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.
Need a SIDE DISH? Some of my favorites include:
You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST for more great recipes!
Recipe
![Homemade spaghetti sauce in a saucepan with a wooden spoon.](https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Homemade-Spaghetti-Sauce-6-500x500.jpg)
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
Create a FREE Account to save your favorite recipes and create meal plans
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.
We made this sauce tonight for dinner. We had everything needed in our pantry. We thawed ground beef from freezer.
Only thing we changed was use of fresh garlic in lue of the garlic powder. We used red pepper flakes.
Next time I’ll reduce pepper flakes to a teaspoon. And I will process the meat as suggested.
My husband, of 20 years, said this was by far the best sauce I’d ever made for the family.
My kids love spaghetti and look for a good homemade recipe for a spaghetti sauce
Delicious and simple! Used Stevia in place of sugar & plant based granules as vegetarian & Diabetic. Easy to substitute. Will make this again. Thanks much!
The best homemade spaghetti sauce!
I found this recipe a few months ago and now make it often. It’s very easy with not a ton of ingredients to have to buy. Just a nice, simple recipe that tastes great.
My husband loves this recipe! I have tried so many different recipes before this and this is the only one he will eat now.
Thank you for sharing this. I’ve always bought premade sauce from the grocery store but as time has went on they’ve all gotten,well,gross. So I found this and have used it for over a year now! It’s so good. My husband and boys love it too.
Made the recipe as written except use beef broth rather than water. Used half beef half Italian sausage as well. Added a little extra oregano and used it all on making pizzas. It was great!
My family loves this recipe! My new go-to for meat sauce. Thank you!!
I know the base recipe says it is 5 servings. I quadruple it when I make it. What is the measurement of a serving? Most pasta sauces seem to be 1/2 cup for a serving. Is that accurate for this one as well?
You knocked it out of the park with this one! I am a 74 year old grandma who has been cooking all of my life. I have leaned towards jar sauces lately since it’s just hubby and me, but decided to try your sauce. It hit all the right notes ! I made it just as you posted, and now it’s my go-to sauce. I even had some basil in my garden, and that really topped it. Good job!
Best spaghetti sauce I’ve ever tasted. It was delicious using my own fresh, homemade tomato sauce. It’s a keeper.
I have to say, this is the best pasta sauce I have ever made. Im in Australia – I used a pack of Coles Italian sausage and 500 g beef mince. I also added 2 cans of crushed tomatoes, only because I love tomatoes. Awesome leftover too! I didn’t find it too sweet at all; but sometimes the tomatoes determine that. LOL at Reggie – I agree
What an excellent recipe with traditional pantry goods and without a complicated prep! Great as written as long as you disregard all the noise from the Snobs in here commenting about how much they changed or failed to follow instructions. This is a tasty recipe, tweak as you would with salt and pepper, but quit wasting people’s time commenting about your own version after changing half the list and give the Lady her due credit as the recipe is presented. Or pursue a life in some HOA oversight committee so you can comment about stuff where everything really isn’t any of your business.
We didnt like this, it was overpoweringly sweet. I followed the recipe exactly as it is written
Perfect . I use ground beef and Italian sausage mix. ♥️ made it many times!!!
Phenomenal with a couple of secret tweaks. I got job offers for the final sauce, that’s how amazing it was
Great recipe. I use all fresh herbs instead of dried and fresh garlic instead of powdered (just a personal preference). I also add some green peppers and mushrooms. Easy to make and freezes really well.
Perfect sauce, just one question; do you cover or uncover for the 30 minute simmer?
This is my go to recipe. It’s easy and delicious! I make a double batch of it and freeze the other half.
This is a very good basic recipe.It is nice and thick, just the way we like it! I had some mild Italian sausage and fresh garlic on hand so used those (3 cloves of minced garlic). I had no tomato paste so used two 15 oz. cans of tomato sauce and no water. Otherwise followed recipe to the letter. I think the worcestershire and sugar (I used brown) made a huge difference. If I used hamburger in this recipe I might add more Italian seasoning and maybe a little oregano. Thank you for this awesome and easily customizable recipe!
Good sauce. I used all sausage. Half mild and half hot. Flavor was great. Will make again. Thanks!
Wanted to say thanks for the recipe! This is so easy to cook and the whole family enjoys it often!
I adjusted two things:
I did not have fresh basil so I substituted about a quarter cup of prepared pesto and I used beef broth instead of water.
Omigoodness!
Absolutely delicious recipe. Freezes well if you make double (or triple)!
Toss in some Parmesan rinds if you have them.
I have made this recipe a lot of times and it is great. I would not use another recipe for spaghetti sauce. I give you 5 stars. Thanks for the recipe.
I didn’t actually make the entire recipe. I will in the future based off what I did do. I only had cans of Hunts spaghetti sauce (pandemic purchase) it was so bland no one liked it. So I found this recipe the next night and rescued it! I had already added the spices peppers and onions the day before to punch the flavor up. I just added the tomato paste, tomato sauce and worsteshire sauce and about 1/2t of sugar. It fixed it right up! My son and husband thank you! I’m going to try the full recipe next week. So simple.
My mother and I loved your sauce! It was total hit and the herbs and spices give it a subtle nuance with each bite. I added minced garlic and green onion for some added aromatics then minced bell pepper for texture. Thank you and I’ll be making this again! ♡
I loved it, but the rest of my family has sensory issues with certain ingredients. My go to recipe for spaghetti.
made the spaghetti sauce , it was great. Wife had two helping, never did that before
Absolutely delicious. I googled something random and this came up. I didn’t have tomato paste, so I used ketchup and omitted sugar like another reviewer mentioned. I also used refrigerated garlic instead of garlic powder, and only simmered about 20 minutes since everyone was hungry. My kids devoured it. I pinned it. This is my sauce from now on.
Delicious. I made just a a few minor adjustments to the recipe. I use the garlic powder called for by the recipe, but I also sautéed 3 cloves of minced fresh garlic (because I really like garlic) for a few minutes with the ground beef and onions. I uded only half of the Worcestershire sauce (because I’m not a fan of Worcestershire sauce). Instead of one cup of water, I used 2/3 cup of water and 1/3 cup of red wine, and I added a bit more of red wine when the sauce became a little too thick for me. Finally, I added an extra teaspoon of sugar based on personal preference and prior experience with tomato-based recipes. Mmmm, really good.
Wow! This is awesome. I didn’t have any Prego so looked for a recipe for homemade and tried this one. I didn’t have any paste so went with ketchup. Since it has sugar I didn’t add any more. Followed the other instructions and it is really great! Don’t think I will go back to store bought again!!
This is not homemade if you’re adding canned tomato sauce and paste!
Killer Sauce! Absolutely delicious.
I just finished making this sauce. I added a serrano chili while sauteing the onions. I love this recipe; it’s very flavorful.
The best! I am so happy with this recipe! Thank you 😊
I made this last night and did not like it at all. It was way too sweet and pretty flavorless. I even added a can of fire roasted tomatoes.
Okay karen
My whole family loved this recipe! A few changes I made; used pasta water instead of just water and brown sugar instead of white. It was a hit!
First of all, I’m not a very experienced cook, so take that into consideration. I made this and I could barely eat it. My girlfriend would t eat it, and I threw what we didn’t eat away. Did I follow the recipe exactly? No. Here’s what I did differently. No worchestershire sauce. It probably needs it. Had to add a lot of salt to the finished product. I added fire-roasted diced tomatoes and I think this is what killed it. I didn’t like the smell or taste if those, so that’s on me. It was very sweet, but also had a bitter aftertaste and aside from the overpowering taste of the tomatoes, it didn’t seem to have a lot of flavor. I did like that it was think and chunky. I did add the basil leaves but added them earlier than suggested.
So, perhaps, this is my fault, but I will keep looking for a better recipe.
It really isn’t fair to rate this recipe and to give it a low rating when you changed it dramatically and admitted it might be your fault. This is especially true if you’re an inexperienced cook and don’t understand how your changes will affect the recipe’s flavor profile.
Absolutely wonderful.
Love the tastes of the spices blending together.
My husband is kind of a spaghetti snob and he LOVED this recipe. I think I added some oregano, too, because we like it.
I made this for a party and it was a hit, everybody raved about it. I went with the recipe only use beef broth instead of water. Thank you so much for sharing this great recipe.
