The Best Homemade Spaghetti Sauce Recipe

This is where cooking is fun for me. I love to cook and bake. Developing recipes and testing them is a passion. I love to tweak them until I like them, then plan how I can use them in other dishes. My recipe for The Best Homemade Spaghetti Sauce is one such recipe.

The Best Homemade Spaghetti Sauce Recipe, really is the best basic sauce. It is consistently good and allows you to tweak it for specific recipes and tastes. You will love it!

I like to make a basic recipe that allows me to alter it slightly and then make a whole new recipe from that original basic sauce recipe. This recipe for what I call my “Basic Spaghetti Sauce,” is one I have been making for almost 35 years!

I use this basic sauce for everything! I love to use it for my Baked Ravioli Casserole which is ready in 40 minutes! Or I use it in my Low Carb Pepperoni Pizza Bites, which is a quick and easy low carb snack. Of course I make spaghetti, but even that is different each time. Some days I want mushrooms, bell peppers and onions in it, other times I want only ground, Italian sausage and red wine.

The Best Homemade Spaghetti Sauce Recipe is a zesty tomato sauce base, with garlic, herbs and spices and even has a little spicy kick. This has been a family favorite for over 3 decades!!

I cannot emphasize enough, the beauty of this recipe is in its simplicity and reliability. This allows you to make it quickly and easily. I have a few friends who have never, ever, made homemade spaghetti sauce. When I ask why, they say it is because it takes too long. I ask how long is too long and they really don’t know. They have seen movies though, where an old Italian woman was slaving over her sauce and just assumed it took hours. 

My recipe for The Best Homemade Spaghetti Sauce Recipe, is made from 2 large cans of sauce and 1 small can of tomato paste. Knowing that this quantity of ingredients makes one large saucepan of sauce, allows me to know exactly how much I will have every time. I can then determine if I need more than that for what I am planning or if I will have extra I can put in the freezer. 

It also allows me to be frugal with my grocery budget. If I see that the large cans of tomato sauce are on sale, I stock up or buy a case. If tomato paste goes on sale, I buy that in bulk and keep in in my pantry. I know that this sauce calls for a 6 ounce can of paste, so if larger cans are on sale, I just remove 6 ounces of the paste from the can and freeze the rest in baggies in 6 ounce little packages. Yes, you can freeze tomato paste!

Another great feature of having a reliable recipe for a good, basic, spaghetti sauce, is that it is easy to make. I have always kept this sauce recipe card handy for quick reference. I have made it so many times, I don’t need the recipe anymore, but if I am gone and want Opa to get the sauce started, I can have him pull out the recipe and easily and confidently, make a really good sauce, without me even there. The directions and ingredients are so simple! 

I want you to use The Best Spaghetti Sauce Recipe as your base, your basic recipe and then I want you to tweak it by adding other things you think your family will love. Play around with it and see where your taste buds take you. Be creative with what you make. Don’t just stop at spaghetti, think about lasagna, meatball sandwiches, pizzas, calzones, my Baked Ravioli Casserole or Low Carb Pepperoni Pizza Bites. When we go camping I even take this sauce along, already made up, in a Tupperware container, so I can assemble a batch of Dutch Oven Lasagna in just minutes. I know you and your family will love this as much as we do. Enjoy!

The Best Homemade Spaghetti Sauce Recipe is a family favorite I have been making for decades. What recipe do you make that has been in your family for a very long time as well? Let me know in the comments what you think of this recipe and how you used it!!