using this for some pans of ziti I’m freezing.
Lauren, you hit this out of the park. I rarely write comments but I had to tell you how much I appreciate your talent and effort. Thank you.
Just made this sauce because I thought I had jarred sauce but I didn’t. I tweaked it to make it my own by adding in fresh garlic, balsamic vinegar, 2 beef bouillon cubes, red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon), dried basil, organic coconut palm sugar instead of white sugar, bagged meatballs instead of ground beef( Farm Rich are the best), season salt, and a splash of fish sauce. It came out delish, and I’ll definitely make this again. Next time I’ll use ground beef, green peppers, and perhaps Italian sausage and fresh mushrooms. This is a keeper and I may not buy jarred sauce again, just like I stopped buying Alfredo sauce. We make our own from scratch, and it’s way more yummy.
Natural Beauty….your recipe is not anything like this so your rating is not for this recipe. It would be nice to have a comment on the original recipe as that is how the chef would want it. Maybe you could have your own site or blog for others to rate your recipes. Great place to start sharing.
Easy to make and kids live it.
This sauce is boss! I’m husband loved it and so did I, and I’ve shied away spaghetti for several months; just can’t stand to eat it.
I used one big clove fresh minced garlic instead of the garlic powder, shallots instead of onions (milder and easier to tolerate), 3/4t Italian Seasoning and used pasta water instead of plain water, just ladled it in. This is a sauce just begging to be canned so you never have to buy store bought again!
I’ve made this at least 10x and I love it. The Worchester sauce gives it such a unique flavor!
I really enjoyed making this and is now a homemade favorite of mine to make. Thanks for sharing.
The only homemade spaghetti sauce I’ve tried and actually liked, and I’ve tried my share. Thanks for sharing!
For years I have been making a similar recipe 5x the amount for my family(4 sons). I am printing this out ans trying a simpler version.; also use a mixture of ground beef and Italian sausage and fresh garlic. I always bake mine in the oven all afternoon
Perfect
Tasted amazing. Learned the hard way that only making one batch didn’t last to long! Just made again and multiplied the recipe by 5x.
My very first attempt at making homemade sauce. It was amazing!! I saw people say to.use fresh garlic instead of powder. I split the difference and used the crushed garlic in the jar. I also added canned mushrooms and some bell pepper. Next time I will use broth instead of water. I love that this is not sweet like jarred sauces. I used my crock pot and just let it.simmer all afternoon.
BOOM!!! AWESOME AND SOOOO EASY!!
Thank you. I will never buy pre made sauce again.
This is my go to recipe for sauce. I don’t buy jar anymore! I enjoy using fresh garlic as well but I appreciate the thought of making it simpler by using powder. I think next time I will try with red wine instead of water and see how it turns out!
My sauce is very similar. I finely chop some green pepper and celery. I add a can of crushed tomatoes. I don’t use water I use cabernet and not even a cup. I simmer my sauce all day. I mix everything one day then I get up super early and put on the stove the next. Delish!!!
I havn’t made it yet but can tell by the ingredients that this recipe is a winner. Will make it on the weekend. Thanks for all the great recipes you send this old scudder.
I use finely chopped celery in with the onion and meat. When I add the other ingredients I also add sliced mushrooms canned or fresh. I use Green Giant in a jar. I simmer for several hours.
I’ve made this sauce several times now and we totally love-love-love it!!
Good, but I never cook with water always use broth in everything and fresh garlic oh and in this a good rich red wine and was so good also doubled, we have big eaters
Thanks for the helpful guidance
I used the water….it’s good … but should have used the red wine…I’m probably going to add it later…I simmer sauce for hours to develop the full bloom of the spices… 🙂 My hubby said it was GREAT 🙂
How long did you let it simmer for?
I no longer use Ragu. I use this recipe instead and my family loves it. One change: use beef broth instead of water.
Love this recipe, l did use red wine instead of water, l also add a little organic beef broth. Delicious!
May I ask what kind of red wine to use! I’m making my Italian best friend (who I’m major crushing on) homemade spaghetti to impress him. And I would love to incorporate wine!
I have no idea, but I hope it went well.. I’m a succor for 💘 love lol.
I goggle everything!
