How To Make The Best Spaghetti Sauce

How To Make This Spaghetti Sauce Your Own

• If you have a garden full of tomatoes, thats wonderful! You can easily substitute peeled fresh tomatoes for the crushed and diced tomatoes. Roma tomatoes or another meaty variety work best. Youll need about four pounds.
• Add more veggies: Chopped bell peppers or mushrooms can be added. Sauté them with the onions. Or stir in a few handfuls of baby spinach right before serving.
• I like to serve this sauce with homemade meatballs or baked turkey meatballs. Frozen meatballs are so handy. Just add them to the sauce about halfway through the simmering time so they get heated through.
• If you would like to make a spaghetti sauce with meat, sauté ground beef or turkey, or Italian sausage with the onions, and then continue the recipe as directed.
• If you happen to have a rind of Parmesan cheese, put that in the sauce as it simmers to enhance the flavor.
• Make this sauce vegan or Whole30 simply by omitting the butter and sugar.
• Dont have any fresh herbs? Simply add a tablespoon of dried basil and parsley instead.
• If you prefer a sauce made without tomatoes, maybe this isnt the recipe for you. Try this creamy chicken spaghetti or chicken Marsala pasta.

Ingredients You Will Need

• Spaghetti. Any pasta will work. I prefer to use whole wheat or whole grain because it contains fiber and nutrients. If you use regular white pasta, please note nutritional information of this delicious spaghetti recipe will change. Gluten free spaghetti like brown rice, quinoa etc. will work. Please note it cooks much faster than wheat. So watch to avoid a mushy mess.
• Tomato sauce. There are so many tomato products on supermarket shelves these days. In cans and jars. I get lost myself. That is why partially I just buy a 12 case of organic low sodium canned tomato sauce at Costco and use in all my recipes. Another reason is that other tomato products are expensive. Often for no reason. To make good spaghetti, you need a can of cheap tomato sauce that reads tomato sauce. Preferably low sodium. Not spaghetti sauce, not pizza sauce, not pasta sauce, not marinara sauce. Just tomato sauce.
• Parmesan cheese. Pre-grated Parmesan cheese in a shaker contains cellulose as a filler. It is ground up wood chips. It is not pure Parmesan cheese. Plus it doesnt taste nearly as fresh. I highly recommend to use fresh and real Parmesan. I usually buy a hunk, grate as much as I need and refrigerate in a container for up to 2-3 months. Then freeze remainder in a Ziploc bag. When needed, thaw, grate and use for pasta salad, lentil soup and baked cauliflower. And place remainder of the hunk back in the freezer.
• Extra virgin olive oil and fresh garlic.
• Dried oregano, salt and pepper.

What Other Kind Of Meat Can You Add To Spaghetti Sauce

• Ground beef
• Ground turkey
• Italian sausage

Once your meat and veggies are seasoned and cooked, you can add the jar of your favorite sauce, tomato paste, the canned tomatoes and remaining seasonings. The sauce then gets simmered for 20 minutes and then you can toss in a handful of parmesan cheese for even more yumminess!

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Watch The Video For How To Make This Spaghetti Sauce Recipe:

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Add Ins For Knock Your Socks Off Spaghetti Sauce

This spaghetti sauce is good on its own. But add in these ingredients for a special italian spaghetti sauce that will please all pasta & spaghetti lovers!

Sweet and Hot Italian Sausage

• Fresh sliced olives We use black olives, but you can use your favorite type!
• Fresh ground sweet or hot Italian Sausage. I LOVE sweet Italian sausage by Johnson Farms. They flavor is just amazing. But my Dad uses BOTH types of italian sausage in her spaghetti sauce, and it is amazing!
• Fresh sliced bell peppers! These fresh sliced bell peppers give your sauce a distinct flavor that compliments the tomatoes, onions and garlic perfectly!
• A bit of sugar sweetens the sauce and makes it less acidic! I use just 1 teaspoon!

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Spaghetti Sauce Marinara Sauce And Pizza Sauce Whats The Difference

The main difference between the 3 of these sauces is the spices used and the cooking method.

Spaghetti/Pasta sauce is a slow simmer sauce that has a few herbs like basil involved. This is usually a thicker sauce, and you usually add meats and peppers to it. This would never go over a pizza.

The marinara sauce is usually a quick-cooking sauce that only cooks for an hour or less. has a sweeter, deeper flavor. This can be used over pasta or even over pizza.

Pizza sauce is an uncooked tomato sauce. Pizza sauce is typically made with tomato pasta or thicker tomato sauce. It uses different spices from spaghetti sauce, featuring oregano, Italian seasoning, garlic salt, onion powder, and sugar.

Other Italian Recipes

If you love this homemade spaghetti sauce recipe, you will love some of our other Italian recipes:

• Heat the olive oil in a 5+ qt. pot over medium heat, and add the onion.
• Saute for 10 minutes or so, stirring often and being careful not to burn it.
• Add the chopped or pressed garlic.
• Heat for another one to two minutes, making sure not to burn the garlic, then add all the tomatoes, salt, black pepper, basil, and sugar. Stirring often, bring to a low boil.
• Reduce heat to low and simmer for 2-3 hours stirring often.
• For the first half of the simmer time, do so with the pot uncovered, then cover.
• Add the cheese, stir in and simmer for an additional 5 minutes or so.
• This will make the equivalent of 4-5 jars of sauce, and the cost is probably about half .

