The Best Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
The rich, delicious flavor of this homemade spaghetti sauce is nothing short of amazing! Tried-and-true, this spaghetti sauce recipe really is the best.
This has been my go-to spaghetti sauce for years. I make a batch, freeze half, and we have several meals to look forward to!
The flavor in this spaghetti sauce is out of this world delicious.
How to Make Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
This sauce begins by building levels of flavor.
First: throw a chopped onion and red pepper in a blender and process until mostly smooth.
Doing this gives the sauce loads of flavor with minimal texture (making it especially kid-friendly!).
Second: brown ground beef (or a combination of ground beef, ground pork, or ground sausage) with lots of garlic and add the following.
- tomato paste
- blended onion and red pepper
- dried basil, oregano and thyme
- salt and pepper
Cook that mixture until sizzling and fragrant.
Third: add the “saucy” ingredients and a few more ingredients for flavor.
- diced tomatoes
- crushed tomatoes
- beef broth or stock
- brown sugar
- bay leaves
A Boost of Flavor
Cook the sauce at a low simmer for about an hour. It will reduce and thicken as it cooks.
Also: your house is going to smell amazing!
When it’s done cooking, stir in 1-2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. Why? This balances out the sauce while adding a rich depth of flavor.
Slow Cooker Variation
This sauce can easily be made in a slow cooker for even easier prep!
Slow Cooker Instructions: cook the meat and garlic in a skillet on the stove. Drain the grease. Then add the cooked meat and everything else (minus the olive oil and balsamic vinegar) to the slow cooker. Cook on high for 4-6 or low for 7-9 hours. Stir in the balsamic vinegar about 15 minutes before serving.
A Family Favorite
This sauce has been our go-to homemade spaghetti sauce for over ten years. It’s perfect for spaghetti. But it can also be used for baked ziti, manicotti, and many other pasta dishes!
So many of you have become lifelong fans of this recipe as well.
Elizabeth says: This sauce is so good. I made everything exactly to a T. AMAZING!
Jorene says: I have been making this sauce for a couple years now. It truly is the best recipe. Everybody that eats it loves it. My sister asked for the recipe. That says a lot. I keep it in my freezer all the time.
Christy says: Omg! I haven’t made homemade sauce in over 20 years and I’m here to tell you that this is by far the best sauce I’ve ever tasted or made. Love it and wouldn’t change a thing. Thank you.
FAQ for Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
Yes, it’s delicious meatless, too (you can also use it for spaghetti and meatballs – add cooked meatballs toward the end after the sauce has simmered and let the meatballs heat through in the sauce).
I haven’t canned this recipe, but here’s another option!
https://www.melskitchencafe.com/homemade-spaghetti-marinara-sauce-for-canning-or-freezing/
The flavor is a bit different than this homemade spaghetti sauce (in order for the sauce to be safe for canning), but it’s super tasty.
I simmer partially covered.
Yes I do that all the time!
What to Serve With This
- Hot, cooked spaghetti noodles
- Divine breadsticks
- Simple green salad (or something more fancy like this Gourmet Green Salad)
The Best Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cups onion, chopped and divided
- 5 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 2 pounds lean ground beef or lean ground turkey
- 1 red bell pepper, seeded, cored and coarsely chopped
- 1 (12-ounce) can tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 3 teaspoons dried oregano
- 3 teaspoons dried basil
- 1 ½ teaspoons dried thyme
- 2 cans (14-ounces each) Italian-style diced tomatoes or regular diced tomatoes
- 2 cans (28-ounces each) crushed tomatoes
- 8 ounces button or baby bella mushrooms, chopped
- 1 ½ cups beef stock or beef broth
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Instructions
- In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add 1 cup of the chopped onions, and sauté until translucent and slightly browned, 3-4 minutes. Add garlic, and cook, stirring constantly for a minute or so.
- Add beef, and cook, breaking into small pieces, until it is no longer pink, 6-7 minutes. Drain excess grease.
- In a blender or food processor, blend remaining 1 cup onion and the red pepper until smooth. Pour the mixture into the pot with the beef and onions.
