Easy homemade spaghetti sauce, using ingredients you probably already have in your pantry! This recipe is a family dinner staple!

Homemade spaghetti sauce in a saucepan with a wooden spoon.

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!

A white bowl full of spaghetti noodles with homemade spaghetti sauce on top and fresh grated parmesan cheese and basil.

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,)

Side by side photos of a skillet with uncooked ground beef and onion, and then cooked and crumbled ground beef and onion.

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.

A saucepan with the ingredients to make homemade spaghetti sauce including tomato sauce, spices, ground beef, ground italian sausage, and onion, next to another photo of the sauce mixed together and water being added to it before it simmers.

I use this sauce all the time in my Spaghetti PieMillion Dollar SpaghettiSlow 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.

Overhead photo of a saucepan filled with homemade spaghetti sauce.

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 FACEBOOKTWITTERINSTAGRAM and PINTEREST for more great recipes!

Recipe

Homemade spaghetti sauce in a saucepan with a wooden spoon.
Prep 10 minutes
Cook 30 minutes
Total 40 minutes
Save Recipe

Ingredients
  

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.

Notes

Gluten-free Adaptations: use gluten-free Worcestershire sauce, and spaghetti noodles.

Nutrition

Calories: 303kcalCarbohydrates: 16gProtein: 18gFat: 18gSaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 64mgSodium: 814mgPotassium: 948mgFiber: 3gSugar: 11gVitamin A: 885IUVitamin C: 16mgCalcium: 56mgIron: 4mg
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.

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce recipe from TastesBetterFromScratch.com

This post contains affiliate links.

Related Posts

Share Recipe

Categories

About The Author

Lauren Allen

Welcome! I’m Lauren, a mom of four and lover of good food. Here you’ll find easy recipes and weeknight meal ideas made with real ingredients, with step-by-step photos and videos.

3.9 158 votes
Recipe Rating
4.97 from 6199 votes (5,656 ratings without comment)
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

1K Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Diane
1 month ago

5 stars
I made this sauce for my lasagna. It was the best I’ve ever tasted! Loved it and will continue to make it.

Jen
2 months ago

5 stars
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

Jennie
1 year ago

5 stars
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!

Sharon anderson
3 years ago

5 stars
I’ve tried a number of homemade spaghetti sauces and this is my favorite of all! Thank you so much.

Carla
6 years ago

5 stars
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!!

Stephanie
3 months ago

5 stars
This was delicious. I thought it might be too much sugar for my liking so I added 1 tsp at a time and it turns out 1 tbs was just right for me. I did add the fresh basil also. Once it had simmered for a while I just used an immersion blender to smooth the meat. I’ll be making this again!

Stephanie
3 months ago

This was a really great recipe and I followed it almost exactly. The only thing I did different was to add a carrot instead of sugar. I put in fresh basil and at the end I used a hand mixer to combine it all.

Stephanie
3 months ago

Excellent

Barb Loudermilk
3 months ago

5 stars
I was wondering if this recipe can be done in bulk and pressure canned for future using.

Admin
3 months ago

We haven’t tested this recipe for canning, let us know if you try it and how it works for you!

cfirn1@gmail.com
3 months ago

5 stars
It’s so great that this is the first recipe you saved because it is the first recipe from you that I tried and I fell in love!! My family loves it and it can be used for everything! Thank you so much

Jenna
3 months ago

1 star
Made this recipe tonight thinking I’d try and new one instead of my usual and I am not a fan whatsoever. Far too much sugar and paste. Added some Rao pasta sauce and some additional spices and it’ll have to do.

Admin
3 months ago
Reply to  Jenna

We are sorry you didn’t like the spaghetti sauce, you can always reduce the sugar and paste and adjust the seasonings to your flavor preferences.

Nicole
3 months ago

1 star
Worcestershire sauce ruined it

Gary
4 months ago

5 stars
The turned out really!!!

Skylar
4 months ago

5 stars
I used balsamic vinegar in place of Worcestershire and added in some fresh herbs and garlic I had on hand. Its a very tasty recipe and super easy!

Monica
4 months ago

1 star
I didn’t care for the flavor of this recipe at all. My guess is that it was the worcestershire sauce. And yes, I used name brand, quality ingredients (which was the reply back to another commenter who said they didn’t like it).

Skylar
4 months ago
Reply to  Monica

You could always try balsamic vinegar or a splash of red wine instead for next time!!