How To Make The Best Spaghetti Sauce According To Jamie Oliver

Spaghetti sauce is subjective stuff. Most who make it claim their recipe is the best, thanks to a few extra ingredients or some theyre unwilling to make public.

Regardless of how its put together, its impossible to go wrong with a good red sauce. As renowned chef Jamie Oliver says, the sauce serves as a lovely base atop which you can tinker and experiment. Once you get the gist of the sauce taken care of, you can spend the rest of the week fine-tuning and playing with various riffs on the traditional spaghetti. And for the record, Olivers spaghetti sauce is arguably the best out there, for a couple of key reasons.

First, he champions fresh basil. The powerful herb invigorates spaghetti sauce, both aromatically and in terms of flavor. Secondly, Oliver doesnt overdo it with the garlic. Were not trying to drive away vampires. Were trying to make some succulent spaghetti worthy of a nice bottle of Chianti or Pinot Noir. Lastly, Oliver opts for a tasty injection of acid via red wine or balsamic. This is a great way to use the previous nights Cabernet or Merlot while improving the backbone of your spaghetti sauce.

There are a couple of other easy things you can do to improve your spaghetti game. Try getting whole parmesan instead of the shredded version. If tomatoes are in season or you have access to nice vine-ripened ones, go that route. Otherwise, opt for a quality can of diced tomatoes like Cento.

Ingredients:

Method:

Editors’ Recommendations

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Tips For The Best Spaghetti Sauce

Since spaghetti has long been one of my favorite foods Ive picked up on lots of different things here and there to perfect it. Heres my tips:

• Really brown the beef. Dont add it all in one thin layer and toss and turn it constantly. Instead add it in large clumps, let the bottom really sear and brown thenstart to break it up.
• Use crushed tomatoes instead of tomato sauce or puree. It has a better, more tomato-y flavor.
• Dont be skimpy with the garlic, and add a fair amount of onion. These really build flavor here.
• Preferably use fresh basil.
• Allow time to simmer. This will offer time for those flavors to meld and compliment each other and time for the sauce to reduce and thicken a bit.
• Stir parmesan right into the sauce. Again we are building flavor and even though its only 1/4 cup it gives it special something.

Easy Spaghetti With Tomato Sauce

My husband Alex called me talented last Friday. I created this amazing spaghetti recipe with nothing in 10 minutes for a quick dinner. We all couldnt stop eating it.

If you have Instant Pot, you should also check out my Instant Pot spaghetti with any meat. I am slightly obsessed with Instant Pot recipes!

If you think of going to an Italian restaurant to pay $20 for spaghetti with tomato sauce please stop immediately. Take off your shoes and make this yummy spaghetti with tomato sauce and serve with salad. You can do it! At home with canned sauce. Because there is no such thing as fresh tomatoes for tomato sauce October July anywhere.

Or because there is a place for canned tomato sauce on a Friday night after you have been working your butt off all week. It still can be amazing, fresh and delicious! For like $5 instead of 4 x $20 plus tax and tips at a nearby Italian restaurant. With like a $10 glass of wine and turkey meatballs from the freezer or turkey breast roast on Sunday. And by the way, who stops at one glass?!

Yes! It is the best spaghetti ever! The ingredients are equivalent easy to mac and cheese. You will be blown away!

Also Check: Where To Buy Rao’s Sauce

Variations Serving And Storage

Serve with Parmesan cheese and chopped salad on the side. This is the best cheap and quite healthy spaghetti I have ever had anywhere!

You can also add:

• Olives: I love adding pitted Kalamata olives to garlicky pasta like in this chicken and whole wheat spaghetti. So easy as they come from a jar and add a zest and flavour. I dont even chop them.
• Chicken: Shredded or cubed cooked chicken breast or flavorful leftovers of honey garlic chicken or lemon chicken for extra protein.
• Ground turkey:Pre-cooked ground turkey with salt and pepper is good enough. And ups the protein content.
• Anchovies or sardines: OK, dont call me weird but I love salty canned fish with pasta. So good! Its an European in me.:)

Store: Refrigerate spaghetti leftovers in an airtight container for up to 2 days. To reheat, add to a pot with a splash of water and simmer on low.

Can You Freeze Spaghetti Sauce

Very easily! The best way to freeze spaghetti sauce is to let it cool completely and then seal it in a food saver bag. We arent getting paid to say this, but we truly do love our Food Saver. Its been amazing to freeze even cooked meats and soups and have them taste perfectly fresh two months later when we reheat. We like to use the Rolls so we can cut the bag to whatever size we want, but the Premade Bags are great too.

If you dont have a Food Saver, you can store the spaghetti sauce in freezer-safe containers or bags. When youre ready to eat the sauce, place it in your fridge overnight to thaw.