- Add the tomato paste, salt, pepper, oregano, basil and thyme, and cook for 1 minute, stirring until combined.
- Add diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, mushrooms (if using), beef broth, and sugar. Stir until combined before adding the bay leaves.
- Bring the sauce to a boil, and then reduce to low and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Stir in the balsamic vinegar and let the sauce rest for 10-15 minutes (for the flavor to absorb) before serving.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe
Recipe originally published September 2016; updated September 2022 with additional photos, notes, etc (did not change the recipe).
If we don’t have dried basil or dried thyme, can we use Italian seasoning instead? Any other substitute?
Yes you can try subbing in Italian seasoning for the dried herbs
Love it! Wanting to make a huge batch for future meals and I’m wondering if you can can this spaghetti sauce since it has mushrooms and meat in it? Never done that before.
After trying this recipe for the first time tonight, my family all agreed it needs to replace my old recipe. Loved by all…3 kids included! Thank you, there hasn’t been a recipe of yours that we haven’t loved
Thank you so much, Jill!
This was wonderful! I just discovered your site and haven’t made sauce in so long I needed a recipe. Made it with browned sausage links and put in crock pot. A glug of red wine instead of balsamic a few hours before it was done. So good! Halved recipe because my crock pot is small, still made a lot.
This recipe is what spaghetti dreams are made of!! Soooo delish!!! I didn’t have beef broth so blended up a can of whole tomatoes &added it to make up for the liquid. (We are going to do it this way from now on:) ) Big hit with the family also. I’ve made it numerous times. Thank you !!!
Hi Mel! I’m excited to try this recipe as I already use and love the weeknight spaghetti sauce! But my family requested meatballs this time. Have you made this recipe without the beef cooked in? I saw your meatball recipe from 2011 and figured I’d use that but given the amazing reviews on this sauce, I definitely want to give it a try! Thanks in advance!
Yes, it’s delicious meatless, too (especially if you add meatballs in – when I’ve done that, I add cooked meatballs toward the end of the sauce cooking so they can absorb some of the flavors of the sauce).
By far the BEST spaghetti sauce recipe out there! I made this for the first time almost to a t, omitting just the vinegar and sugar and it was amazing. I’ve made this dozens of times since then and here’s what I do just a bit differently to my liking. I add 1/2 hamb and 1/2 ground Italian sausage, I use garden fresh tomatoes when I can, when I can’t I use whole San Marzano tomatoes from Cento and crush them up with my hands, I double the garlic (my husbands Italian so we LOVE garlic) and add raw Italian sausage links. I cook it for as long as the day goes, 5 -8 hours. AMAZING! The sausage links come out so tender they just fall apart. Thank you for such a wonderful spaghetti recipe, you made me fall in love with spaghetti all over again!
I think this would be fine to can providing you pressure can it. Use the same time/pressure as you would for stuffed pepper soups etc.
Absolute perfection! Made the 1 hour bread sticks to go with the sauce. Mmmm my kitchen smells amazing. Thanks so much for ALL your A+ recipes.
I saw that this recipe got a ton of happy reviews so I had to try it for myself. I made some spaghetti for my kids this past weekend and they love it! Thank you Mel for sharing =)
I was wondering if you could provide nutritional information(recent type 2 diabetes diagnosis) about this fantastic sauce. I made it for the first time last summer. My kids had stopped eating jarred pasta sauce but I missed spaghetti sauce. The sauce was a hit from day one (I make it in the slow cooker).
I’m sorry I don’t have that info, Karyn! There are a lot of nutritional calculators online if you do a quick google search that can calculate the nutrition for you.
This sauce is so good. I made everything exactly to a T. AMAZING!
Hey Mel!
I love your recipes! I seriously make something of yours every night! Tonight I tried this spaghetti sauce and it turned out bitter, what did I do wrong? I trust you and your recipes so much that I know it was an error on my part. I know I added the balsamic vinegar too early would that have caused it? Also do you have any suggestions on how I could fix it?
Thanks for your help!
