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This easy Homemade Spaghetti Sauce is made with beef, plenty of spices, and a touch of sugar for sweetness. It’s great for lasagna, spaghetti, or zoodles, and it comes together with easy pantry ingredients.
A good homemade Spaghetti Sauce recipe is essential for the home cook. Yes, you can make Spaghetti with it, but you can also make loads of other recipes with it.
Stewed Sausage and Peppers, Lasagna, Baked Ziti, and Meatball Subs are all good examples. In a pinch, it can work as a pizza sauce, or you can thin it with water to make an Italian-flavored soup.
It’s also perfect for freezing, so make a big batch and store it away for busy days ahead when you wish you had time to slowly stir a simmering pot of Spaghetti Sauce.
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
Ingredient notes
- Sugar: Add sugar to taste. For some, that means omitting it entirely. For others, you can increase the sugar up to ¼ cup.
- Italian seasoning: It’s easy to make your own homemade Italian seasoning with dried basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme and marjoram.
Step-by-step instructions
- In a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, add beef and onion and cook until mostly browned, about 5 minutes. Drain if desired. Stir in garlic until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, sugar, basil, Italian seasoning, and bay leaf. Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper (I like 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper).
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This recipe 2 quarts or 8 cups, enough for 16 (½ cup) servings. It’s also enough for one lasagna.
- Storage: store in the refrigerator and use within 4 days.
- Freezer: Divide the broth into freezer-safe containers (I like to use 16-ounce glass jars) and leave 1/2-inch head space for expansion. Label and date, then freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, you sure can! Transfer the browned beef, onion, and garlic mixture to a slow cooker. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, sugar, basil, Italian seasoning, and bay leaf, then cover and cook on HIGH for 2 to 3 hours or LOW for 4 to 6 hours.
To customize your homemade spaghetti sauce, stir in chopped green peppers or sliced mushrooms with the onions. Substitute fire-roasted tomatoes for the crushed tomatoes. Or, add chili flakes (a pinch or a lot!) for extra heat.
More pastas to try
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Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1 medium onion chopped (about 1 cup)
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
- 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar or to taste (see note 1)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (see note 2)
- 1 bay leaf
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Pasta cooked according to package directions, for serving
Instructions
- In a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, add beef and onion and cook until mostly browned, about 5 minutes. Drain if desired. Stir in garlic until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, sugar, basil, Italian seasoning, and bay leaf. Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season to taste with salt and pepper (I like 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper).
Notes
- Sugar: Add sugar to taste. For some, that means omitting it entirely. For others, you can increase the sugar up to ¼ cup.
- Italian seasoning: It’s easy to make your own homemade Italian seasoning with dried basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme and marjoram.
- Yield: This recipe 2 quarts or 8 cups, enough for 16 (½ cup) servings. It’s also enough for one lasagna.
- Storage: store in the refrigerator and use within 4 days.
- Freezer: Divide the broth into freezer-safe containers (I like to use 16-ounce glass jars) and leave 1/2-inch head space for expansion. Label and date, then freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
