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Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

This homemade spaghetti sauce is very easy to make and is so much better then the bottled kind! Plus it freezes very well if you want to make it ahead of time!

If there is one thing that I make for dinner a lot, it’s spaghetti. And I’ll be honest, sometimes that means cooking some ground beef, pouring in a jar of store-bought pasta sauce, and boiling some noodles. Can’t beat the easy simplicity of that meal.

spaghetti sauce

But this homemade spaghetti meat sauce is a hundred times better then that. I’ve made it at least that many times, so my math must be right. 

I will say that when I make the full recipe (scratch sauce, not skipping the mushrooms, fresh garlic instead of powder, etc, etc) the entire family notices the difference. Even the 7 year old.

Perfect homemade spaghetti sauce

Of course, I have a family of spaghetti fanatics. I could make spaghetti for dinner six nights in a row and on the seventh ask everyone what they want for supper, and without fail I think all four of them would answer “spaghetti”.

They never get sick of it.

Which is great for those nights I make spaghetti. Kind of annoying on the days I want some help coming up with ideas for the meal plan that week and all the help I get is “spaghetti”. Yes I know, you always want spaghetti. All of you. Always.

The best homemade spaghetti sauce

But hey, at least I have a go to homemade spaghetti recipe that is easy to make and tastes absolutely fantastic. 

And it freezes well too – so there’s an easy way to have homemade spaghetti sauce quickly the next time they ask for spaghetti. 

You know, like tomorrow.

Easy homemade spaghetti sauce

Do you simmer with the lid on or off?

I always simmer this spaghetti sauce with the lid on. I don’t find that it needs to be thickened at all, we like the consistency as it is. If you want it thicker though, you can definitely simmer the sauce with the lid off and that will reduce the liquid a bit and make a thicker sauce.

How do you take the bitterness out of spaghetti sauce?

The acidity of the tomatoes can make spaghetti sauce taste bitter. Adding a couple of teaspoons of sugar to the sauce counteracts this acidity and gets rid of the bitter taste in the sauce.

So don’t skip the sugar in the recipe! There’s still much less sugar in this homemade spaghetti sauce then you will find in most bottled sauces.

Easy to make spaghetti sauce

How to make Homemade Spaghetti Sauce:

  • I love this non-stick skillet for making this spaghetti sauce as it’s great for cooking the beef and vegetables, and it’s also large enough to simmer the sauce in when everything is added. 
  • This garlic press is great for mincing the garlic cloves quickly and easily. It looks like a lot of garlic, but don’t worry, the sauce won’t be overly garlicky!
  • This recipe makes a lot of spaghetti sauce, and it is usually enough for two meals for my family of five (depending on how hungry the kids are that day!). I usually freeze the leftovers flat in a large ziplock bag so we have a super quick meal another night.
  • If you’re looking for a quicker version of this spaghetti sauce, I have a recipe for Easy Spaghetti Sauce that is faster to make with less ingredients but still tastes fantastic!
  • If you’re looking for more great pasta sauce recipes, I have 12 Easy Pasta Sauce Recipes here that are all fantastic!

Here are some more great pasta recipes for you:

spaghetti sauce
Yield: serves 10

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

The best spaghetti sauce

This homemade spaghetti sauce is very easy to make and is so much better then the bottled kind! Plus it freezes very well if you want to make it ahead of time!

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Simmering Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 25 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds Ground Beef (900g)
  • 1 cup Diced Onion
  • 6-8 Mushrooms, (button), sliced
  • 1/2 cup Diced Green Pepper
  • 5-6 large clove Garlics, minced
  • 2 teaspoons Salt
  • 2 teaspoons Rosemary
  • 1 tablespoon Oregano
  • 1 tablespoon Soy Sauce
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
  • 1 - 13 1/2 ounce can (398mL) Tomato Sauce
  • 1 - 27 ounce can (796mL) Diced Tomatoes
  • 2 - 5 1/2 ounce (156mL) cans Tomato Paste
  • 1 cup Water
  • 1/2 cup Red Wine, (optional)
  • 1 tablespoon Granulated Sugar