Hi Bailee, it was probably the vinegar. You might even try leaving that out completely if that balsamic flavor profile doesn’t work for you. The flavors will definitely mellow over time so it might be fine refrigerated for a day…but you could also try adding a bit more tomato sauce and brown sugar to see if that helps.
Thank you!!
Came home from work planned on making spaghetti looked in the cupboard and no jars of sauce. Found this recipe just so happened to have all the ingredients and it was amazing thank you.
I am hoping to make this today but hoping to use my garden tomatoes! Question, where it calls for diced tomatoes and crushed tomatoes…. can I use only fresh garden tomatoes? Or do you recommend canned specifically for this recipe?
Hi Erika, sorry for the delay in responding. Yes, you can use fresh garden tomatoes, but I would recommend peeling them first.
Made this recipe today and it’s fantastic! For a smoother sauce for picky kids (eyeing my own two), diced tomatoes can be replaced with two cans of tomato sauce. Have tried plenty of “quick” tomato sauces and they are always too watery – tomato sauce really does need to be simmered for 40 minutes – 1 hour – which, for busy parents, makes a great weekend meal. Also makes enough for ample freezing. Thank you for sharing this!
Have you made a canning recipe for this? Would love to know if you have. I would love to have plenty canned of this delicious sauce!
Yep, here you go! https://www.melskitchencafe.com/homemade-spaghetti-marinara-sauce-for-canning-or-freezing/
The flavor is a bit different than this homemade spaghetti sauce (in order for the sauce to be safe for canning), but it’s super tasty.
This is great! The sauce is my hands down go-to recipe (we now eat it with green lentils instead of ground beef) and are always so stoked with the way it turns out. Thank you for taking the time to perfect not only this recipe, but to also make it can-able!
I have been making this sauce for a couple years now. It truly is the best recipe. Everybody that eats it loves it. My sister asked for the recipe. That says a lot. I keep it in my freezer all the time.
This was awesome! My company loved it. Thanks so much!
Absolute hit with the family! Thank you for sharing
Hi! I just wanted to drop a line.
I’ve been making this, usually double batched since you first posted it in 2009.
My 4 children (10.5, 9, 5.5 and 3) grew up on this stuff. this was all of their first pasta experience for eating solids. I come back to this time and again. Absolute winner and all of my kiddos will get a copy when they get married!!
Thank you so much!
Thank you so much, Ria!
Making this now, 12:40 PM on 5-17-19. So excited. Do I leave the lid on or off during simmering? I am going to assume off til I hear otherwise
I usually leave it off or partially covered
Whoa. This sauce was amazing. AMAZING! I’ve been looking for the best recipe for spag sauce and this is it. No more looking. I would recommend tasting before adding the balsamic vinegar – some may want it, some may not. I loved the flavor.
I enjoy searching for new recipes, especially spaghetti. I cooked this recipe today exactly as written, and I am afraid we didn’t like it. There are two other recipes I found on line that are much better than this one. Sorry, I really wanted to like this recipe, even my sister has a better spaghetti recipe. I will just keep cooking the spaghetti recipe I like.
This served no purpose whatsoever except to be mean and criticize. It offered no tips to fellow users or gratitude to the author. That need to go out of your way just to be hurtful might be the reason you have time to try so many spaghetti recipes
Agree with DRR…unless you have something useful or constructive to say, which you didn’t, keep it to yourself.
I have made this sauce many times since discovering it about two years ago. The first few times I followed the instructions exactly and did not change anything. Going forward, we are not mushroom lovers so left them out and the sauce was still fantastic. I always read the reviews and try to learn a bit from them. Today I added fennel seeds, about two teaspoons as we love fennel. Did a taste test leaving out the balsamic vinegar. Then added one tablespoon, tasted again and loved the depth of flavour and added the second tablespoon. Personally I would not leave the balsamic vinegar out. I do use Lucini Balsamic Vinegar of Modena…a bit pricey though definitely worth it. Another change I made taking the suggestion from Mel’s notes was to purée all the onion with the red pepper. I do prefer this as well. My husband loves this sauce and does not want me changing a thing. Spaghetti is his favourite dinner.