I will try adding veggies next time. Keeper!!
If you read through the reviews, you’ll quickly see a lot of negative comments. The author somehow gamed the system with the overall 5-star review. This is misleading and dishonest.
I’m definitely not able to “game” any system ;-). Sorry you didn’t enjoy the recipe. Many people have (hence the many five star reviews).
This didn’t work out for me. I’m not sure what happened.
Made this for a graduation party and family dinners and everyone loved it. Has become a new fav. Enjoy your recipes.
I’ve made this a few times and it is a great base recipe! It is good at it is, but I do tweek it to my family’s preferences and to go with whatever I am putting it on. We even use it in place of marinara on homemade pizza. For the tweeks that I make, I add a splash of cooking wine or balsamic vinegar to brighten the flavor, I use 4-5 cloves of minced garlic in place of the garlic powder, then I use garlic powder if I need more flavor. I also add 1-2 teaspoons of salt and then pepper to taste.
My husband made this and said, “That’s A good recipe!”
My husband said it was the best version of spaghetti sauce I’d ever made. Thanks for the recipe!
Why oh why would one add water? It drives us Italians crazy when recipes like this add water. Water dilutes the very flavours you’re trying achieve. UGH! NO WATER..EVER! If you need more liquid add red wine, beef broth or more tomato sauce. I prefer red wine.
Exactly!
My family and I thought this recipe was delicious. I did tweak it a bit by adding 2 cans of undrained diced tomatoes in place of water, this was for a double recipe, and I didn’t measure the seasonings. It was pretty good.
This sauce would be great for beginners.
Family loved the sauce. I’m gonna make some for the winter. Can I can this recipe and would I use a pressure cooker or hot water bath to do it.
Made this for the second time. We like it! I substitute a 14oz can of diced tomatoes versus the cup of water. Think this is better.
I really can’t understand why this recipe has a 5 star average. I made it the other night and it was average at best. I’m still trying to find a homemade spaghetti sauce recipe that I can start making on a regularly basis but this one is not it. All I could taste is the Worcestershire sauce even though I used the correct amount.
I add a little more sugar to cut the bitterness. It turns out a lot better.
Leave out the Worcestershire and add a cup of finely grated pecorino Parmesan or Romano. Also toss in a couple bay leaves an let the sauce simmer for a couple hours.
Good advice. Will try this.
Agree, Michael and as soon as i saw water was one of the ingredients, knew it would be average. Substitute red wine for the water (i use a pinot noir but use what you like), add a pinch of red pepper flakes, anounce or two of fresh cilantro, mix more fresh veggies in ( i use mushrooms and peapods) and finally a nut you like chopped small (i love walnuts in a spaghetti sauce because their oil mixes well with the sauce).
Love this idea. Will try it!
How much red wine do you substitute with?
I use this recipe for my sauce my family and I like it. I add diced tomatoes to it
Thank you for this recipe. I been using it ever since my first attempt at making homemade spaghetti sauce. The whole family loves. I will never buy from the store again 😊
Great recipe Lauren ! Best home made spaghetti sauce. Thank you Lauren ! 👍👍👍
This was my first time *ever* making spaghetti sauce from scratch, and it turned out way better than I expected. My wife loved it. I thought it was a tad sweeter than I would prefer, but this is a minor thing – it was still very delicious.
I took a wild guess on the red pepper flakes at 1 tsp. This wasn’t even close to enough for what I would like. In fact I couldn’t tell there was any in there at all, and my wife agrees. So if you want any heat at all you’re probably looking at at least 2 tsp.
Great recipe. Thank you!
I use this every time I make spaghetti. My family loves it.
I’ve made this spaghetti dish several times now and keep coming back to this recipe because it’s the one my hubby loves the most. Very simple, but full of flavor. I did add extra salt as I cooked it, as well as extra seasoning. You can easily adjust as you go. Have not gone back to store bought sauce because of the simplicity of the recipe. Love!
Made last night.. It was great never buying store bought again. I live alone it made alot but you told us how to store it. Thank you for the recipe
Good
I had high hopes but it tasted like tomato paste and I used less than what the recipe called for. Added fresh garlic not powder and left everything else the same. Disappointed
I’m going to try making it tonight. I’m using Italian sausage with mine. I’ve had problems with recipes not having a lot of taste, so I’ve added more Italian everything and it’s been better.
Delicious, but I felt it was too thick. I added a quart of canned tomatoes with juice and it came out great. The meat and sauce were in a better balance.
Very appetizing
Thanks for sharing this recipe. Made it dozen of times already. I WILL NEVER BUY spaghetti sauce again. Scratch is the BESSST!!!,
Tried it. Added mushrooms and chopped green peppers and it was delicious. I did rotini instead of spaghetti
OMG!! This spaghetti sauce was amazing. Tasted like my own…..hmmm. 🙂 No, loved it!! Will make it again.
Love it 😊
A simple and easy to follow recipe! Makes great spaghetti! Left the crushed pepper flakes out, since my wife currently cannot deal with hot spices.
Hey Lauren, as an American who is currently dating an Italian, I’ve recently learned that spaghetti is NOT a type of noodle. There are no Italian noodles, only Italian pastas. Spaghetti is a type of pasta. Thanks for the recipe!
Super easy to make turned out perfect, I added fresh chopped garlic to the recipe and the sauce was delicious.
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS!!!!! I add a 28ounce can of diced tomatoes aks 8 dont put the beef in, I make meatballs. Left the crushed red out as last two times I made it too hot. Delicious! I use dried basil instead if fresh, a tbsp per recipe. As I’m fresh outta fresh. Itd be even better with tbat and I let simmer 30 min with the meatballs in it.
Love this recipe! I’ve been looking for a good meat sauce and we all love this. Made it several times and it will be my go to for now on. I like using sausage and using the food processor to chop up the meat finer is brilliant. Thank you!
I love spaghetti! And this is my first time making in homemade!! And it’s so good!!! Of course I added a few more spices! But the base was a great start!!! I won’t be buying jarred sauce any time soon!❤️
Thank you so much Lauren. You have brought back memories of childhood. My grandmother was French Canadian and this is very close to her recipe. Browned hamburger, onions, tomato sauce and tomato paste, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper. Only other ingredient my grandmother used was Frank’s Louisiana Hot Sauce. It’s a spicy sauce. She and my mom always made it in the morning and simmered all day before serving for dinner. You’ve put me in the mood for spaghetti and I can’t wait to try your recipe.
I have some secret ingredients that I use in my spaghetti bolognaise sauce. I use tomato or peach chutney instead of sugar. Tomato passata instead of tomato sauce. 1/4+tsp of nutmeg spice. TBS Vinigar. 1tsp mixed Italian herbs or a mixture of fresh herbs. 1x 450gm tinned cherry or chopped tomatoes in tomato juice and a beef stock cube or 1cup of beef stock. Plus Worcestershire sauce and tomato paste and season to taste. I use a pork and beef minced mixture instead. The method is the same however if I have the time I slow cook at 90°c for about 2 hrs
The idea is to make the recipe as given and then give your reactions and thoughts to the recipe. You do not use another’s website to publish your own recipes. You should be ashamed.
Made the recipe AS WRITTEN and was VERY impressed and quite happy! Next time I might use fresh garlic, as it is my usual choice over the powder, but otherwise a GREAT recipe!
Thank you Lauren for sharing your family recipes with us. Very much appreciated.
my thought as well for penelope
Seriously, why bother reviewing this recipe when you’ve basically changed the whole thing? This is always puzzling to me?
I’ll have to try this secret version next time! 😉
My wife and daughter loved this recipe! Keeping this one in the favorites, no more canned sauces for us!
Best spaghetti sauce ever. This is now my “go to” recipe. Perfect combination of ingredients for no fail goodness.
I made this with 1lb high fat ground turkey and 1lb low fat ground turkey and it turned out great! I also threw in some carrots and peppers for exta veggies.
I combined this recipe with what I usually do to make my sauce and it was the best sauce I’ve ever made! My changes: 1 chopped green bell pepper added with the onion, 1 diced zucchini added after the sausage was mostly cooked, approximately 8 thinly sliced mushrooms added with the tomatoes and spices. It was more like a marinara with the veggies. Your spices were on point, which was what I needed.