Instructions

  1. In a large saucepan, brown the ground beef over medium heat until no pink remains. Drain the grease from the pan.
  2. Add the onion, mushrooms, and bell pepper and cook, stirring, until tender, about 4-5 minutes.
  3. Add the garlic, salt, rosemary, oregano, soy sauce, and
  4. Worcestershire sauce and allow it to sizzle together for 1-2 minutes.
  5. Add the tomato sauce, tomatoes, tomato paste, water, red wine (if using), and sugar.
  6. Stir everything together and bring the sauce to a boil over medium heat. Once it boils (it will boil quite quickly), lower the heat to a simmer and cover.
  7. Allow sauce to simmer for about 45-60 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  8. If you are rushed for time, it will still be great after simmering for just 15 minutes, although it is better if you simmer for longer.
  9. Serve over hot spaghetti noodles.

Notes

I've also made this spaghetti sauce with half ground beef and half ground turkey with good results.
You can easily omit the green pepper and/or the mushrooms if you like.
Leftover sauce can be frozen for up to 3 months.

Source: Adapted slightly from my mother-in-law's recipe.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

10

Serving Size:

1/10 recipe

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 228Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 0gSodium: 593mgCarbohydrates: 12gFiber: 1gSugar: 3gProtein: 19g

I’ve also shared this Homemade Spaghetti Sauce recipe over on Food Fanatic.  

Ben D

Friday 12th of November 2021

Hello, quick question, you show 5 1/2 oz of Tomato Paste, but you show 2 cans next to that. I can only find 6oz cans of Tomato paste, I assume just using (1) 6oz can for this, correct?

Stacey

Friday 12th of November 2021

I'm sorry, that was written weird, I've fixed it now. It's 2 - 5.5 oz cans of tomato paste. The can sizes tend to be slightly different between the US and Canada. They're 5.5 oz here, but if yours are 6 oz just use two of those. Two six ounce cans will be fine.

Maeghan

Sunday 17th of May 2020

I will never be able to use store-bought spaghetti sauce again. This was AMAZING. All we did differently was add zucchini squash (a favorite in the family) and used this sauce over spaghetti squash.... SO GOOD. 10/10!

Stacey

Wednesday 20th of May 2020

So glad you liked it! Thanks for letting me know!

Kelsey

Friday 1st of May 2020

Fresh herbs or dried? I just planted an herb garden and I’m excited to start using them in cooking!!

Stacey

Saturday 2nd of May 2020

I always use dried herbs in this because I always have them and it's faster. I've never had any luck with growing my own herbs! But if you want to substitute I'm sure it would be fantastic! Typically you use 3x as much fresh as dried herbs, so substitute 6 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary for 2 teaspoons dried, and 3 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano for 1 tablespoon dried.

Sami

Wednesday 18th of March 2020

Would this recipe still workout without the diced tomato? I figure it would just be a more even consistency but would I have to put extra tomato sauce/purée?

Stacey

Wednesday 18th of March 2020

It should still work, but the can of diced tomatoes adds a fair bit of liquid too so I would add another can of tomato sauce (maybe two) or some crushed tomatoes instead. It’s 796mL of diced tomatoes, I think you would want the same size can of crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce.

Lori Francis

Sunday 15th of March 2020

I have two questions, first of all I totally missed the ingredient of tomato paste so I don’t have any. Do you think this will hinder the success of the sauce? Secondly, when do you add the meat back to the sauce?

Stacey

Sunday 15th of March 2020

Without tomato paste the sauce will be a lot thinner, but I think the flavour would be okay. You could thicken it by simmering without a lid for a little longer. I haven't ever made it without tomato paste though, so I can't say for sure how it would be, but I think the flavour would still be good. And I never actually remove the meat from the pan. I drain the grease after browning the meat, and then continue with step 2 with the meat still in the pan.

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