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Easy homemade spaghetti sauce, using ingredients you probably already have in your pantry! This recipe is a family dinner staple!
Spaghetti Sauce
This spaghetti sauce recipe may be the first thing I learned to cook, completely by myself, when I was really young. As I got better at cooking and baking (and because I loved it so much) I can specifically remember two recipes my Mom would let me make all by myself: this homemade spaghetti sauce, and our family's favorite Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies.
She'd be nearby for supervision, but it was a huge confidence boost for me to cook all on my own! And an even bigger confidence boost when my older brothers said they liked the food 🙂
This Homemade Spaghetti Sauce recipe has been a family staple for as long as I can remember. It's really simple and the flavors are fantastic.
This is one of those meals that always tastes amazing–and it's perfect for busy weeknights this time of year! Plus, there's no picky eater that would ever say no to spaghetti!
How to make homemade spaghetti sauce:
First brown the beef and onion. Chop the ground beef finely as you go. After it's browned I often like to add it to my food processor to pulse it once or twice so that it's finely crumbled. It makes the sauce extra smooth (although some people like their spaghettie sauce with larger peices of meat in it,)
Next, add the tomato sauce, tomato paste, seasonings, Worcestershire sauce, and sugar and bring the mixture to a simmer. Add water and simmer for 30 minutes or longer, to get more depth of flavor. The longer you simmer it, the more the flavors will blend together beautifully.
I use this sauce all the time in my Spaghetti Pie, Million Dollar Spaghetti, Slow Cooker Lasagna and Instant Pot Spaghetti.
Spaghetti sauce, marinara sauce and pizza sauce; what's the difference?
There is all sorts of confusion surrounding these terms, but spaghetti sauce, marinara sauce, and pizza sauce are usually all tomato based sauces. Marinara sauce, or pasta sauce is a slow-simmered sauce that is often made with tomatoes, garlic, and herbs. In America, we often refer to marinara as a meatless, tomato-based sauce.
Spaghetti sauce is essentially any sauce that you put on spaghetti. Traditional spaghetti sauce is often just a more complex marina sauce that has additional spices and may be made with meat, vegetables, cheese, etc.
Pizza sauce is typically uncooked and refers to any sauce you put on pizza. This sauce is usually simple, with few ingredients and is meant to cook with the pizza for added flavor.
Tips for making ahead and freezing spaghetti sauce:
This homemade spaghetti sauce can be easily made ahead of time. Store it in the fridge for 3 to 4 days or freeze it. Before freezing spaghetti sauce, allow the mixture to cool completely. Label a gallon freezer bag and fill it with the sauce. Store it on a flat surface so that it freezes into a flat shape that will store easily. Store it for up to 4-6 months. To use, place frozen sauce in a pot and reheat on the stove until warm.
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Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef, (or ½ lb ground Italian sausage and ½ lb ground beef)
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, , to taste
- 1 medium onion, , chopped
- 15 ounces tomato sauce
- 6 ounces tomato paste
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 Tablespoon dried parsley flakes
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- crushed red pepper flakes, , to taste
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, (optional)
- spaghetti noodles, , for serving
Instructions
- Season ground beef with salt and pepper.
- In a large skillet, add the beef and chopped onion and brown. Drain excess grease.
- Add tomato sauce, tomato paste, Italian seasoning, parsley, garlic powder, crushed red pepper, worcestershire, and sugar to the skillet.
- Stir well to combine and bring to a boil. Add water and stir well.
- Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add chopped basil before serving, if desired.
- This sauce tastes great in Spaghetti Pie, Million Dollar Spaghetti, Slow Cooker Lasagna and Instant Pot Spaghetti.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Have you tried this recipe?!
RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
*I originally shared this recipe in September 2015. Updated July 2018.
So good! I have made this at least 5 times already. I always make a big pot and freeze half for another night for dinner ☺️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This recipe turned out great. It was even better than my recipe straight from Italy.
My family LOVES this sauce! It’s so good and easy to make! Thank you!
I made this sauce for my lasagna. It was the best I’ve ever tasted! Loved it and will continue to make it.
This recipe is seriously delicious, having made sauce hundreds of times this one is a true keeper. I’ve made your recipe about 10 times and it never fails. Thank you
Thank you so much for this keeper of a recipe. I have been looking all over and attempted so many recipes for homemade spaghetti sauce and am so glad to have found ‘THE ONE!’ It is absolutely ‘fantabulous!’ And I love pressing the easy button too!
I’ve tried a number of homemade spaghetti sauces and this is my favorite of all! Thank you so much.
Holy moly!! This is seriously good!! I was nervous that the seasonings wasn’t enough but it packed enough punch!! Soooo yummy and I made a huge batch so I’m sure the flavors will start to deepen and develop over a couple of hours. Thanks for sharing your yummy recipe!!
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.