Thank you for this recipe. I wrote it out and added it to my recipe box. It will now be my go-to.
I love spaghetti, but i always would wind up buying sauce in a jar and “doctoring it up”. I kept trying to get up the nerve to make something from scratch … something I could “tweek” and have some fun with, and lo and behold, I found this recipe. After following the directions to the letter, and tasting it as it was cooking, I felt like I hit the lottery; this stuff was fantastic. Long story short, this recipe is the backbone of my recipe collection. I will be forever grateful for Lauren Allen for posting this, as this gave me the confidence to try different things in the kitchen. It’s alot of fun once you get going. So try this folks, you definitely will not be disappointed!
I have tried this recipe a couple times and it is highly recommended, it’s amazing
Delish! Made this for my family, they loved it! Only change is we didn’t put in the sugar (husband is diabetic) and you never would know! Will be my go to sauce going forward!
We didn’t like it. Too sweet and bland.
if you didn’t like it, you keep it to yourself.
I have not tried this recipes but if someone doesn’t like it they need to say why because everyone has different tastes. My family does not like a sweet sauce so the comment told me to leave out the sugar. Every one has used this for a base so far in my reading. So I may try it.
Why would anyone want to read only positive comments? The things that are added, or what was not liked help others make base recipes their own. Not everyone is going to like something. We all have different tastes. What they did not like was as helpful as what others did like. I personally do not like sweet bbq sauce, pineapple on ham ewwww or any sweet sauce. I prefer savory. Their comment gives me clues on how to adjust to make it my perfect go to. Taking a feather from your cap, I say comment on the original post, If you didn’t like their comment then keep it to yourself *winks and smiles
I am making this tonight, sans sugar. I also prefer savory. My dad made spaghetti every year for my birthday. It was/is my meal of choice. Sometimes he made meat sauce and sometimes meatballs. I hope this tastes okay with no sugar. I will probably decrease the amount of red pepper flakes, as we don’t do heat in our family.
I have some beef broth in my fridge. What do you think about using that instead of the one cup of water?
So, people should only post positive comments? What’s the points of having comments then?
I will 100% never use garlic powder over fresh garlic in a pasta sauce or anything that’s not a batter or rub of some sort so I did substitute.. otherwise decent recipe.
Your recipe turned out fantastic! Excellent flavor. Will definitely use again.
I did add a little Sriracha but other than that, perfect recipe.
LOVE this. I made it tonight and even my pickiest eater went back for seconds. And my child about to move out on his own asked for the recipe. Thanks for sharing.
Most excellent no need to say more
I have made this sauce many times exactly as written and we live it! It us my go to sauce for all pasta dishes. Tonight, I didn’t have tomato sauce, so I used Progresso tomato basil soup and it was amazing!
Love this sauce.
i made this for dinner tonight, and it was perfect.
Easy and delicious! Thank you!
WOW! No wonder this recipe has 5 stars! Delicious, made from scratch, and easy!!! Thank you for sharing!!!
This is the best spaghetti sauce! I made it for my family and all of them raved about how amazing it was. I would 100 make it again. This has become a staple in our recipe box.
Added cream cheese and was perfect
I’ve made this twice for a different group each time and it was a hit!!!! I reduced the sugar the second time.
I had to substitute tomato puree for paste. I also skipped the meat. Other than that, I followed the recipe and it was really bland. I’m guessing it would have turned out better had I followed instructions. If skipping the meat, I’d recommend adding something chunky to make it more exciting.
I love a chunky spaghetti sauce; my changes which I think made it perfect: no Worcestershire sauce, add a can of chopped tomatoes in addition to the tomato sauce and paste, definitely go half and half spicy Italian sausage and ground beef, and lastly use minced garlic instead of powder. I also added paprika but I just love paprika.
Worcestershire and sugar gave a gross flavor. Not enough garlic. Needs a lot of salt. I’m so upset I wasted expensive ingredients on this recipe. We threw it away.
Too sweet for my liking. I don’t think I will try this one again
Not sure I would add Worcestershire sauce again. I doubled the recipe and definitely not feeling it. Otherwise I think it would be better.
Love cooking this taste absolutely amazing definitely could not taste better then this ngl
I’m not sure why this got so many 5 star ratings, but I don’t think it’s that good. I followed the instructions, and it was just too thick for my liking…I almost felt like I was spooning sloppy joe over my pasta. This is a no for me… won’t be using this recipe again.
Hi Josh, you can add more water (or pasta water) to it to thin it out next time, to your liking.
That’s what I do. I add 2/3 cups water (not 1 cup). After simmering for 30 min it’s pretty thick, but then I add 1/2 cup or more of the pasta water along with al dente pasta, cook it about 2 more minutes, and it’s perfect. Smooth and silky.
I thought it was too thick too, so I added water. Aaad water, stir and taste. I ended up using 1 water bottle to a 3x recipe. I really liked it!
I read the reviews first before making this and decided to just add a little less Worcestershire sauce and sugar, and it came out amazing! I used half Italian sausage and half 80% lean beef
you know you could always just add more water to it to make it less thick lol
Love this recipe. Especially Worchester sauce as an addition! I also sneak veggies into my spaghetti sauce like mushrooms, carrots and celery (kinda like a bolognese) and the veggies fit wonderfully. Kudos to you!
I did not have fresh basil 🌿 but it was still amazing 😻 I made mine with whole grain pasta 🍝 and Morningstar crumbles instead of meat. Would make again. Thanks 🙏 for sharing!
Thank you Lauren. This is an easy and delicious recipe.
We love it!
Christine
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!
Lauren, this spaghetti sauce is sooo good! This will be my go to recipe every time I need sauce. I am enjoying your recipes. Thanks so much for all you do!
I made a quadruple batch and froze 3/4 of it in freezer bags as recommended. It was amazing. Didn’t substitute or change anything. Very simple but gets rid of that “processed” taste you can get with jarred sauces. Thank you for this.
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!!
So basically you made a completely different sauce. Got it
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!!! ❤️
Spaghetti are 100% noodles. Check the entry for noodle in your dictionary of choice. “Noodles” is a generic term for ribbon-shaped dough, which is attested in English for longer than the later loanword “pasta.” It applies as equally to Italian pasta as Chinese mian. Incidentally, in Italian, the word “pasta” can refer to noodles, pastes, smelt, confections, etc. All to day, “pasta” (as used in English) is simply a convenient term to specify traditional Italian noodles. It’s not apples to oranges; it’s oranges to navel oranges.
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!
I agree that replacing the water with Beef Broth is great.
I added fresh sliced mushrooms as well
Great recipe for my nine year-old granddaughter to start learning to read and make recipes. It turned out great.
I always use salt free tomato products, you can get that tomato sauce and tomato paste with Cynthia Fournierlow sodium or no sodium I prefer no sodium I add a little during cooking and it turns out fantastic. Good luck
How could I make this for a low sodium meal? Any suggestions? Thanks for your site, I love it!
They have low sodium tomato sauce and paste. Also you can always boil tomatoes with no salt and blend them and make your own tomato sauce. Don’t add salt to the recipe either.
Use no salt tomato products and garlic powder. It still is very good but low sodium
I added chopped green pepper and may reduce the worchestershire sauce next time but still thought it was great! Even better the second day! Ok
Replace the one cup of water with red wine or beef broth and it’s perfection.
Thank you! I thought the sauce was missing something!
Amazing easy sauce!!! My family loves it!!
MY family loves this Spaghetti Sauce! I make it exactly to your recipe. It’s my Go to forsure! I have tons of tomatoes so tonight I will make this using my fresh tomatoes!
I like to try out different pasta sauce to cook and I tried this recipe but took the suggestions of someone who said they use water and red wine instead of sugar . Not a big wine drinker or ever cooked it in anything so I bought a random $6 cab red wine and gave it a go. Soooo good. I browned the meat in a skillet and added in the seasoning and after I made the pasta I emptied out the pot with the pasta and added in the wine, water, and tomato paste/sauce and then transferred in the meat from the skillet that way I didn’t have to worry about cleaning a lot after. So nice and flavorful
I added brown sugar instead of white sugar.
Great easy sauce! I add a little brown sugar to the sauce. Taste great.
Very easy and simple recipe. Made for a quick dinner.
