When my cousin shared this incredible spaghetti sauce recipe with me, I was amazed at how simple it was to make restaurant-quality marinara at home. With just a handful of pantry staples and less than an hour of your time, you can create a sauce that’s infinitely better than anything you’ll find in a jar.
The best part? You probably already have most of these ingredients in your kitchen right now. This recipe proves that homemade doesn’t have to be complicated or time-consuming. It’s incredibly versatile, freezes beautifully for meal prep, and costs a fraction of premium jarred sauces. Once you see how easy it is to make your own sauce, you’ll wonder why you ever bought the store-bought version.
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Table of Contents
Why This Recipe Works
The secret lies in the layering of flavors and the cooking technique. Starting with golden, fragrant garlic and onions creates a flavorful base. The combination of crushed tomatoes and tomato puree gives the perfect texture (thick enough to cling to pasta but not heavy). The touch of sugar balances the natural acidity of tomatoes without making the sauce sweet, while the long, slow simmer allows all flavors to meld beautifully.
Ingredients
Aromatics Base:
- Extra virgin olive oil – Provides rich foundation and carries flavors throughout the sauce
- Fresh garlic cloves – Create aromatic base when golden and fragrant, not burnt
- White onion – Offers mild, sweet flavor that won’t overpower the tomatoes like yellow onions can
Herbs and Seasonings:
- Dried basil – Adds classic Italian herb flavor that infuses throughout the long simmer
- Dried parsley flakes – Contributes fresh, grassy notes that brighten the overall flavor
- Dried oregano – Provides earthy, slightly bitter notes that balance the sweetness
- Ground black pepper – Adds subtle heat and depth without overwhelming
- Salt – Enhances all flavors and balances the sweetness
- Granulated sugar – Neutralizes tomato acidity and creates balanced, restaurant-quality taste
Tomato Base:
- Canned crushed tomatoes – Provide chunky texture and robust tomato flavor when quality fresh isn’t available
- Tomato puree – Creates smooth consistency and concentrated tomato taste without heaviness of paste
How to Make Spaghetti Sauce from Scratch
- Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat.
- Add garlic. Stir and cook until golden brown. Be careful not to burn the garlic.
- Add onion and cook until soft and golden, stirring frequently.
- Add basil, parsley, pepper, oregano, sugar, crushed tomatoes, and tomato puree. Stir to combine.
- Increase heat to medium-high and bring the sauce to a boil, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon to prevent scorching.
- Reduce heat to low, cover loosely, and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Recipe Tips for the Cook
- One secret to the best spaghetti sauce is good quality tomatoes—Tuttorosso, Muir Glen, San Marzano, Pastene, and Pomi are all good brands. In addition, Pomi tomatoes come in a box rather than a can, which is nice if you’re looking to avoid BPA, which is still found in some canned foods.
- Consider adding fennel seed to elevate your spaghetti sauce recipe to a more authentic Italian level. If you’re apprehensive about adding it, start with 1/4 teaspoon and build up from there!
- Add one pound of cooked ground chuck for meat sauce when the tomato products are added.
- You could also use Italian sausage or part beef and part sausage.
- If you don’t want to use beef, try ground turkey – it adds a very different but dynamic flavor.
- Sprinkle with freshly grated romano or parmesan cheese when serving this homemade spaghetti sauce recipe with your favorite pasta.
For a vegetarian “meat” sauce, add a plant-based meat product such as Beyond Beef or Beyond Sausage.
Storage & Reheating Instructions
- Freezing: Cool completely and freeze in portions for up to 6 months. Freeze flat in freezer bags for easy storage and quick thawing.
- Refrigerator Storage: Store in airtight containers for up to 5 days. Sauce actually improves in flavor after day one as ingredients continue to meld.
- Reheating Method: Heat gently over low heat, stirring occasionally. Add splash of water or pasta cooking liquid if sauce has thickened too much.
Love spaghetti? Try these recipes!
- Homemade Spaghettios
- Spaghetti Carbonara
- Spaghetti Casserole
- Spaghetti Salad
- Spaghetti with Mizithra Cheese
- Taco Spaghetti
Favorite Italian Recipes
- Creamy Alfredo Sauce
- Homemade Italian Sausage
- Italian Rice Balls
- Penne alla Vodka
- Red Clam Sauce
- Olive Garden Alfredo Sauce
- Olive Garden Shrimp Scampi
Check out my easy sauce recipes and the best Italian recipes here on CopyKat!
