Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

Name: Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 1 pound ground Italian sausage; 1 pound lean ground beef; 1 large onion (diced); 5 cloves garlic (minced); 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar; 2 teaspoons dried Italian seasonings; 1 teaspoon kosher salt; ½ teaspoon ground black pepper; 1 Tablespoon dried parsley flakes; 12 ounces tomato paste; 28 ounces can diced tomatoes; 28 ounces can crushed tomatoes; 1 cup water; 1 pound prepared pasta

4.20 from 5 votes

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By: Julie Evink4 Comments

Posted: 07/16/23 Updated: 07/31/23

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Quick and easy homemade Spaghetti Sauce made with pantry staples and bursting with flavor. Pile it on top of a bed of spaghetti noodles for a family dinner on a busy night. Ditch the store bought sauce and make this!

PIN IT FOR LATER!

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce Recipe in Stovetop Pot with Wooden Spoon Stirring

Why buy spaghetti sauce in a jar when you can make homemade spaghetti sauce so easily? Homemade sauce is always so much more fresh and has incredible flavor.

Plus, you can easily customize it and add or omit anything you want. Sometimes, canned sauces can be difficult to work with if they’re too garlicky, have too much basil, too much oil, etc.

But this spaghetti sauce recipe always turns out perfect. You can make this easy recipe on a busy weeknight and have a homemade dinner in no time. Beef ragu is another great and simple pasta recipe! They’re two of my favorite tomato based pasta dishes on pasta night.

You can even use this homemade pasta sauce to make Instant Pot spaghetti or Crock Pot spaghetti! So many uses for such a tasty recipe.

Contents show

Why You’ll Love Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

You only need 45 minutes to make this yummy spaghetti sauce recipe. Cook your pasta at the same time and you have dinner ready quickly!
Easily adapt this recipe to fit the flavor profile you want and whatever dish you plan to make.
You can easily make a double or triple batch of sauce and store it for later…or make a giant batch of pasta for a large group!

Overhead Image of Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

Ingredients for Homemade Pasta Sauce

Crushed tomatoes – The extra liquid in crushed tomatoes helps make this sauce the perfect consistency.
Diced tomatoes – Using diced tomatoes will leave some chunks of tomato in this spaghetti sauce, even after it cooks down.
Tomato paste – It may seem like a lot of tomato to use crushed, diced, and tomato paste but it really will all come together!
Water – Use filtered or purified water for best results.
Diced onion – I recommend yellow onion. White onion will work as well!
Minced garlic – Along with fresh minced garlic, feel free to use a few full cloves of garlic in this sauce too.
Lean ground beef – 93/7 beef will help keep down the grease content in this sauce.
Ground Italian sausage – Load up this pasta sauce with both lean ground beef and Italian sausage for extra protein and plenty of flavor!
Granulated sugar – A little bit of sugar helps to balance out the tanginess of all of the tomatoes.
Seasonings
- Italian seasoning
- Salt and pepper
- Dried parsley

Helpful Tools

Ground beef, sausage, onion, and garlic in pot for Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

Browned and combined meats in stovetop pot for Homemade Marinara Sauce

How to Make Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

Add ground sausage and lean ground beef to a large pot or dutch oven and cook over medium-high heat. Add the diced onions and minced garlic to the same pan.

Brown the beef until no pink remains and then drain off the grease with a strainer.

Adding in seasonings to ground beef and sausage mixture for Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

Combined meat and seasoning for Homemade Pasta Sauce in stovetop pot

Reduce the heat to medium. Then, add sugar, Italian seasonings, salt, pepper, and dried parsley to pan with meat. Stir to combine, then add the tomato paste and combine.

Add diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes and water to the skillet. Stir again until thoroughly incorporated.

Adding diced tomato sauces to mixture in stovetop pot

Seasoned meat with tomatoes in pot for Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

Bring the sauce to a simmer and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 30 minutes to allow all of the ingredients to meld together.

Serve over your favorite pasta and enjoy!

Adding dried parsley to Homemade Marinara Sauce in pot

Using a wooden spoon to scoop out Homemade Spaghetti Sauce from pot

What to Serve with Homemade Pasta Sauce

Serve this easy spaghetti sauce over your favorite pasta. Spaghetti noodles, angel hair pasta, and even spaghetti squash will all work well. Make some garlic bread in the oven or air fryer to go with your pasta dish! Breadsticks are great too!

You can make a crunchy and tasty antipasto salad to go alongside pasta, or some air fryer zucchini fries.

How to Store Leftover Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

FRIDGE: Pour leftover sauce into an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to a week.

FREEZER: Store leftover pasta sauce in an airtight container or freezer bag. Freeze for up to 3 months.

What can I add to homemade pasta sauce?

If you want to add a spicy kick to this easy spaghetti sauce, add a dash of red pepper flakes or ground red pepper. You can also add vegetables like carrots, bell peppers, mushrooms, and even fresh tomatoes.

Fresh herbs like basil, parsley, and thyme would add tons of extra flavor. If you use fresh herbs, cut down on the amount of dried that you use so it isn’t overpowering.

Why is my homemade spaghetti sauce watery?

If your sauce is too watery, you may not have let it simmer for long enough. You can also add the diced tomatoes and crushed tomatoes first and see how much liquid that adds to the sauce. Then, if it needs more you can add the water and adjust the amount needed!

Pro Tips!

Don’t have fresh minced garlic? Add dried minced garlic or garlic powder instead, just don’t leave out the garlic entirely!
Stir the sauce every so often as it simmers so it doesn’t stick to the bottom and burn.
If you like your spaghetti sauce spicy, use hot Italian sausage in place of regular!

Homemade Marinara Sauce Recipe in Stovetop Pot with Wooden Spoon Stirring

If you’re ready to level up pasta night, then you’ll love this easy and flavorful recipe!

More Pasta Recipes You’ll Love

Need some dinners with easy clean-up? Then check out my One Pot Chicken Spaghetti recipe.
Spaghetti Salad is a tasty cold pasta salad loaded to the brim with yummy goodies.
Looking for creamy pasta for dinner? Then you’ll love Spaghetti alla Carbonara.
Penne alla Vodka will make you feel like you’ve got a professional chef in the kitchen making dinner!
Make this easy and delicious Crockpot Spaghetti Sauce for your next spaghetti night.

Meet Julie Evink

I'm here to help you win in the kitchen again! Life is Busy, Life is Crazy, but that doesn't mean you can't make your family dinner! Julie's goal is to provide you with easy, family, friendly recipes that use pantry staples. Dinnertime will be stress free again!