Family enjoyed it. My first time making my own sauce. L
Best spaghetti sauce I have ever had. My daughter’s eyes lit up when she tasted it. My mother, who is 90 and on hospice…and has lost her appetite for the most part cleaned her plate. I will never buy spaghetti sauce again.
Awesome spaghetti sauce. I made it several times.
This is the best spaghetti sauce recipe we have tried – and we’ve tried A LOT of them with all the picky eaters around here. Everyone finally agrees on a sauce!! It’s simple to make, full of flavor, and really really good! Thanks!!
Easy everyday sauce. Omitting the Worcestershire Sauce and adding finely diced carrot, celery and chicken livers would bring it up to dinner party level.
Good for a quick and easy sauce! Especially considering these are pantry staples for us. I did omit the sugar and use 2/3 c water and 1/3 cup dry red wine. Made with your homemade bread sticks which were wonderful!
Try and put slices of olives stuffed with peppers. Reduce the salt. Trie a little hot pepper sauce and cook.
I just made this for our supper tonight. i left out the sugar, crushed red peppers & Worcestershire sauce. it tastes great so far the real food critics will be trying it out real soon here.
Hi! Maybe I did something wrong but this sauce didn’t turn out like I was hoping. I know there was only a table spoon of Worcestershire but that’s all my husband and I could taste. Thanks for the recipe, I will try it again someday.
Too sweet. Will try again with less sugar.
Made it last night. Hubs said it was good
I added some fresh garlic but wished I added more and a bay leaf it was quick and easy
My family didn’t care for the flavor. I suspect it was the Worcestershire sauce. We absolutely adore the sauce from the World’s Best Lasagna. The combination of the ground beef, sausage and red wine is superb. This recipe was average at best.
I didn’t like spagetthi very much until I found this recipe. Delicious!
Very pleasant recipe.
I substituted no salt added tomato sauce and deleted adding any salt, for health reasons. Still enjoyed. Thank you.
Can you use marinara sauce instead of the tomato sauce?
That would be fine. Enjoy!
This sauce was easy and absolutely delicious! Thank you!
Great sauce!
I made this recipe using ground turkey instead of beef and added a jar of sliced mushrooms. It was so good!! I’ll be using the leftover sauce to make stuffed bell peppers.
This honestly was not a great sauce. Very tart and didn’t resemble spaghetti sauce to me.
The only spaghetti my picky 6 year old will touch!! Also one of the only foods she’ll eat! Really good and followed the recipe exactly!
Easy to make and very tasty. I used my frozen meatballs ( just let them thaw and then put them in the sauce while it simmered). This will be my “go-to” sauce!
Can you let it simmer longer?
Yes you can.
Tastes perfect the way it is!
A very good sauce!
made it several times. happy to report, everyone loves it! thanks
This is the same way I make my spaghetti sauce but, instead of water I add chicken broth.
How much chicken broth
You could substitute chicken broth in the same quantity as the water.
We have one of those super picky “I only like noodles!” kids. She absolutely loves this sauce… which is saying a lot in our house. Great recipe!
I made this last night and used half Italian mild sausage and half ground beef. I’m always one to adjust a recipe… every single time. However for this I didn’t have to. It was perfect as is! Adding the basil at the end definitely adds another element of deliciousness. My family loved it!
Made the spaghetti from scratch recipe and it was THEE BEST ! My wife had some for dinner and it was SOOO GOOD she even packed some up for lunch the next day , which she never does ! Thank you . Can’t wait for the next recipe that I WILL TRY !
It’s so good but spicy I try to figure which one of ingredient that causes spicy …
That’s the Red Pepper Flakes. Omit them going forward to remove the spicy “bite”. That said, you could replace that with Paprika! Gives flavor with no bite!
The crushed red peppers is what makes it spicy 😊
Love this recipe. It’s officially my go to. I’ve I have time I like to let it simmer on low for an extra hour. Family loves it
This is now my husband’s favorite sauce. So easy and delicious!!!
Great recipe, a new favorite! Doubled the recipe and froze half for another time. Just as delicious as the first time!
The spagaghetti sauce was great. I wull make it again
Delicious. Whole family liked this sauce. I made it early and warmed up when ready to eat. So good.
🙂 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.
Easy and satisfying. 10/10 would recommend 👍🏻
Sadly this isn’t entirely from scratch as I wanted. I have home grown tomatoes and actually need a recipe literally from scratch. 😓
How to make tomato sauce from home grown tomatoes: cut tomatoes up and heat in pot. As they begin to get soft, mash with potato masher to release liquid. Bring to a boil. Mash further. Run through cheese cloth, fine mesh strainer, or food mill. Return filtered sauce to pot and boil down to desired consistency. Voila! Tomato sauce!
Just made some yesterday. Looking forward to trying it out on this recipe 😋
Tina, what do you save thru strainer the pulp of the tomatoes or the juice. I’m making homemade sauce right now, thanks.
After boiling and mashing the tomatoes, I press them thru a fine mesh strainer with the back of a large soup spoon. This presses some pulp thru. Whatever is left in the strainer, I toss. Its mostly seeds and the skin that is discarded.
Here is the link for canning tomato sauce Ball. It’s tested for safety in home canning!
https://www.freshpreserving.com/blog/homemade-tomato-sauce
I’ve made this recipe twice now and love it. This is now my family spaghetti recipe. I especially like what the Worcester sauce adds to it. The only change I make is simmering the sauce with a few chunks of carrot for sweetness, rather than putting in sugar.
Easy and delicious!
Very good. Simple and quick to make.
My husband suggested spaghetti for supper yesterday. We had angel hair pasta but no jarred sauce. I have several cans of tomato sauce in the pantry. I found your recipe and it was a hit! We are 4 months into sheltering in place (older, many health issues) and I have learned how to use what we have because I can’t go out to the grocery. I won’t go back to a manufactured spaghetti sauce because this is better!
I tried this recipe today, and it was so good! I served it over some homemade cheese raviolis, and everyone loved it. Thanks so much!
This recipe convinced me to make my own from now on. My alterations were to add one can of diced tomatoes (plus juice), oregano, savory, 3 bay leaves, and only use 2 tbsp. of basil. It brought the tang of the tomatoes down, and was enjoyed by my entire family. I’ll never go back to pre-made!
Oh yeah, other alterations: sub the beef with Italian sausage, and don’t use water.
I have literally stopped buying my favorite jarred sauce. This recipe is so easy to make and it tastes phenomenal! The only other thing I add to it is one can on low sodium chicken broth. It gives it a deliciously rich flavor. You need to try this recipe. I PROMISE you will stop buying jarred sauce.
I failed to add when I reached for the bucatini I was out I used rigatoni. Wonderful!
I have made homemade gravy a number of times. So many that I no longer by jar/canned sauce.
I found this sauce to be easy to put together and so tasty. My improvisations were to add fresh green bell peppers and mushrooms. I leaned a bit on the crushed red pepper.
One of my favs!
This was my first time making homemade spaghetti sauce. We are very picky eaters but everyone loved this sauce! Only changed made was I used only tomato sauce and no paste. Used just a pinch of baking soda to lower the acid level. We will definitely be using this instead of store bought .
Absolutely the best spaghetti sauce I’ve ever made! I used half ground beef and half Italian sausage and it was “the bomb!” My family loved it!
I have made this twice now once according to the recipe and the second time I used half ground beef and half ground pork. My husband loved both! Thanks for this great recipe!
Just made this. Delicious. Best meat gravy I’ve ever made.
This was delicious! Made it with turkey sausage. The red pepper flakes are a great addition.
This was so simple, flavorful, and very addicting! Even my picky 4 year old had four helpings! I used 3/4 tsp. De Arbol Crushed Red Pepper, 3 cups frozen ground sirloin I previously cooked, chicken broth instead of water, and doubled batch for crock pot on High (four hours). AMAZING! THANK YOU!
Good mix of ingredients but too sweet for my family. I reduced sugar to 3/4 of a tablespoon based on the other comments and used a tsp of minced fresh garlic instead of garlic powder. I’m not sure if that changes the taste, so I will give it another try next time & omit these sugar.
Easy peasy. Used left over meatloaf ( with mushrooms and onions in it) instead of ground beef and added everything to my slow cooker. Used high for first 4 hours and then turned to low until ready to serve for dinner.