Simply an incredible sauce!
Thanks so much for your thorough review, Jan!
Omg! I haven’t made homemade sauce in over 20 years and I’m here to tell you that this is by far the best sauce I’ve ever tasted or made. Love it and wouldn’t change a thing. Thank you.
Thanks, Christy!
I am a little late to this party, but wowwwwww! I have made this sauce twice in the last month and it is absolutely amazing! I tried a highly rated sauce many years ago from another website and it was so lackluster that I just continued with storebought jars for more flavor and less work. I’m a big fan of your other recipes so I took a leap of faith with this one too. My whole spaghetti world has changed with this recipe!! Thank you for this little pot of heaven! The family is obsessed!
Oh Mel, I just discovered your site. Wow is all I can say. Tonight my family tried your recipe for “The Best Spaghetti Sauce” and this recipe is the one I have been searching for an entire 53 years. I had this spaghetti sauce in Missouri at the Lake of the Ozarks and have tried hundreds of recipes looking for it. This is it. My family just loves this recipe too. My husband wanted to know how often you can have this without not liking it anymore? He said it is the best thing he has had in his life. I could go on and on about it. It definitely is the best Spaghetti Sauce in the world. Thank you so much for this recipe and all you do. I added 1 teaspoon cayenne to the sauce. That is all I changed and it really does not need that, except we are from Texas and love heat. Again, thank you.
Thank you so much, Sara! My husband (Brian) would tell your husband he may never get sick of it! Brian loves about it no matter how often we have it. 🙂
Since finding this recipe, it’s the only one I use. This is so wonderful that I’ve given up my previous recipe that I had used for 25+ years. Only change is I add a green bell pepper in addition to the red, and a teaspoon of red pepper flakes.
So happy to hear this, Karen!
I made this sauce twice and it came out wonderful each time. The first time, I made it exactly as the recipe reads. It was very delicious. My kids loved it. The second time, I used 1 lp ground beef and 1 pound ground Italian sausage. And, instead of the 1 and 1/2 cups of beef broth, I added 1 cup of beef broth and 1/2 cup red wine. It was like an “adult version”. So yummy! This is my go-to recipe now!
What type or kind of red wine was used??
Best sauce I have ever tasted. Have made spaghetti and lasagna with it.
For years I made a homemade spaghetti sauce. As the kids aged, and life got busier, we went to a jarred sauce. Over the years I lost my desire to have spaghetti. Although the jarred sauce was easy it lost something in the translation. When I retired I decided to go back to homemade. I decided to find something different than my own because I couldn’t remember exactly how I made it. After trying this recipe it has become my go to. I make a large batch and freeze. I want to have it for dinner all the time. The only thing I do different is delete the pepper. I love it but the family doesn’t. I do add fennel seeds. It adds something unique to the flavor. I also add a little more sugar. My husband prefers it that way. Tonight will be another spaghetti night.
I’ll have to try it with a little fennel – thanks so much for the comment, Jorene!
I was curious, how much fennel seeds you use for the recipe?
never made a large amount before but did this time for freezer, followed step for step and made it, was surprised that not much flavor and very bitter to the taste, I have made better on my own hope you can recommend what to correct this. or do you want my reciepe!!!!!!!
Rude, much? Maybe you can’t cook.
John, I would really like to try your recipe. I think sharing recipes is a great idea!
I love kind people, you definitely are one judging by your comment. It’s a wonderful recipe, made it yesterday!! My whole family was so impressed and FULL lol!
Then make your own site and do it there. This is just rude.
This recipe looks delicious but I have one suggestion. I would suggest that you make up the sauce without the meat and then get the sauce bubbling away and then put the raw meat into the bubbling sauce and let it simmer away. The meat cooks quite quickly. This is a bolognaise and you won’t be sorry because it has a much better texture then browning the meat first and then building the sauce around it. It is so tender and blends beautifully into the sauce. Give it a try and I’m sure you will not be sorry! I’m sure it’s good this way too but since I started making my sauce this way I would never go back to the other method.
