The Best Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
This Homemade Spaghetti Sauce is so easy and delicious, you will never buy the jarred kind again! Try it and you will see why I call it the Best Ever!
For more delicious Dinner Recipes, be sure to check out my Mississippi Pot Roast, Slow Cooker Cilantro Lime Chicken Tacos, and Air Fryer Meatloaf.
This homemade spaghetti sauce recipe comes from my mother-in-law, and it is one that I have kept and used ever since she first made it for us.
I love that it is so easy to make, has a delicious rich flavor, and uses real ingredients.
It’s better than any jarred sauce you can find at the store, and there is always plenty left over to freeze for another meal or two in the future.
Ingredients for The Best Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
- lean ground beef
- onion
- green bell pepper
- garlic
- canned diced tomatoes
- tomato paste
- brown sugar
- Dried spices: oregano, basil, thyme, salt, bay leaf
- water or beef broth
How to Make Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
Step 1: Cook meat and vegetables
In a dutch oven cook meat, onion, green pepper, and garlic until meat is browned and vegetables are tender. Drain off fat.
Step 2: Add tomatoes and spices
Stir in undrained tomatoes, tomato paste, brown sugar, oregano, salt, basil, thyme, and bay leaf.
Step 3: Simmer
Stir in the water or beef broth. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 1 ½ to 2 hours or until sauce is of desired consistency, stirring occasionally. Remove bay leaf. Serve over hot cooked spaghetti.
Tips and Notes for Making The Best Spaghetti Sauce
- Try to use good quality tomatoes if you have access to them. My favorite brand of tomatoes is Tuttorosso tomatoes, Muir Glen, or Pomi tomatoes. I like the Pomi tomatoes because they come in a box rather than a can, which is nice if you’re looking to avoid BPA.
- Don’t skip the brown sugar. Adding a bit of sugar to your homemade spaghetti sauce helps to cut the natural acidity of the tomatoes and helps to balance the sauce.
- For an extra kick, add a sprinkling of red pepper flakes to your sauce. Only add this if you like some spice, though!
- Meat substitutions: you can replace the lean ground beef with ground turkey or pork sausage. You can also leave it out completely for a meatless, vegetarian spaghetti sauce.
- Let it simmer. I like to let my sauce simmer for at least an hour and a half, but longer is better (up to 2-3 hours.) The more time you allow your sauce to simmer, the richer the flavor will be. You can also transfer the sauce to a crockpot after preparing it on the stove and allow it to cook over low heat for a few hours. If your sauce is too thick after cooking, add a little more water to thin it out.
What to do with leftover spaghetti sauce
If you have leftover spaghetti sauce, here are a few ideas to help you put it to good use:
- Make baked meatballs and serve with leftover homemade spaghetti sauce, or turn them into meatball sandwiches.
- Use it for lasagna! We love zucchini lasagna and easy skillet lasagna for busy nights.
- Bake up some garlic bread and use the leftover spaghetti sauce as a dip.
- Stuff it into bell peppers and bake in the oven, or top cooked spaghetti squash with leftover sauce.
FAQs
Freshly made homemade spaghetti sauce will last for about 4-5 days when stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Tomato paste acts as a flavor enhancer and also a thickener in the sauce. Also, your sauce will thicken as it simmers on the stove. If you’ve given your sauce plenty of time to simmer but would still prefer a thicker sauce, you can add a cornstarch slurry (1 part cornstarch to 1 part water whisked together; I’d start with 2 Tablespoons of each). Make sure to mix the slurry into your sauce very well to prevent any lumps.
Yes, and this homemade spaghetti sauce recipe makes enough to freeze leftovers for another meal. To freeze, allow the sauce to cool completely before transferring to a freezer safe container with a lid, or to freezer safe ziplock bags. If using ziplock bags, make sure to remove as much air as possible before sealing. Freeze for up to 6 months. Allow your frozen spaghetti sauce to thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating on the stove.
Not exactly. While both sauces are tomato based and slow-simmered to develop flavor, marinara sauce is meatless and includes fresh herbs and garlic. Spaghetti sauce usually contains a ground meat like beef, and also includes vegetables like onions, green pepper, mushrooms, etc.
More delicious Pasta Recipes You Should Try!