This is simple and SO good. I am the pickiest eater and chunks of tomatoes make me gag, so this recipe is right up my alley! The only thing I did differently was using chicken stock instead of water. Next time, I’ll double the recipe for extra leftovers.
OMG! Best meat sauce EVER. We didn’t have cheese, basil, or tomato paste (used almost entire 29oz can of tomato sauce and NO water instead), and couldn’t get any because, well… COVID, but this was SO SO good. I have tried to make several meat sauces before but none were great, until this recipe. Even my picky toddler ate up his whole plate of spaghetti and made sure it was all gone, before he touched his garlic bread. I simmered for an hour.
I followed this recipe back in April 2019 when I wanted to make a fresh sauce for some meatballs with spaghetti….. when I tell you that it’s been the spotlight stealer every time I’ve made it. I followed it to the T… and I wouldn’t change a thing! Thanks for this recipe that I will now teach my kids, grandkids, and hopefully great grandkids!
My family loves this sauce my mother has requested that I make her half a gallon of it to freeze. Would I need to double it or triple it to make that much? Thank you.
Doubling it would be shy of half a gallon and tripling it would be more than 1/2 gallon.
Sorry, I didnt really like this recipe. I found it to be much too sweet for my liking, and the worchester sauce was overpowering.
Oh, good night! This is the BEST spaghetti sauce I have ever made. Both my husband and my son thought so as well. I used 1 lb grass-fed hamburger meat and 1 lb Italian sausage and doubled the rest of the ingredients (except for basil and red pepper flakes). I put it in the refrigerator overnight and we ate it the next day. Absolutely incredible. Better than any restaurant or store-bought sauce. Thank you for sharing the recipe!
This is easy & one of the best spaghetti sauces I’ve ever had!
Want a FANTASTIC sauce…..only added a few of my touches, red wine instead of water. 1/2 cup parm cheese and red yellow and orange sweet peppers. Enjoy
Made this for dinner last night and I asked my family how they liked the new sauce – they advised they want me to make it this way from now on! WIN!! Great recipe.
Hi! Should I simmer with a lid on or off?
Love this recipe, thanks!!
Either is fine (leaving the lid off will allow water to evaporate so the sauce will thicken).
It’s a yummy recipe but I added more red pepper flakes… The only thing I can t figure out is the total for the entire recipe is 5 servings. What is a single serving? How many cups or grams is it?
if its for 5 servings and you want it for one, you could just divide by 5.
Pretty good basic sauce, but seriously 30 minutes? No self respecting Italian would serve a sauce that wasn’t simmered for less than 8 hours. (says my friend’s Italian grandmother) I will normally cook a sauce all day, but this one is good with a few hours on it. It’s amazing how the flavors develop with a bit of time. Our whole society has gotten the bad habit of making everything fast. I aslo wouldn’t add water, if it’s too thick, add a can of whole tomatoes along with the juice. Break them up by hand as you add them. It adds some texture to the sauce and thins it without diluting the flavor.
I agree whole hardheartedly!
I made this with a few adjustments. I let it simmer longer to soak into the meat I also added some red wine and more sugar and garden fresh basil. I didnt measure ingredients I just added till I thought it was enough.
This is THE best homemade spaghetti sauce EVER!! Thing only thing I do different is substitute low sodium chicken broth for the water. I make the sauce extra meaty so I had an entire can of broth. DELICIOUS!!!
Double-batch it! I pretty much double every recipe anyways, but this one is especially easy to double up. Huge upgrade from store bought. Very thick, intense flavor.
This will be my go to sauce from now on! I have made several different recipes of sauces with good to mediocre results. I like my sauce a little thicker so searched recipes using tomato paste and came across this one and I loved it!!! Thanks for the recipe!
This recipe will absolutely be my go to…I added fresh sliced mushrooms and meatballs.
Thanks
Very good. My family loved it.💓
This is a great recipe, super easy to follow and the sauce tasted exactly as I hoped it would. Thanks for posting this!
I make my spaghetti with meatballs, so how would you go about making a flavorful sauce? For me, I’m think about adding some more fresh veggies like mushroom, garlic, some bell peppers, a carmalizing vinaigrette, Creole seasoning and maybe a worcestershire sauce for the spaghetti sauce.
Decided against using the jarred sauce tonight and used this recipe. It was very good! Didn’t have red pepper flakes so left that out, but I’m not one for much heat in my Italian dishes. This would be great to take as a carry-in meal for someone recuperating at home or just a busy mom.
I use ketchup!
Good sauce. Quick and easy. Instead of using regular sugar, I used brown sugar, fresh garlic and instead of water, I used a good red wine. Thank you.
My wife had some uncooked ravioli and her back was hurting, so the B team got the call. I came in from the shop and started looking for a lifeline!
I found this recipe and gave it shot. No tomat0 paste or sauce, so a can of crushed tomatoes and half the water, right?? Rounded up the rest of the stuff, and got after it.
It is quick, and a 15 minute simmer made the tastes gel pretty well. We had some Mozzarella and 3 cheese mix in the ‘fridge to top off the experiment. My wife and son loved it. Very easy and tasty. Thanks for posting this recipe!!
If it tastes like cutting oil, I have no idea why….. (I washed my hands twice!!)
This sauce is a 5 star recipe, has amazing flavor and has become a family favorite. We’really cutting back on sugar and this recipe tastes great without the sugar. So it’s perfect for any diet. We highly recommend it to anyone looking for a delicious spaghetti sauce with ingredients that are already in your cupboard.
Excellent! My first try at homemade sauce and it was a hit! Stuck loosely to the recipe, used it as a guide but used 2 cans of petite diced tomatoes in juice and a large can of paste adding 1/2 can of water for the simmering! I also added a few shakes of Parmesan and a few ripped up basil leaves while it simmered.
OMG SO GOOD! thx for the recipe and for giving me the courage to make my own!
I also doubled the recipe. I like to follow the directions just as they are given. However, way, way, too much sugar. I will make this sauce again but only put in a tad of sugar.
I love this sauce! My favorite go to spaghetti sauce. It’s so easy and delicious. I’ve made it over and over, on it’s own with noodles or in lasagna. Love love love
Delicious and so easy to make . I like that it’s easy and most have the ingredients on hand. No chemicals either.
Needed a quick dinner this evening and this sounded like a perfect sauce. We loved it and will definitely be making this again! Spaghetti deliciousness!!
Such a good basic recipe! Love your site!
Omg–a spaghetti sauce my husband will eat! It doesn’t sound like a miracle, but trust me–it is. This sauce is perfect in every way, and even better the next day. This is now my go-to sauce for Italian dishes. Thank you so much for sharing it.
Made this last night- doubled the recipe so I could freeze some. My family loved it! Made it exactly as written and would not change a thing! Will be making lasagna next week and this will be the sauce I use- can’t wait! Thanks for a delicious recipe! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
My family and I absolutely 💜 the recipe and it was so fast and easy! Thank you
Made this recipe without basil leaves. We loved it but next time I will use fresh garlic. We love garlic and the garlic salt was not quite strong enough for us. Thank you for sharing!
This is my husband’s favorite pasta dish that I make. It’s part of our regular dinner rotation now. Thank you for sharing.
Made this last night for dinner and it was awesome. Followed your recipe except I left out sugar and there was only a half cup leftover. Will use this in my next lasagna. Thanks for this easy homemade recipe.
Worchestershire sauce, who’d have thunk? Very good flavor, even my picky toddler allowed enough to make his noodles slightly pink, but I ate more than I was expecting. Thank you!
Its delicious!
I was out of tomato sauce, so used crushed tomatoes and pureed them with a little water. All else exactly the same. It was really good! Although I did enjoy the worchester sauce, I might try it again with a bit less just to play with it. Great, simple recipe. Thanks for sharing!
It was ok, but I was a little disappointed.
I just made this for supper tonight and it was delicious…and I’m Italian!
I made this recipe. I didn’t have tomato paste or tomato sauce, so I subbed ketchup for the paste and diced tomatoes for the sauce. It was wonderful! My family loved it! There were no left-overs! Thank you!!
This was really good! I followed the recipe exactly for the first time but next time I will decrease the sugar.
Thanks for the great feedback!
I didn’t have a jar of spaghetti sauce one night so found this recipe online. Had the ingredients on hand so I made my own sauce. Super easy and the family loved it! Don’t think i’ll ever buy pre-made sauce again!! Thanks so much for sharing!