The recipe comes from Sue A. Mertens Minick from Hazelwood, MO. She found this site on the internet! And yes, she is family 🙂
Easy Homemade Spaghetti Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1 teaspoon basil
- 1 teaspoon parsley flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon. oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons sugar
- 28 ounces crushed tomatoes
- 29 ounces tomato puree (2 14.5-ounce cans)
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat.
- Add onion and cook until soft and golden, stirring frequently.
- Add garlic. Stir and cook until golden brown. Be careful not to burn the garlic.
- Add seasonings, tomato products, and sugar and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
- Reduce heat to low,cover loosely, and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Very sweet. Opt for baking soda. Bland. Double up on the spices. Using puree is the best takeaway here. Easy, and a very nice consistency gravy, but, very Midwest in taste.
I’ve been making spaghetti sauce my whole life and sometimes it is too acid. I have added sugar and I just don’t like the taste. So this morning I made a large pot with canned tomato from Italy, ground chuck and of course my regular seasonings. Simmered for hours, it tasted pretty good but a little tart. I thought I’d try your idea of baking soda instead of sugar, so I put in a tablespoon like the article said because it was a large pot. Huge mistake, it started to bubble up and I tried to spoon it off the top, It tasted like garbage, so I added more garlic and spices and a big can off hunts spaghetti sauce. I couldn’t eat it so the whole pot got dumped. Please take the baking soda idea off your recipe so it doesn’t ruin anyone else’s dinner.
why is a slow cooker used instead of stove top and I think Locatelli is the best cheese to use.My grandmother always put in a whole peeled carrot to help with bitterness
You could use a stove top if you desire. I think for longer cooking that we aren’t physically there to watch, a slow cooker is a great alternative. I appreciate your tip on the cheese! Love your tip about the addition of the carrot.
I do not get it….if you make “home made spaghetti sauce from cans of tomatoes, how is it different than buying it in a can. If it was made from fresh tomatoes I would get it.
Thank you for your comment. I think canned tomatoes are consistent, and you know exactly what you are getting each time. Fresh tomatoes can vary a bit from season to season. You also can’t get the prized San Marzano fresh, those will only come canned. Even when I have had fresh tomatoes, I have often canned them, and then made spaghetti sauce. I appreciate your comment, and you have given me something to think through.
BEST EVER
I worked in an Italian restaurant and I was always taught TO burn the garlic.
That’s interesting, how much did you burn it, until it turned brown or black?
BEST IS MINE…
3 lbs hamburger
1 Lg onion minced
4 cloves garlic minced
3 cans 14.5 oz whole tomatoes
2 lg 12 oz cans tom paste
1 sm 6 oz can tom paste
2 lg 12 oz tomato sauce
1 cup granulated sugar
Brown hamburger with onion & garlic till no longer pink…do NOT drain!!!
In a large slow cooker put rest of ingredients except sugar.
Add hamburger even hamburger grease.
Stir completely.
With scissors cut tom’s in half. (if you want, you can do this beforehand).
Add sugar and stir completely.
Cover and cook on low for at least 6 hours..(I cook mine sometimes 8 to 10) till it gets a glistening oil floating on top edges. The oil will make it taste SOOOOOO rich that you will not be able to eat a whole lot….lol
Smaller family or you don’t care to have leftovers (Better the second day reheated…lol), you can half the recipe. This recipe is from my Pennsylvania side of the family. Probably at least 100 years old….I’m 73 and I learned it from my mom when I was small. She learned it from HER mom and so on and so on and so on. If you DO make this …lemme know what you think. Oh and also the leftover makes a dynamite lasagna.
We have many recipes for homemade sauce, and after trying this one, my wife said to get rid of ALL of them ! This sauce was absolutely delicious. You can always cut back on the sugar, and we used fresh grated Romano cheese, instead of parmesan, and that was so much better. We’ll make it again, often, but triple the sauce, so it can be frozen.
Thank you for your lovely compliment. This is a really good sauce. I bet this would be great canned as well. Thank you for dropping by and checking out this recipe.
Great sauce thank you. If you thinly cut a carrot and then chop it small. Add to the sauce, it takes the place of sugar and and also reduces the tomato acid. The finely chopped up carrot completely cooks up and you don’t even know it was ever
there.
Great idea on the carrot!
Too much sugar in this recipe.