Easy homemade spaghetti sauce, using ingredients you probably already have in your pantry! This recipe is a family dinner staple!
Spaghetti Sauce
This spaghetti sauce recipe may be the first thing I learned to cook, completely by myself, when I was really young. As I got better at cooking and baking (and because I loved it so much) I can specifically remember two recipes my Mom would let me make all by myself: this homemade spaghetti sauce, and our family’s favorite Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies.
She’d be nearby for supervision, but it was a huge confidence boost for me to cook all on my own! And an even bigger confidence boost when my older brothers said they liked the food 🙂
This Homemade Spaghetti Sauce recipe has been a family staple for as long as I can remember. It’s really simple and the flavors are fantastic.
This is one of those meals that always tastes amazing–and it’s perfect for busy weeknights this time of year! Plus, there’s no picky eater that would ever say no to spaghetti!
How to make homemade spaghetti sauce:
First brown the beef and onion. Chop the ground beef finely as you go. After it’s browned I often like to add it to my food processor to pulse it once or twice so that it’s finely crumbled. It makes the sauce extra smooth (although some people like their spaghettie sauce with larger peices of meat in it,)
Next, add the tomato sauce, tomato paste, seasonings, Worcestershire sauce, and sugar and bring the mixture to a simmer. Add water and simmer for 30 minutes or longer, to get more depth of flavor. The longer you simmer it, the more the flavors will blend together beautifully.
I use this sauce all the time in my Spaghetti Pie, Million Dollar Spaghetti, Slow Cooker Lasagna and Instant Pot Spaghetti.
Spaghetti sauce, marinara sauce and pizza sauce; what’s the difference?
There is all sorts of confusion surrounding these terms, but spaghetti sauce, marinara sauce, and pizza sauce are usually all tomato based sauces. Marinara sauce, or pasta sauce is a slow-simmered sauce that is often made with tomatoes, garlic, and herbs. In America, we often refer to marinara as a meatless, tomato-based sauce.
Spaghetti sauce is essentially any sauce that you put on spaghetti. Traditional spaghetti sauce is often just a more complex marina sauce that has additional spices and may be made with meat, vegetables, cheese, etc.
Pizza sauce is typically uncooked and refers to any sauce you put on pizza. This sauce is usually simple, with few ingredients and is meant to cook with the pizza for added flavor.
Tips for making ahead and freezing spaghetti sauce:
This homemade spaghetti sauce can be easily made ahead of time. Store it in the fridge for 3 to 4 days or freeze it. Before freezing spaghetti sauce, allow the mixture to cool completely. Label a gallon freezer bag and fill it with the sauce. Store it on a flat surface so that it freezes into a flat shape that will store easily. Store it for up to 4-6 months. To use, place frozen sauce in a pot and reheat on the stove until warm.
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Recipe
Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef (or ½ lb ground Italian sausage and ½ lb ground beef)
- salt and freshly ground black pepper , to taste
- 1 medium onion , chopped
- 15 ounces tomato sauce
- 6 ounces tomato paste
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 Tablespoon dried parsley flakes
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- crushed red pepper flakes , to taste
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves (optional)
- spaghetti noodles , for serving
Instructions
- Season ground beef with salt and pepper.
- In a large skillet, add the beef and chopped onion and brown. Drain excess grease.
- Add tomato sauce, tomato paste, Italian seasoning, parsley, garlic powder, crushed red pepper, worcestershire, and sugar to the skillet.
- Stir well to combine and bring to a boil. Add water and stir well.
- Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add chopped basil before serving, if desired.
- This sauce tastes great in Spaghetti Pie, Million Dollar Spaghetti, Slow Cooker Lasagna and Instant Pot Spaghetti.
Notes
Nutrition
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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.
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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.
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!