Thanks for taking the time to comment!
Tasty recipe, instead of the tomato sauce put some fresh tomatoes in a blender Blended well added to the Burger. What I do is add a can of spicy V-8 juice instead of the pepper flakes.
Have never tried Worcestershire sauce in my spaghetti sauce.
Lauren,
I absolutely LOVED this recipe! Had some relatives come visit for the day, that I had not seen in many years.
The gentleman’s childhood favorite was spaghetti, so I thought I would surprise him with this dish.
It was a HUGE HIT! They loved it! As they were leaving, I took out a little for my husband for dinner, and gave them the rest to take with them. (Normally, I fix spaghetti sauce using a sauce mix, or sauce in a jar. I thought I would go
the extra steps to make it from scratch.) It will now be my special “go to” recipe. :^) THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
**Note: I doubled the recipe, but did not use the red pepper or any bay leaves.
Thanks for sharing Deborah, I’m really happy to hear it!
Easy and delicious! Love the slight kick from the pepper flakes.
Made it with all sausage…1/2 hot ..1/2 regular…it was delicious!!!
Super easy to make. Taste fantastic with sausage and ground beef!
This is mostly how I usually make it. But tonight something was off and I couldn’t remember what was missing. It was the Worcestershire sauce. Thanks for the reminder.
I did not add red pepper flakes because I did not have any. I also made it with a bit less sauce and paste but this was amazing! Super easy and the smell made it very hard to wait the full 30 minutes! I will make this again for sure.
Just what I was looking for. That’s going to be on the table tonight!
FYI, when in my misspent youth I worked in a taco joint, and they taught us to take an old fashioned potato masher to the meat to break up the big pieces. When you figure in cleanup time, it’s actually quicker than the food processor.
Mash the meat from the beginning, before chunks form, and do it again every couple of minutes until all the pink is gone.
Thanks again for the recipe.
Thank you for the tip!
This was my first time making sauce from scratch and using Italian sausage and it was a success. Loved it. We will use this recipe from now on.
5 stars +.!!!Amazing. I make this as often as I can. I make extra and freeze in freezer bags,when ready for it I boil a big pot of water and then drop freezer bag in for 10/15 minutes maybe less. It taste as if I just made it. Awesome sauce!!!
How to tone down heat from red pepper flakes
dont add the red pepper flakes.. or add less. if I’m making the sauce for my kids I just dont put crush red pepper flakes in
Do you have a receipe for making the tomato sauce and the tomato paste? I’d like to can the sauce and paste during the summer when I have plenty of tomatoes.
I don’t currently, sorry!
I made this spaghetti sauce tonight, I put it in my crock pot… it is so good!!! Will be making again, thank you!
How long did you cook it in the crock pot
This is THE best sauce!
If I’m making this sauce for meatballs, can I just make it without the meat ?
Yes, definitely!
Having just discovered Lauren’s apparently delicious website, I have yet to try this recipe, but I’d like to offer this alternative to the 1 T sugar, for those (like my wife) who like their spaghetti sauce not especially sweet : carrot! A large slivered, diced, chopped or grated carrot or parsnip mellows out the astringency of the tomato nicely without overt sweetness. Additionally, a pinch or two of baking soda reduces tomato’s excess acidity without altering the flavor of the sauce, which is one reason for adding sugar—to combat the sourness of not-very-sweet “love apples”.
I love that idea–thanks for sharing!
Its simple and delicious! Everyone loves it!
Tried this recipe. It is very good recipe easy to make. This is my go to recipe for spaghetti sauce
Love this recipe! Tried it about a month ago and every loves it! Been making it once a week since! Thank you!!
I did this recipe once and have only did this recipe for my spaghetti ever since. So easy and so delicious!
I am not a great cook but I can follow instructions. I was looking for something to replace the bottled sauce I have been using for years. I had tried 5-6 recipes from other sites and all were acceptable but not “keepers”. This recipe is a keeper. This is how I will be making my sauce going forward. Thank you for sharing.
Next I am going to try the sweet and sour chicken because that is something I have never made successfully at home and the bottled stuff from the stores are horrible.
Thanks for sharing Chris! I’d love to hear what you think of the sweet and sour chicken!
I tried this recipe with half sausage and half ground beef. I also let it simmer for a couple of hours. I served it with noodles I had just made. If was a fantastic meal! Thanks for sharing this recipe.
The recipe as is, is great. I’ll never understand why people leave a review and then say oh but I added such and such. Make it as is and you will enjoy it.
Delicious sauce and easy recipe! I made this sauce per the recipe and added diced zucchini, red bell pepper and mushrooms and sauteed it all for 5 hours on low in the crock pot. We absolutely loved it. I’m enjoying several of your recipes. I’m handicapped and love to cook but can’t stand for a long time and only have the use of one arm. I appreciate the simplicity and efficiency of your recipes, ingredients and instructions. Thank you!!
I love the idea of adding extra veggies! Thank for sharing!
I substitute crushed tomatoes instead of sauce, add petite diced tomatoes and squeeze wedge of fresh lemon for a zesty fresh taste since my herbs are usually dry store bought. This is my go to recipe with my couple of personal touches.
I think the recipe had good bones. I wasn’t a fan of the Worcestershire sauce because it gave it like a bbq taste. I added 1-2 tbsp of soy sauce. I used 1 tsp baking soda to neutralize the acidity, but still added the sugar. I added extra garlic with the meat. I also added a whole carrot to simmer for extra flavor and sweetness; I removed it when finished. Overall good.
I also add beef bouillon. And I use whatever tomato products I have on hand, whether it’s my homemade canned tomatoes, or tomato sauce, puree, whatever you have it will be good!
HI. I USE KETCHUP AND SEASONINGS AND IT’S DEEEE LICIOUS!!! ?????️????
No just no ?
Recipe came out Great, so yummy !!! I didn’t use the tomato paste. I Just didn’t have any. I also used marinara sauce and a can of tomatoes. I’ve never used Worcestershire in my sauce before and I think that’s what the kicking ingredient was.
funny how all the recipes say to use tomato sauce. I use tomato “puree” because it’s guaranteed to have less added ingredients that can alter the overall flavor of the recipe. And to further differentiate my sauce, I add some beef consome. And a note about white sugar. It is added to cut the acid from the tomato to help eliminate any of your guests who might suffer from heartburn or acid indigestion.
I double the meat … yumo
Easy to follow directions. There is something off about the taste though. I added the basil leaves so maybe I should have omitted that step. I’m going to let it simmer for a couple of hours to see if that will make it taste better.
EXCELLENT
Thanks for sharing.Very taste and easy to cook
Thank you! This recipe was easy to follow and make! It tastes amazing as well!
Am I suppose to cook the pasta in the sauce or boil the pasta in water
Hi Rod,
Boil the pasta in water (as directed by the box you are using!) Then serve it with spaghetti sauce :).
Very good and easy too!!! Will make again. We made it with less onion and was still really great. Thank you for sharing this recipe ?
Excellent recipe! Have tried many, but this is the best!
Thank you!
This recipe is the best I have tasted. The ingredients needed were in my cabinet & fast and easy to make.
Good bye sauce in a jar!
I love this recipe. We uss it every time we cook spaghetti. Thank you keep em coming.
It is a great recipe it is my sauce also so thanks
The best One ,Thanks ?
I made this with sweet onions and did not add the sugar and it tastes great.
Really came in handy when I ran out of my usual sauce!
This is delicious , better than most restaurant sauces for sure. I make a big batch and freeze for quick easy dinners for the family.
How did you make the tomato sauce??
I used canned tomato sauce, but you’re welcome to make your own.
Do you have a brand of tomato sauce and paste you prefer?
Not necessarily, but I usually buy Hunts!
We loved it so much we ate it two nights in a row!
I’d like to make about 10 quarts of spaghetti sauce..how much ground beef would I need? Your recipe looks delicious!
This recipe makes around 4-5 cups of sauce.
This is such a great recipe I make it all the time my family loves it!!
I didn’t have parsley but it was delicious!!
Once you run across this meat sauce, don’t bother looking elsewhere. It’s easy AND delicious! Enough said.
Can I make this sauce without the meat?
Yes, you can 🙂
You can substitute honey for the sugar!