I LOVEDDDDDD this! I made it for my boyfriends family and they loved it too!! They raved about it all night. I am hispanic so I added Goya adobo, sofrito and minced garlic to my lean ground turkey. I also cooked the onions and meat in a separate pan and used the sauce to sauté the onions. It was soo good! I will never eat out of a jar again!
First time making homemade spaghetti and it was delish! I added some shredded parmesan cheese after I got done cooking and it was yummy! So much better than the packet spaghetti sauces.
I will never buy a jar again! So simple, and my husband who hates spaghetti sauce actually liked it!
Wonderful, easy recipe. I added two tablespoons of molasses, and that made it absolutely outstanding. Trust me.
Did you do the molasses in addition to the sugar or in lieu of the sugar?
I’ve made this with ground turkey several times. It’s a family hit. Once you make it, you’ll never use jar sauce again. I made it tonight 🙂
Very delicious and easy spaghetti sauce! My family eats this about once a week. Definitely recommend!!
I’m doing my first stint at canning this summer. (My husband has experience but I do not, so he gets to teach me.) I’ve heard you can can about anything and I’m wondering if this recipe would be a good option. And if so, are there any pointers?
Hi Tricia, How fun for you! Unfortunately, I really can’t give advice about canning this, since safe canning requires a balance of ph levels and I’m not sure how this recipe stacks up. I’d definitely consult a safe-canning website to see how to adapt it.
If you are looking to can pasta sauce, I recommend doing it without the meat. It just gets weird. We tried it a few times. Do a good red sauce and add the meat later!
This is the best sauce I’ve had in along time. I make a triple batch and freeze it. Do you now if I can change the serving amount? Looking to make it for 100 serving.
On the recipe card, you’ll see the servings listed as “5.” If you click on the 5, it allows you to change the serving size, which will then automatically adjust the amount of ingredients needed. So glad you liked the recipe, hope that helps!
I made this but substituted fresh minced garlic for the garlic powder.
And it still works well! Just can’t forget garlic period. It really makes the dish complete. 😀
What do you think about substituting ground turkey and turkey Italian sausage?
That would taste great!
I use ground turkey for this recipe and it is amazing!
I just made this sauce and it was superb! No more canned sauces in this house! Thank you!
I used your recipe for the basis of mine with some alterations and it turned out very delicious. You will end up with twice as much.
Ingredients:
2 Lbs. ground beef.
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper.
2 onions, chopped.
2 – 15 oz. cans diced Italian tomatoes.
2- 6 oz. cans tomato paste.
5- cloves fresh garlic, minced.
2- Tbs. Italian seasoning.
1/2 tsp. dried basil.
1/2 tsp. dried oregano.
4 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce.
1 Tbs. granulated white sugar.
1 red pepper (diced)
1 green pepper (diced).
2- cups fresh white mushrooms (sliced).
Instructions:
Lightly brown and dice up the ground beef in a LARGE frying pan (12″ x 3″). Drain beef and return to fry pan. Add onions and diced peppers to pan. Mix and fry for 5 minutes. Add mushrooms to pan and continue frying mixture until onions are translucent and peppers are softened. Add minced garlic to pan and fry a few minutes until garlic becomes fragrant. Add diced tomatoes, Tomato paste, and remaining ingredients to pan. Simmer 30 minutes with lid on, stirring occasionally. Remove lid and simmer until thickened (15 -20 minutes). Blend with the cooked pasta of your choice (I used 600 grams of spaghettini) and enjoy!
Just made this recipe, love it! thanks so much.
My mother is Italian Born and Raised in Brooklyn her mother was born in Italy and needless to say she is very Picky when it comes to anything Italian. MOMS SAUCE IS ALWAYS GONNA B MY FAVORITE. That being said this is a VERY close 2nd and she claims to like the 1 I made more than her own she used to make. Mom is unable to cook nowadays and I take care of her meals. Knowing how picky mom can be I was only one brave enough to step up and face her wrath. After eating this sauce the wrath I face from her is to make more that she can save and have when she wants. So in a way I say SWEET AND THANK YOU SO MUCH! On other hand thanks a lot now I have more work to do!