I have always been curious about cooking meat into a sauce vs browning 1st. Are there other sauces or soups you have done this way? For example, I LOVE vegetable soup and occasionally I will add ground beef or Turkey. I’ve always assumed the primary reason we brown meat is to drain the fat. But, I use very lean meat so there’s little fat, if any, to drain. In fact, I usually have to add a little olive oil to ground Turkey. It would be awesome if I could just add ground meat directly to sauce or soup. I have Never heard anyone else mention it, I thought I was just being lazy. Well, it is partly being lazy BUT mostly curiosity, the “why not” of it. Lol. Curious what you’ve tried or what your thoughts are on this.
Best spaghetti I’ve made! I have tried a ton of recipes, and I can sleep tonight knowing I finally have a winner. I followed the recipe, but used 1 can of whole tomatoes in place of 1 can crushed (it’s all I had). I just broke down the chunks as it simmered. It was fabulous, and my judgmental 2 year old wouldn’t try it for most of dinner. But she finally broke down and ate some (so she could have your lemon yogurt bread for dessert) and I even saw her taking bites of the spaghetti during dessert. That’s how I know it’s a keeper! We paired it with your garlic breadsticks (husband’s favorite bread) and everyone is happy. Thank you for your hard work! My family is so much happier around the dinner table thanks to this blog.
Thanks for the detailed review, Hannah!
Mel rest assured this is THE BEST SPAGHETTI RECIPE EVER. I make it so much I have it memorized. Thank you soooooo much for something so special that everyone loves it! Josey
WOW. YUM. I’ve been making your weeknight spaghetti sauce and like it so much I couldn’t see a reason to try this one (especially since it took so much time and made so much). Well, I thought ahead yesterday and wanted to take dinner to someone so I decided to give this one a go. Gosh I don’t know if I can make any other sauce! I used half the sugar and blended the mushrooms (don’t like the texture) with the pepper and onion. I can’t wait to make it again and freeze it for easy dinners 🙂
I like the idea of blending the mushrooms since my family doesn’t like it. Can you taste the mushrooms? I really want to add it but afraid the taste will be present.
There isn’t a strong mushroom flavor – just a hearty texture and hint of meatiness.
Thank you! Going to make it for Subday dinner!
No I didn’t think there was a strong mushroom flavor, just a good umami/meaty flavor!
Thank you for your input. Planning to do this for Sunday.
This recipe was SO yummy! It has already been added to my recipe box!! Love love loved it!!!
Can I just say that this sauce saved pasta for me. I can’t have onion or garlic and so all Italian food….or sometimes it seems food in general….is bland when I try to adapt it for my diet. BUT not this sauce. My entire family loved it, even without the onions and garlic. I’d given up finding a sauce that worked but I love your recipes so I gave one more try. I just don’t know why I didn’t try this one first!
Happy to hear this, Andrea!
I have a ton of ripe tomatoes from my garden. I gave plenty away but still had alot. I didnt want them to sit to long and rot, so I found this recipe and gave it a try. I think this recipe is amazing! I froze half and will bring it out when my family comes!
This is my family’s favorite spaghetti sauce, hands down. I’ve made it many times, sometimes exactly as written and sometimes I make changes. Without the meat, this sauce is awesome with Mel’s Italian Meatballs (her recipe calls for them to go on sub sandwiches but they are great on spaghetti too). My son is picky but I refuse to cook without flavor, so I throw the onions and mushrooms into the food processor along with the red pepper and he is non the wiser. I never remember to add the balsamic vinegar at the end, but either way it’s awesome. Also great frozen and heated up on busy weeknights. A+++++ recipe!