This was a really great basic spaghetti sauce recipe. It has great flavor. I used a quart of home canned sauce in place of the paste/water/sauce. And cooked down to the consistancy I was looking for. I also added peppers and mushrooms. And I used about a half cup of dried cinnamon basil leaves. I ground them up. The sweetness level was just right. Excellent recipe as is, or to modify to your family’s tastes. Thank you!!!
great recipe. Love old Italian recipes!
Tried this last night. Used ground elk and sweet Italian sausage. Just delicious and my husband loved it. Simple and delicious!
It’s great SPAGHETTI sauce recipe, thank you for sharing this recipe, It’s looking so tasty
You didnt capitalize the first letter of “Crushed” so I added an entire teaspoon of red Pepper flakes and now my mouth is on fire… good though! Lol
I’m not one to review anything, especially recipes I find on Pinterest, but I had to write my first review ever for this sauce! It is so amazing, I couldn’t believe I actually cooked it! I used axis deer/sirloin mix ground meat (which is the bomb.com if you’ve never had it) from my freezer. And I may have “spilled” some, or possibly my whole glass…of red wine into the sauce while it was simmering. Also may throw a few mushrooms in next time since I finally got my husband to like them? But I totally plan on using this recipe for life! Thank you!!
I liked the seasonings in this recipe. I opted for ground turkey and I had all the seasonings and herbs called for. But, I used a small can of sauce and diced tomatoes, that I zapped in the bullet, as a substitute for the paste and water. Will use this recipe from now on. Thanks!
I always make a recipe as written the first time so I can see if I like it or not. It was so sweet. I highly recommend not adding the sugar until you taste it and add it if you feel it is needed. I am continuing to tweek it in hopes that something will temper the sweetness.
I have made this about 7 times. Double batch each time. Whoa Nellie is it good! Love it! Not one complaint! I use turkey and sausage, and add mushrooms. Really good stuff. Thank you!
Great recipe,loved it so much, I added mushrooms and stewed tomatoes instead of sauce, no water just beef stock, came out great. Thanks , have a great and blessed day.
I am gnocchi for dinner for a friend who has many dietary allergies, including beef. I’ve been planning to use 1lb of pork sausage for the meat. What are your substitution suggestions?
Ground pork/sausage or ground turkey would work great 🙂
Going to make this sauce tonight.. but don’t have any sugar. Is it a must to put in?
The sugar just helps balance the acidity of the tomatoes. I’m sure it will still taste yummy without it 🙂
I always get rave reviews on this sauce. Instead of 1 cup water I add 1 cup of my homemade pizza sauce. It is delicious….best all around sauce there is.
Absolutely loved this sauce! I used half lean beef and half turkey. I seasoned it with salt, onion and garlic powder while it cooked. Instead of worsheshire sauce I added soy sauce because I didn’t have any and it still came out awesome. It was plenty for a family of 5. With a cup or left over. I ate mine with zoodles and the fam at it with spaghetti noodles. Everybody loved it! So simple and easy, thank God I had all the ingredients in the cabinet??. Thanks for sharing!
My husband said don’t buy jarred sauce again. It was really think so I added a bit more water. Only problem…. rigatoni wasn’t cooked enough. And we know who’s fault that was. Thank you
Oh my gosh, this recipes was fantastic!! My husband said it’s the best spaghetti sauce he has ever had! I used Italian sausage and sage sausage ((I doubled the recipe). The only change I added were green peppers. The crushed pepper flakes gave it a nice little kick! This recipes is definitely a keeper!!
Thanks so much Celeste!
Such a great recipe – thanks so much! Followed it exactly as written and it came out great! I was a little nervous about the Worcestershire sauce, but it made for such a great slight tang and rich flavour as the sauce simmered on the cooker for several hours!
I’m a stay-at-home son caring for an elderly father who has dementia and recently had a stroke, so this is an easy, very low sodium and delicious dish with easy-to-use seasonings and spices I usually almost always have on hand!! 🙂 Only sub is using penne or rigatoni pasta, but only for ease of “forking” or “spooning” the dish because of my dad’s lack of movement due to his stroke, otherwise this is an awesomely delicious recipe! This has become a go-to on the difficult and long days being a caregiver!
Dear Martin M,
I can’t believe reading a comment in the comment section of a recipe website made me cry, but it did! I am in tears reading about how sweet you are with your dad.
God bless you!
Diane M
I would like to know how much sodium is in this sauce an the serving size?
Hi Phyllis,
It makes roughly 5 cups of sauce – 1 cup per serving. There is an estimated 800mg sodium per serving!
I made this and added some skinned tomatoes I had in the freezer from summer, and omg! I will never buy store bought again!!! Love love love it!!
Can I multiply this rec as is or do I add/take away from rec
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!!
Hi! Step 4: add water and stir well. How much water does this call for?
Thank you so much. I’m making it tonight and I just know it will be scrumptious!
1 cup (see the third to last ingredient) 🙂
The best sauce I have ever made.
My husband says it’s a keeper, I used Italian sausage instead of hamburger & a bit more chili flakes. Yum!
This was awesome, didn’t think I could make it from scratch. I did , and my family kids and all complimented me. Very good will make again.
I will never buy another jar of prepared spaghetti sauce. This is amazing, so easy and other spices and veggies can be easily added.
So this is the 3rd time in one month I am making this spaghetti sauce. It’s the best sauce I have ever made my husband doesn’t like spaghetti but loves this sauce!! I add mushrooms and black olives. So yummy!
I added mushrooms…very good! It would feed 4 adults well.
Omg……delicious!!!
So delicous, thank you for a great sauce.
We made this spaghetti this evening. I have to say it was by far the best spaghetti sauce I’ve had. We followed the recipe and loved every bite. It was a hit with my kids, even the one that does not like spaghetti sauce. Thank you for sharing!
How many adults would this server do you think?
Thank you ~
4-5 🙂
you never give nutritional facts… what is carb amount on all you recipes….some claim low carb and are very high in carbs…. diabetics have to KNOW these numbers
Hi Vicki,
There are an estimated 16g grams of carbohydrates per serving- the recipe makes approximately 5 servings.
I will follow the recipe . Don’t see no need to make changes. I’m just tired of buying Spaghetti sauce In the can
Made it just as it called for in recipe. It was simple and great tasting. Used angel hair pasta , only because I like it better. Wouldn’t change a thing in this .
Try this with half burger, half ground sausage. And, add about half a cup sweet raspberry wine. Omit Worcestershire.
I think this sauce was perfect before I added the Worcestershire sauce. It had a delicious tomato flavor, but the Worcestershire totally ruined that fresh flavor. It’s a ‘keeper’ recipe without it though.
Recipe was delicious, my first time not using green peppers.
Delicious! I rarely try a recipe where I don’t tamper with the seasoning amounts, but this was perfect as is! I didn’t have a can of tomato sauce so I used the can of roasted diced tomatoes I had instead, and used my blender to blend it together with the onion, garlic and dry seasonings after bringing them to a boil together ( I did meatballs instead of ground meat so I started with only onion in the pot). It was amazing. My fist from scratch tomato sauce and I’m so proud 🙂 Thank you!
Hi. When simmering, lid on or off? Thank you!
Also looking for this answer! Thanks!
Was expecting the recipe to be “from scratch”; I’m looking for one that starts off with tomatoes and basil leaves, I saw a vid how to do it a couple years back and remember thinking it looked pretty simple…. do you have a recipe that starts off with a bowl of tomatoes?
Not trying to be a jerk, just want to impress my wife and the internet is just giving me recipes that call for canned ingredients
TIA
Hi Raf,
You could simply substitute the tomato sauce for your own fresh tomato sauce. I would just put a few tomatoes in a food processor, blend them, and use this in place of tomato sauce in the recipe. You could also follow this recipe for homemade tomato paste:
https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-tomato-paste-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-206853
I Hope that helps!
Hi! I Google-searched “delicious spaghetti recipes” and you were the first hit! Although I wasn’t able find the Worcestershire sauce to add, my friends and I thought it was yummy! I’ll have to check out your other recipes now! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you for sharing. I made a few modifications and everyone loved it. With family coming over I tripled the recipe and used 2/3 the meat and 2/3 the Worcestershire sauce. Added a little more garlic powder to taste. I will use this recipe again.
