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
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
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.
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!!
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!!