Easy Homemade Spaghetti Sauce Recipe
Made with a few essential items you may already have on hand, my familys secret homemade spaghetti sauce is quick and easy to prepare. Your store-bought spaghetti sauce will be replaced by this one, which is perfectly thick and full of flavor. You can prepare this fast vegetarian pasta sauce ahead of time and store it in the freezer for later use. In addition, Ive added a spaghetti meat sauce option for those who enjoy meat. Make sure to watch the video and take note of all of my suggestions below.
- Unfussy.
- Also, the components are simple and readily available: canned tomatoes, onions, garlic, carrots, as well as a few spices and fresh herbs for taste, are all things that most of us have on hand.
- It is quite OK to use high-quality canned tomatoes from the cupboard.
- The less complicated, the better!
- Its the perfect thickness and has a ton of flavor.
How To Make Nanas Easy Meat Sauce
Pro Tip: The ground sausage and canned tomatoes are both quite salty. Its best to let the sauce cook a little while at least 30 minutes before deciding if you want to salt it.
Keep homemade Meat Sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. The flavors keep getting better the longer all of the ingredients sit together!
Spaghetti With Turkey Meat Sauce
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How To Make It
One-Pot Spaghetti is such a simple, easy spaghetti recipe that its almost ridiculous. Allow me to break it down for you
And yall, THATS IT.
Im not gonna familycuisine.net-Pot Spaghetti is the only way I ever make it anymore.
It saves time and effort AND it turns out really tasty!
Canning And Freezing Meat Sauce

This meat sauce will freeze perfectly. Once it has cooled, transfer it to a jar or freezer safe container. Make sure that you leave a solid 2 inches of room in the jar you put it in to account for expanding. Store it in the freezer for up to a month.
I do not have experience with canning. Because this contains meat, proceed with caution. I suggest visiting the USDAs website, specifically their section on canning meat.
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How To Make Homemade Italian Spaghetti Sauce In The Crock Pot:
Add The Sauce And Simmer
Deglaze
After the onions are soft and mostly translucent add a little bit of the canned sauce to the pan. The goal with this is to deglaze the pan and get all those dark bits and flavor into the sauce. This will add incredible flavor to the spaghetti meat sauce.
Add the remaining can of sauce.
Ground beef
Add the ground beef that you set aside back to the pan. You want to mix this around to make sure that the beef gets fully covered with sauce.
Crushed tomatoes
Add the can of crushed tomatoes, carefully adding this to the pan because it is going to want to splatter.
Add salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. After you get all the ingredients in, turn the burner down to a simmer and cover it.
Now, depending on how runny the sauce was in the cans you bought will determine how long you will want to simmer.
You are looking for a thicker sauce that will stick to the pasta that you cooked.
Sample the sauce to see if it needs any more seasoning. At the very least it most likely will need some more salt.
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Spaghetti With Meat Sauce
by Susie Weinrich · This post may contain affiliate links.
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Spaghetti with Meat Sauce is a staple at our house. It is a kid friendly dinner that I know everyone will eat. Follow this recipe to turn your favorite jarred marinara sauce into delicious spaghetti with meat sauce.
If you would rather use your Instant Pot for spaghetti night, check out this recipe for Instant Pot Spaghetti! Or if your family loves meatballs, pop over to this Amazing Baked Italian Meatball Recipe!
If you like to have a weekly pasta dinner, but like to keep it simple, also check out this Easy Tomato Cream Sauce recipe and Instant Pot Turkey Meatballs!
Can You Freeze Spaghetti Sauce
Its common for me to prepare a few batches of this spaghetti sauce at a time and store them in the freezer. Make certain that the spaghetti sauce has completely cooled before freezing it. Transfer the sauce to freezer-safe containers, being sure to leave enough space for the sauce to expand during freezing.
Cover the container firmly and be sure to clearly mark it with the contents and the date. Refrigerate the sauce overnight to allow it to thaw. Warm over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until well heated.