Best spaghetti sauce ever!
My husband loved this recipe and he can be very picky. I made a few little adjustments though. I used 1bl ground beef and 1lb Italian sausage doubled up everything else expect the sugar and add in some spinach. And it was delicious. My husband said I’m no longer allowed to buy that junk in a jar or can lol.
I am the sole cook for my wife and 3 year old son, both picky eaters. I have been hesitant to try making homemade spaghetti sauce for the past 14 years…all I can say is all of our bowls we’re clean after eating this sauce .. although I used ground turkey and made meatballs with panko bread crumbs and cooked them into the sauce. Thank you, Awesome recipe!!
Lookes good to me
Nice flavor. Will definitely make this again!
Thanks Sandra!
Would it still taste okay if I don’t add parsley or Basil?
Love, love, LOVE this recipe! My son has custody of his two sons & I’m helping him raise them. It’s unusual for both of my grandsons(16 & 12) to like the same thing, but … they both love it!! The only change I made was using minced onions instead of fresh only because I didn’t have fresh onion. Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe – our go-to from now on. And absolutely awesome response to Richard the troll. I’ll never understand those people who feel the need to try to make others feel bad. I’ll have to check out your other recipes now! ? Keep up the good work!
Thank you so much Carol 🙂 I’m so happy your grandons approved, and I hope you get to try more recipes here soon 🙂
I didn’t have any tomato paste, so I just used two small cans of tomato sauce and I substituted onion powder for fresh onion. And ground turkey for the meat. It was delicious!! Next time I’ll try it just like the Recipe I’m sure it will be even better!!! Who needs bottled sauce anymore? Not us!!! Thank you!!!
So good, and I had to omit a couple of the ingredients because I was out of them. Delicious! I used ground turkey from Costco. You can also use Morningstar crumbles to make it meat-free! They are so good in recipes, and even my meat eating husband can’t tell!
Thanks for the recipe! 🙂
Thanks for the recipe! Going to make this tonight for the wife and I. We have a bunch of fresh tomatoes from the garden and will be adding them to the sauce. Can’t wait! Thanks again!
Sounds delicious! Hope you love it 🙂
Simply put, this sauce is amazing! I have always been intimidated by making my own spaghetti sauce and just fall back on canned sauce for the convenience, but this weekend I thought I would step up to the challenge. I am so glad I chose this recipe as the directions were so simple easy to follow. My husband loved it and has already asked for it again this week. I think I will double the batch and freeze it, as it seems like it will freeze well. Thanks for sharing.
Absolutely love this sauce – and will be making it allot – I added canned mushrooms to mine
How much does a serving equals? Is it a cup or I 1/2 cups? I’m looking at making spaghetti for 75 to 80 people.
Each serving is appx 3/4 cup. Enjoy!
If I don’t have dried parsley, will it affect the taste much?
It will still taste fine 🙂
This was really good, we used it over stuffed shells. Delicious!
Sounds delicious! Thanks Kim!
If I add to much garlic, what can I add to take away some of the taste.?
Hi Kimberly, I’d suggest just making more sauce.
Delicious!
TSorry but this is not scratch. You use 6 oz tomato paste. From where? From a can? How do you make tomato paste? That would be scratch.
Hi Richard,
Thanks for your comment. I definitely value cooking from scratch and I try to provide recipes that use real ingredients and that anyone can make. I love the peace of mind that comes from making dinner for my family rather than relying on highly processed foods. In the case of homemade tomato paste the time and effort to make this particular ingredient myself does not seem worthwhile. It doesn’t qualify as a highly processed food (It has few and simple ingredients and Hunt’s tomato paste does not contain artificial ingredients or preservatives). However, I applaud you for wanting to make your own. Here is a recipe that might help.
Can i use ragu sauce still with tomato paste or will i taste differently?
You can–it will taste different but if you like the taste of Ragu it will be great!
I’ve used this recipe several times. I use canned diced tomatoes and tomato sauce instead of tomato paste. I let the sauce simmer a little longer to thicken it. I use ground turkey instead of ground beef to make it a little lower calorie.
Thanks for sharing Janet. I love your substitutions!
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.
I pinned this a while ago, I made it the first time about two months ago. I love this! I always bought canned sauce and finally made this, it is absolutely delicious. It has become a regular in our home, my five year son eats it up! We’ve had it about once a week since I’ve first made it.
I often add veggies to it, while the sauce simmers- I throw in the veggies and they are tender enough when it finishes.
I went to make it yesterday and realized I didn’t have ground beef- I did have ground turkey and I used that instead. And it tastes just as good and everyone still ate it!
Thanks so much for sharing! I agree, this is the perfect thing to add veggies to, and a great way to sneak them in for kids! Love your adaptions!
This is probably one of best and easiest sauces I’ve made and had. Thank you.
Yay! Thanks for sharing!
Out of curiosity, can you can this recipe with the meat included? I would assume so as everything would be hot when it is put together. ??
Hi Kayla
When i make my homemade spagetti sauce for canning I put EVERYTHING EXCEPT FOR THE MEAT, because then you can water bath can your sauce without the lenghthy pressured cooking needed for meats! Then, when its time to have the auce you cook up some meat and noodles and your done!! So simple!
Good luck and Enjoy!
Jennifer
I just wanted to say this is so good. I love this recipe thank you so much for sharing. Someone gave me a ton of tomato sauce and I didn’t have my canned spaghetti sauce so I made this last week and it was really yummy my whole family loved it!! I don’t think I will be buying canned spaghetti sauce for a while unless I have to because I don’t have time to make this sauce.
This was so good, i had to make it TWICE in one week due to popular demand!
Would leaving out the beef effect the flavor much?
Hi Samantha, I think it would still taste great without the ground beef 🙂
I’m serving 20 people how would you calculate the ingredients needed
X the ingredients by 4. because this recipe serves 5. 5 x 4 = 20 🙂
I have this with the meat. I want to make it without the meat. Glad that you answer my thought. 🙂
How would I go about using frozen garden tomatoes in this recipe? Would they replace the tomato sauce and paste, and if so, how much should I use? I froze them by weight so I have a number of ~1lb. bags of quartered and skinned tomatoes. Thanks so much for your time and any help you can provide!
Hi Rachel, You could use your tomatoes to replace the tomato sauce. I’m betting you will still want to use the tomato paste to add some thickness to the sauce. I would think about 1.5-2 lbs of tomatoes should be good. You can always adjust the seasonings to your liking.
I did just that and it turned out wonderful. My very first time making spaghetti sauce and everyone loved it, even my 7-year-old who does not like any red meat. Thank you!
How many servings what this make?
It serves 5 🙂
Hello. To piggyback on this, what if I can’t get tomato paste? I live in South America. I can get ketchup by the bucketful but not really tomato paste or tomato sauce easily. I can get tons of tomatoes at the market, and I assume i can just pulse them in the processor to get the sauce, but what could i use to thicken them to make a paste?
Your best bet is to make a homemade sauce using real tomatoes. Tomato paste is simply pureed tomatoes cooked down for a long time. I would not use ketchup.
I’ve used fresh tomatoes to make sauce. The easiest way to prep tomatos is to wash them well, then simmer them (skins and all) until they break down. I then run them through a food mill to remove core and skin. Don’t use moldy tomatoes and be sure to cut off any blemishes. Put the ground tomatoes in a big pot and simmer them on low (no lid) till the excess water boils off and they thicken up. I add in the spices (and meat) part way through, then freeze the extra sauce in one gallon freezer bags.
I ADD 1 CHOPPED GREEN PEPPER ALSO
Good for you!
Adds flavor and I also would throw in some Mushrooms and Italian sausage.
No harm to add some Parm as well !
The worstershire sauce was a little overpowering, but overall a good easy recipe!
you don’t use worstershire sauce! And you use regular white sugar. The reason why is because it cuts the acid from the tomato (if you use real tomato) Also if you use a little portion of beef rib, and dice it super fine it adds more flavor. I have a lot of money invested in just my knife and cutting board. In the art of cooking, the more work you put into preparation the higher the quality of your finished recipe. Hand cutting, lets you alter the texture of each ingredient. I go as far as using a mortar and pestle for garlic and spices.
The recipe calls for worstershire my friend ?
This looks great Lauren. Trying this recipe today in my slow cooker!