If you try this recipe, please leave a comment and rating below. I love to hear from you and always appreciate your feedback!
The Best Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds ground beef or pork sausage
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 large green pepper, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 (15 oz) cans diced tomatoes
- 1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 cups water, or beef broth
Instructions
- In a dutch oven cook meat, onion, green pepper, and garlic until meat is browned and vegetables are tender. Drain off fat.
- Stir in undrained tomatoes, tomato paste, brown sugar, oregano, salt, basil, thyme, and bay leaf.
- Stir in the water or beef broth. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 1 ½ to 2 hours or until sauce is of desired consistency, stirring occasionally. Remove bay leaf. Serve over hot cooked spaghetti.
Notes
- Try to use good quality tomatoes if you have access to them. My favorite brand of tomatoes is Tuttorosso tomatoes, Muir Glen, or Pomi tomatoes. I like the Pomi tomatoes because they come in a box rather than a can, which is nice if you’re looking to avoid BPA.
- Don’t skip the brown sugar. Adding a bit of sugar to your homemade spaghetti sauce helps to cut the natural acidity of the tomatoes and helps to balance the sauce.
- For an extra kick, add a sprinkling of red pepper flakes to your sauce. Only add this if you like some spice, though!
- Meat substitutions: you can replace the lean ground beef with ground turkey or pork sausage. You can also leave it out completely for a meatless, vegetarian spaghetti sauce.
- Let it simmer. I like to let my sauce simmer for at least an hour and a half, but longer is better (up to 2-3 hours.) The more time you allow your sauce to simmer, the richer the flavor will be. You can also transfer the sauce to a crockpot after preparing it on the stove and allow it to cook over low heat for a few hours. If your sauce is too thick after cooking, add a little more water to thin it out.
I made this tonight and was worried but it turned out really great- will be using this recipe from now on for sure and skipping the store bought sauce
Glad you enjoyed it, Stephanie!
Such a classic! Homemade is always better!
I love this!
I could eat this every night for dinner!
Thanks Jennifer, me too!
Your sauce looks amazing! I would do love to try it tonight, but would need to make it meatless. Are there any other ingredients I would need to omit because there won’t be any meat in it? Have you tried it without meat before?
Hi Angela, I’ve never tried it without meat before but I think it would still taste great! No need to omit anything. Let me know if you try it!
I’m making this sauce now…smels great. It is a little watery…is there anything I can add to make it thicker????
Hi Emilee, it will thicken as it cooks. How’d it turn out?
This is my go-to meat sauce recipe! I have made it several times. I love it as is, but I usually jazz it up for my husband. He can’t live without some butter and red pepper flake in his sauce. So for anyone thinking about making this – do it! So simple, easy and declicious. And if you’re like my husband, you can easily throw in some additions. Thanks so much for this recipe!
Thanks so much for this recipe!
I am so glad to hear that y’all enjoy the recipe! Your husband’s additions sound good to me; can’t go wrong with adding a little butter to just about anything! Thank you for your sweet comment! 🙂
Is the green pepper a bell pepper?
Hi Daniele, yes it is!
I was wondering how many tomatoes if I use fresh. I have heirloom tomatoes from my sisters garden .
Hi Tammy, I’ve never made it with fresh tomatoes before but I bet it would taste wonderful! I’d say 5-6 cups of chopped tomatoes should work.
I love compari tomatoes from the produce section; a little pricier but way better than others- my Italian husband agrees- really do have fresh picked taste- they are sod in plastic containers and are super quartered with sea salt and a little red onion and feta sprinkled on; a little rice vinegar and olive oil-wonderful side salad- don’t make too far in advance don’t want soggy just that fresh fresh taste
I’m wondering how this sauce would hold up if I canned it… any thoughts? Thanks!
Hi Dawn! That’s a really good question, but I hate to admit it; I’ve never canned anything before!! That’s something I would like to start doing, but I can’t really tell you how this would hold up. I don’t know if the meat in the sauce would make a difference or not? Here are a couple of articles I found with some info:
http://www.thekitchn.com/is-it-safe-to-can-meat-sauces-95100
http://foodinjars.com/2010/08/canning-101-why-you-cant-can-your-familys-tomato-sauce/
Thank you, Ashlyn, for responding so quickly and for researching some sites for me. Canning is not hard and is fun to do. It’s a great way to eat summer through the winter! I will check out those links you sent for sure. Thanks again! Hope you have a great weekend! Dawn
I definitely want to give it a try. Might start out with jam first. 🙂 Hope you’re having a great weekend too, Dawn!