Recommended Reading: Where To Buy Rao’s Pasta Sauce

How To Doctor Up A Jar Of Spaghetti Sauce:

It starts with adding veggies and ground beef. Onion, bell pepper, and garlic add so much flavor! I start a lot of my dishes with this veggie combo for good reason!

I add the vegetables in at the same time as the meat and cook everything together. It flavors the meat and saves on time as well. We usually use ground beef but you can use any combination below.

The Difference Between Spaghetti Meat Sauce And Bolognese

Bolognese is a mixture of ground beef and/or pork, tenderized with milk and sautéed with soffrito . While it does have tomatoes, its not as saucy or tomato-forward as spaghetti and meat sauce. A traditional bolognese is more meat-forward, less tomato-heavy, richer and more delicate in flavor than most spaghetti and meat sauce recipes. And in case youre wondering, I love them both equally, dont make me choose!

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Want To Learn How To Make Pasta Sauce This Simple Recipe Is A Great Place To Start It’s On The Table In Just 20 Minutes

Store-bought pasta sauce is undoubtedly convenient. As long as you have one jar in the pantry, you have the key component for many of our favorite weeknight dinners. But what if we told you that a good pasta sauce doesnt have to simmer on the stovetop for hours. In fact, you can make some homemade pasta sauce recipes in the time it takes to boil the pasta! Well show you how to make pasta sauce with pantry staples you likely already have on hand, in less time than you think.

Whats In This Homemade Spaghetti And Meat Sauce

While I have several quick and easy spaghetti recipes like my pasta pomodoro or spaghetti carbonara that are ready in minutes, this spaghetti and meat sauce recipe is the ultimate Sunday, long-simmer dinner.

This is the type of pasta dinner recipe you can easily have at the ready thanks to a simply stocked pantry and a few foundation refrigerator ingredients I can always find at my local Smiths Marketplace / Kroger store.

My Moms spaghetti recipe is both Italian in its inspiration and American in its popularity. It doesnt call for anything extraordinary. In fact, its totally basic, and thats what makes it all the better.

Heres whats in this spaghetti and meat sauce:

Read Also: Where To Buy Rao’s Sauce

Reheating And Storage Tips

Leftover spaghetti sauce will keep in the fridge for up to 4 days. Store in a resealable container. Reheat gently in a saucepan on the stove when ready to serve.

Homemade spaghetti sauce is a meal preppers dream. You can make a big batch of this sauce when you have extra time and freeze it in freezer containers indefinitely. Preferably, you should allow time for it to thaw overnight in the fridge before using.

Or, make a big batch of sauce on Saturday or Sunday, and plan meals around it for the rest of the week. Its perfect for more than spaghetti and meatballs. Use it for this easy skillet lasagna, pizza stuffed spaghetti squash, rustic polenta stack, or pizza quesadillas, or as a dipping sauce for air fryer mozzarella sticks or chicken strips.

More Easy Pasta Recipes

This Easy Baked Spaghetti combines a simple tomato meat sauce, spaghetti, cheese, and a creamy pesto layer.

Our readers have said that our Meaty Lasagna Recipe is the best theyve ever made. We combine beef, sausage, and a homemade sauce.

This Easy Fettuccine Alfredo features a silky smooth sauce made with butter and parmesan cheese, cooked sausage, and lightly wilted spinach.

For a lighter take on spaghetti, try our Fresh Veggie Spaghetti. The sauce is simple, vegetarian, and made 100% from scratch.

Read Also: Texas Pete Hot Sauce Recipe

What Ingredients Go Into Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

• Olive oil use for sauteing.
• Lean ground beef I recommend 85% lean ground Angus beef.
• Salt and pepper to season the beef and sauce and highlight its flavors.
• Onion and garlic these build a flavor foundation for the sauce. Always use fresh.
• Canned crushed tomatoes Ive actually done a side by side taste taste with several brands and Hunts is best. If you want to puree a can of San Marzano tomatoes that would be delicious too.
• Tomato Paste this adds lots of tomato flavor and helps thicken up the sauce.
• Fresh basil and fresh parsley this gives the sauce so much fresh flavor. Fresh basil in spaghetti sauce is a must in my book.
• Dried oregano since you wont be using much we go with dried, but feel free to substitute fresh if youve got it .

Ingredient Notes And Substitutions

• San Marzano Italian tomatoes The true authentic canned tomatoes for any good Italian sauce
• olive oil this is the classic choice for Italian dishes. If you have another oil you prefer, itll work too.
• garlic cloves some people prefer to use the prepared minced garlic, which is fine too.
• tomato paste to help reduce waste, I buy tomato paste in a tube rather than a can. If you use canned tomato paste and have some left over, it freezes well! Transfer it to an ice cube tray and you can pop the cubes out as you need them.
• sugar -Adding sugar helps to reduce the acidity from tomatoes. Granular sugar substitutes work, if you prefer them.
• fresh basil Use fresh leaves of basil if at all possible their flavor is much better than using dried basil
• dry red wine The alcohol will cook out, but if youd rather not include it, the sauce will still be delicious. You can use vegetable broth or water instead.

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