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The Best Meat Sauce: A Special Family Recipe
This amazing meat sauce recipe hails from my father-in-laws kitchen and is everyones favorite. Its thick, hearty, and has phenomenal flavor thanks to a combination of beef, veal, and pork.
I think every family has a bona fide people pleaser. My grandma was ours.
She always wanted to please everyone, even if it meant creating much more work for herself. Case in point: Sunday dinner. She often made different versions of the same dish in order to appease everyones taste preferences. Lasagna was one such dish, and her sauce was the other. To accommodate those who didnt like chunks of anything in sauce, she typically made a simple marinara I always loved her sauce, even though I have a huge soft spot for a super chunky meat sauce.
Fast forward to my courtship with my husband. At some point in those early months, I had the chance to taste his dads meat sauce after it had spent a Sunday afternoon simmering away on the stove. I fell madly in love with that sauce.
Ive been enjoying it for years, and the second time that I made it, my husband walked into the kitchen as I was just getting it to a simmer and said that it smelled like his parents house on a Sunday.
Success.
If you prefer a meatless sauce, you can simply omit the meat and make the sauce as directed below. Ive done that multiple times when Ive made baked ziti, and its just as fabulous.
I urge you to run, not walk, into the kitchen and get a pot of this started.
To Cook The Best Spaghetti We Have A Few Simple Tricks
Check the package directions of the spaghetti you plan to cook. On the box, there should be an approximate cook time for al-dente, which means the pasta will be tender, but not mushy. It will still have a bit of a bite, which is perfect.
When you know the suggested cook time, set a timer for a minute or so before it. So if the box suggests 10 minutes, set a timer for 8 minutes.
This way, at the 8-minute mark, you can check on the spaghetti to make sure it isnt done already. The box directions are a helpful guide, but its always a good idea to check the pasta early!
Cook the spaghetti in salted water. The water should taste salty. This seasons the pasta as it cooks and is necessary for the best-tasting pasta.
Toss the cooked spaghetti with a flavorful sauce like our homemade spaghetti sauce. Dont just spoon the sauce on top of the pasta.
For more spaghetti recipes, look at this baked spaghetti is similar to lasagna, but easier and if you love veggies, try our easy veggie spaghetti.
If you were looking to reduce the carbohydrates in your dish, swap half or all of the pasta with zucchini noodles. Heres our recipe for zucchini noodles pasta.
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Spaghetti Meat Sauce Recipe
Spaghetti Meat Sauce is beefy, juicy and so satisfying. It comes together fast so it is perfect for busy weeknights, and its freezer friendly. Meat sauce has all of the comforting flavors of Spaghetti and Meatballs, or traditional Bolognese but is much easier!
Serve this meat sauce over spaghetti with a generous amount of parmesan cheese, paired with asparagus and crusty French bread. P.S. You can also use this meat sauce to make the Best Lasagna.
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
Easy Meat Sauce Recipe

This homemade sauce from scratch can be put on any pasta that you like. We prefer it on spaghetti or angel hair pasta.
You could add this to a fettuccine or elbows.
If you are gluten-free there are a lot of kinds of pasta that are made now without gluten including rice or some zucchini noodles. All of these would go great with this recipe.
If you are making lasagna this meat sauce will also work great. Cook up your lasagna noodle and add this deliciousness.
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Tips For Making Spaghetti And Meat Sauce
While the easy homemade spaghetti sauce cooks low and slow for 3 hours, stir it occasionally. You dont want anything sticking to the bottom of the pot and burning, adding a bitter flavor to the meat sauce.
Serve this meat sauce with regular spaghetti noodles. It would be just as good with any other twirly pasta, tortellini, ravioli or even as a filler for lasagna.
This homemade spaghetti recipe makes a lot so its great for serving to a crowd or a big family. If youre making for two or a few, it makes excellent leftovers for lunch all week long or divide the sauce into gallon freezer and save for later.