You can make this sauce and freeze in zip lock gallon bags after “burping ” all air out; then I uasually put another zip lock bag over that to prevent ANY freezer burn- I might be OCD on this, but has worked well for years– then you can stack bags flat on top of each other in freezer; usually one bag is enough for 4 people — this works so well I stopped canning years ago. Also , in grocery story you can find ref ridegerator of Italian fresh pastas;; you can freeze them too- just as bought in their container No need to thaw them b4 cooking– boil water, add frozen pasta (I like linguine spaghetti or fettuccini for this sauce and stock up on them in freezer) add pasta (thawed or frozen no cooking time difference) for 3 minutes! Perfect! Grate some parm or Romano and all set. I make sauces and store pasta and can have a really homemade dish in less time than I can believe
Also the frozen usually serves 2-3 people
Frozen pasta serves 2-3 sauce usually 4ish
Yes, you make the sauce and can this without the meat.. you cook your meat when you’re ready and add the sauce… Delish!
I just made this yesterday. Used a mix of hamburger and fresh ground sweet Italian sausage. Cooked it all day in the slow cooker. About an hour before dinner I took the lid off turned it up to high and let it thicken. It was superb. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe.
Awesome Kris! I’m so glad to hear that y’all enjoyed it! Thanks for coming back to let me know. 🙂
Jarred sauce can’t hold a candle to homemade. Your recipe looks delicious! We always like to try new sauce recipes! Thanks Ashlyn! Have a great weekend!
Hi,
Today I made that sauce and I have to say that it’s really very good! I put a little more salt in and a little ground pepper. I don’t feel that this is the “best ever homemade” sauce, but it is very delicious and new! Thank’s for this!!
Hi Nina! I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed the sauce! It’s one of our favorites for dinner time. Thanks for taking the time to stop by and comment. 🙂
That sauce looks great, I’m not usually a fan of pasta but your sauce is making me want some. Thanks for linking up to Sweet and Savoury Sunday, stop by and link up again. Have a great day!!
I just pinned this awesome sauce and will be sharing on Facebook as one of this weeks Features at Freedom Fridays!!!
Hugs and thanks for sharing
My family loves spaghetti! Homemade sauce is always the best! 🙂 Thanks so much for linking up to Freedom Fridays last week – we’re featuring you this week!
G’day! Looks great and can almost smell it from here!
Viewed as part of The Wednesday Roundup Week 30
Cheers! Joanne
Spaghetti is my absolute favorite food. So glad you shared the recipe and even more glad your husband is home again. YAY!
Ashlyn, how exciting to have your husband finally home! This is definitely the best dish to serve for a celebration… all over this sauce, pinning and bookmarking! (We are huge fans of sauces like this!)
Thanks so much for linking up at The Wednesday Roundup Link Party! This is a beautiful looking sauce!
Your Homemade Spaghetti Sauce looks fabulous! Thanks so much for sharing this awesome recipe with Full Plate Thursday and come back soon!
Miz Helen
This is a fabulous sauce all my family loved it I it’s delicious
This is a classic tomato sauce.. thank you so much for sharing it with us on foodie friday. Pinned.
Who can resist a great pasta sauce!
This sauce looks amazing. I could eat just sauce and bread.
I would love for you to share this at my T.G.I.F. Linky Party @ MamasBlogCentral.com 🙂 Have a great weekend!!
Stopping by from Digi Mama’s.
This looks so GOOD, can’t wait to try it!!!! Thanks for sharing the recipe!!!!
Hi! how many servings does the sauce make?
Hi Renee! I’d say it makes at least 10 servings. We always have enough left over to freeze for another meal. 🙂
I just made this today but I tripled it so I could freeze it. I used white sugar instead of brown. This sauce is life. It taste so fresh u can taste the veggie taste with a hint of sweetness. I recommend this recipie it’s been years since I made own sauce wanted to try a different way and really glad I chose this one…????
I doubled it so I could freeze it for a couple more meals. It’s all most like my mom’s