This is a great recipe, and good thing because I tripled it so I could freeze some. True to my form however, and to use up my garden veggies, I had to modify it a little. Instead of the red pepper, I used a combination of hot and sweet wax peppers, jalapeno peppers, and sweet bell peppers (gypsy)…(and doubled what the recipe calls for). I don’t eat sugar, so I substituted raw honey, and believe it or not, fresh black berries from my garden. I also substituted the meat for spicey sausage. I wasn’t too sure about the basalmic vinegar, so to begin with, I put one third of what it calls for, and it was perfect. I did let it cook down for about 12 hrs because I used fresh tomatoes from the garden instead of the paste and canned tomatoes, and it was kind of thin…after cooking down, it came out with a perfect consistancy. This is my new go-to!
I made this yesterday for a dinner party. It was a big hit. The flavors blended perfectly however, I did omit the balsamic vinegar. After reading the reviews I thought it would be best to not add it. Next time I make this I will add some hot Italian sausage, something I’ve always done with my sauce.
Hi Mel! You mentioned here that you were working on a spaghetti sauce recipe for canning. Just made a batch of your salsa (SO GOOD), and still have tomatoes. I can’t find the spaghetti sauce recipe for canning though. Is that posted somewhere? Thanks!
I’m getting ready to post it! It’s more of a marinara sauce, but it’s delicious. Hopefully I’ll have it posted by next week!
I’m waiting for the canning recipe also!!
Coming soon, I hope! Or at the very least, links to the recipes I’ve been testing out. 🙂
If you use ground Itialian sausage instead of ground beef, this recipe goes from great to Amazing!!!!
Yum! I will have to try that.
I made this today. I already had homemade meatballs in the freezer, so I didn’t use meat. I just made the sauce. It tasted great before I added the Balsamic Vinegar. It almost ruined the taste., but I added 2 T. Of white sugar to get rid of the bad taste. It saved it. I’ll add the meatballs in tomorrow and add fresh basil at the end of cooking. Leave the Balsamic vinegar out! It doesn’t need it.
Great recipe!
Was average.
My grandkids knew the flavor was different from my regular sauce and did not like it.
Hands down the BEST spaghetti sauce I’ve ever made! I love that it makes so much!! We are a family of four & I make this recipe, divide it in half and freeze half the sauce for another time. We still have plenty to eat plus leftovers! I have 2 very picky boys and they LOVE it
Mel, I’m excited to try this recipe. What size can of tomatoes paste do you use and can I use Apple cider vinegar instead of balsamic?
I think I’m going to do what one of your commenters did and add a pound of Italian sausage to the recipe (I understood it to say add to the existing two pounds of ground beef. Is that how you read it as well?)
Thank you in advance for your reply Mel and for sharing your recipe.
I use a 12-ounce can of tomato paste (or you can use two 6-ounce cans). I don’t think apple cider vinegar will give the same depth of flavor. If you don’t have balsamic vinegar, I’d probably leave it out. I hope you like the recipe! If I added 1 pound of Italian sausage, I’d use it in place of one of the pounds of ground beef.
Mel,,, Read many of the comments,,,love to read what people have to say about your recipe’s . So happy to see how many people love this one, I’ve been making almost the exact recipe for years,, and happy to see you have and love it as a go to. One difference mine came from a woman who passe years ago and was from Macedonia , A few things she did was to simmer the burger in just enough water to cover, makes the sauce a smooth find texture. She use some chopped up pork ,,or chicken, and put it in the oven at 250 and lets it simmer uncovered all day….and as you know if you add heavy cream it becomes a wonderful white Bolognese , but this already is. But never could get her’s to taste the same until her daughter told me, porcini mushrooms. Little pricey but well worth it, and I also add finely chopped celery, and don’t food process it at all.
Your the best,,,thanks so much.
Douglas
I made this sauce and let it simmer it was so delightful. Then…. I added the balsamic vinegar. I did not like the flavor after that. Too sweet and rich after the balsamic vinegar. Sorry, next time Zi will leave out the vinegar,
This sauce was absolutely delicious. I don’t think I’ll buy sauce again. I had all the spices already, and it really is relatively cheap to make. My crockpot wasn’t quite big enough, so I ended up cooking part of it on the stove. I also blended everything, including the meat, so it had a nice consistency. Since I like my sauce a little sweeter, I did add a carrot and a little bit of white sugar.