What To Serve With Spaghetti And Meat Sauce
We always serve this with a super crunchy iceberg salad tossed with sliced cucumbers and tomatoes and dressed in my favorite red wine vinaigrette and a few slices of buttery garlic bread. If youre looking for a little bit more, here are a few recipe ideas to make your meal.
- 1teaspoonfreshly ground black pepper
- 1pounddried spaghetti noodles
- grated Parmesan cheese
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Can I Make Spaghetti Sauce From Whole Tomatoes
If you want to create spaghetti sauce from scratch, rather than using canned tomatoes, youll need to peel your tomatoes and remove the stems before proceeding. The quickest and most efficient method of peeling tomatoes is to blanch them in boiling water for 1-2 minutes and then immediately throw them in an ice bath to stop the cooking. After that, the skins may be simply peeled away. We also have a recipe for Fire Roasted Spaghetti Sauce that is somewhat different.
Top 10 Homemade Pasta Sauces
When it comes to spaghetti sauce, nothing beats a good handmade recipe. Here are the top ten sauces that will improve the taste of your dinners. Purchased marinara is all and well, but it cant compete with the genuine thing when it comes to flavor. A homemade spaghetti sauce recipe that is prepared with care is the most delicious dish you can have. There are instances when a homemade sauce is not feasible, but many times it is less difficult than you think to prepare from scratch. When youre looking for some inspiration, check out our list of the top 10 homemade pasta sauces to try!
Pick your favorite creamy white sauce, vibrant green pesto cream sauce, or even a light and aromatic white wine sauce from the options available.
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Serving Suggestions For Spaghetti Meat Sauce
We love this spaghetti meat sauce over some cooked spaghetti noodles. You can use any noodle you want! Top each serving with parmesan cheese.
Serve some garlic bread on the side and a side salad. I like to buy the bagged organic Caesar salad mix from Costco, but any grocery store sells it.
You can also serve it over some zucchini noodles for a low carb option.
Feel free to use this pasta sauce in any recipe that calls for it, like this easy ziti pasta bake. This is a great thing to do with leftovers!
How To Make Homemade Meat Sauce From Scratch:
The photos take you through the general steps of making the best spaghetti meat sauce without giving you exact amountssee the recipe card below for the details.
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You’ll Love These Other Family Favorite Pasta Dinner Recipes
Easy Garlic Parmesan Pasta – My kids call this ‘white pasta’ and I make it weekly! So good, kid-friendly, and easy to keep the ingredients on hand.
Creamy Tomato Beef Pasta – Pasta covered in a creamy ground beef sauce.
Perfect Instant Pot Baked Ziti – This really is ‘perfect’ each time! This is a no-fail Instant Pot recipe.
What Can I Use If I Dont Have Enough Spaghetti Sauce

If you are in a pinch and you need to stretch your sauce then you can add water. Alternatively, if you have some tomato paste you could use that with the added water and mix it together really well.
The tomato paste is a concentrated version of the tomato sauce and the water will help balance it. Another option would be to add some grated cheese with the water and tomato paste and the cheese will help thicken the sauce.
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How To Freeze Meat Sauce:
Meat sauce will last in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. To store it longer, transfer meat sauce to a freezer-safe container, leaving just a slight amount of headroom at the top. We prefer freezing meat sauce in freezer ziploc bags because it lays flat in the freezer and can be quick-thawed under running water.
Make Ahead And Freezing Instructions:
To make ahead: You can prepare million dollar spaghetti 1 day ahead of time. Follow recipe instructions up to step 8 . allow it to cool, cover it well with plastic wrap and store it in the refrigerator until ready to bake.
To freeze: Prepare recipe right up until the baking step. Cover well with greased aluminum foil and freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to eat, thaw in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 days, then bake for about 20 minutes covered and then 15-20 minutes uncovered. If baking from frozen, bake covered for about 40 minutes, then uncover and bake 20-30 minutes longer, or until bubbly and warm.
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