I added 1 bay leaf during cooking. Also, I substituted cayenne pepper for the red pepper flakes. I also added more water (about 1/2 to 3/4 cup more). Overall, an easy go to recipe that freezes well in ready to go meal portions.
Good recipe. I add peppers mushrooms and diced tomatoes to make it nice and thick
This is my go to recipe now and I usually double it, freeze half of it and then make a small batch of lasagna a week or 2 later later.
the sauce was good thank you
When I was growing up, I lived around a lot of older Italians. We all know they make the best sauces for pasta. They all agreed on on ingredient that was a must – pork. I am suggesting that a couple of strips of bacon be added and then disgarded after cooking.
Just made this recipe. Super easy and delicious. I did add some chopped celery and mushrooms as I am trying to make meals that include more veggies. This will be my go to recipe.
I’m trying to find a recipe my husband likes. He is a very picky man. With the sugar added does it taste really sweet? If so, can it be made without the sugar and not taste so bland? He is all about the meat really.
The sugar is there to offset the acidity of the tomatoes. It doesn’t make it sweet :-). Enjoy!
I’m sorry, made the recipe exactly as listed and…it was awful. The Worcester sauce drowns out the flavor of anything else, and it didn’t taste like any kind of marinara/spaghetti sauce I’ve ever had, just worchester tomato sauce. My husband loves anything Italian and both he and I had a couple of bites and then tossed the whole dinner, I’m sorry to say. I’m not trying to hate, but I followed the recipe exactly and it was really, really awful. I even reviewed the recipe thinking I had made a mistake somewhere, but I didn’t.
My family says this is the best ever spaghetti sauce. I agree.
A good solid sauce for everyday use. Definitely going to make another batch for freezing and using in a month. Reading through the pages of comments I really give you a lot of credit for not calling out some commenters who left out half the ingredients and substituted as many more and then still complained. WOW !
Just made this, it is great! Only thing i did outside of the recipe was add 1/2cup of chopped mushrooms and 1/4cup finely chopped spinach(only way i can eat spinach).
Its the first sauce that is like my gramps, he dead now and this took me back 30years to my childhood! Thanks soo much for this 👍
This spaghetti sauce is the bomb … so delicious! This is as close to my mom’s recipe as it gets. If you’re looking for a great recipe, this is it! This will he my go-to recipe. That you for posting this amazing recipe!
My daughter has never, ever liked spaghetti. One day I made this recipe. I went to work, a few minutes later my daughter calls me excited saying she loves this sauce. She is now a spaghetti sauce lover, BUT only of this sauce. Thank you for this recipe. One happy mom.
It’s simmering on my stove right now! And my sample taste is approved! My Mom passed away a few years ago, so I cannot ask fir her recipe: she used to say” you don’t know how to make sauce from scratch?!?!” Well, I didn’t. Now I do!! My Mom would be proud!!❤️
FIRST TIME great flavor loved it. Post more italian receipts
I made this spaghetti sauce tonight. Absolutely loved it. Only thing I did differently was added red wine instead of water. This will be my go to spaghetti sauce. Thank you for a wonderful spaghetti sauce that does not take hours to fix and is full of flavors.
So what’s the 1 cup of water for ?
Could this be made without meat?
Sure, just leave it out.
This is my go to spaghetti recipe! Delicious! It is great without meat too..just use 1lb 12oz can of crushed tomatoes in place of the meat and tomato sauce.
Very much like my family recipe. And YES, of course, you can eliminate the meat! It can be done totally veggie, although not vegan. Or you can add meatballs. It’s a very flexible recipe, although don’t add much garlic, especially fresh garlic. It overpowers the delicate sauce, especially if there is no meat. A half teaspoon of garlic powder is how we changed this particular recipe, otherwise did it as described. I am sensitive to too much garlic, plus these days it seems like people put too much garlic in many dishes. It can overwhelm the other flavors of any recipe.
Why??
This sauce was super simple and delicious. I have made it several times, and made lasagna with it once. Super good as is, but a little beef base made it really good.
Excellent taste and the fact the ingredients are highly likely in your kitchen is a plus too. This meal has become one of family favorites and go to.
I didn’t have dried parsley and just used more Italian seasoning. Delicious. So easy, this will become a regular in my house. Thank you!
So much better than a jar!