One of our favorite staple meals is spaghetti. The best-tasting spaghetti sauce comes from fresh tomatoes, garlic, and herbs. There is something gratifying about making spaghetti sauce from scratch that elevates the flavor. The aromatics resulting from cooking with fresh ingredients certainly help the overall experience. Like an Italian restaurant, your house will feel warm, fragrant, and inviting.
Spaghetti Sauce From Scratch
Spaghetti can be a delicious and simple meal, even if you make it with jarred tomatoes from the store. But nothing beats the delicious taste of spaghetti sauce from scratch made with fresh, homegrown tomatoes.
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Tips for Making the Best Spaghetti Sauce from Scratch
- If you like a chunkier sauce, you can serve it as is and toss it with fresh pasta. If you like a smooth sauce, simply pour the mix into a blender and blend until smooth. As you can see in the pictures here, we prefer a smooth sauce, so I placed it in the blender and pulsed it for a few seconds. BE CAREFUL. The sauce will be very hot.
- This spaghetti sauce from scratch will have a bolder, more flavorful taste than its store-bought counterpart, especially if you use homegrown tomatoes. You could also use Home Canned Tomatoes in this recipe if you don’t have fresh on hand in the winter. Either is a better option than canned tomato paste or tomato sauce from the store.
- If your family needs meat in the meal, simply cook up a pound of ground beef or turkey and add it to the sauce while it’s cooking on the stove. This will help to make a hearty meal that the whole family will enjoy!
- For an extra special kick of flavor to this sauce, add in a handful of Sun Dried Tomatoes. SO good!
- The longer you simmer this sauce, the more flavor it will have. If you have time, let it cook a while longer.
What’s the difference between marinara sauce, spaghetti sauce, and pizza sauce?
While all of these sauces are similar and tomato-based, they differ in a few ways. A marinara sauce is generally less complex and uses fewer herbs. Spaghetti Sauce is just like you see here; it can contain meat and is typically simmered for a while to help the flavors come together. A pizza sauce is made with a slightly different set of herbs and is used for topping a pizza, but it isn’t the star of the dish. Here’s our favorite Easy Homemade Pizza Sauce Recipe.
What do you serve with Spaghetti?
Here are some yummy sides to round out this meal!
Ingredients in Spaghetti Sauce
- 3 pounds ripe tomatoes
- 1/8 cup olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 6 cloves of garlic, diced
- 3 tbsp chopped fresh thyme leaves (optional)
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
- salt and pepper to taste
If you do not have fresh herbs or cannot find any that look good at the store, dried herbs will work just fine. Just be sure to use about half of the amount that is recommended for fresh herbs in your sauce.
Remove the cores and roughly dice the tomatoes. I love using my Tomato Slicer for jobs like this! It makes quick work of any tomato or soft produce dicing. You don’t need to peel the tomatoes unless you absolutely want to.
Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add diced onions and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, tomatoes, thyme, and basil, and boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to medium-low and allow to simmer for at least 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to let the spices permeate the dish’s flavor. Using a spatula, periodically press down on the tomatoes to help break them down. Add salt and pepper to taste.
15 minutes before serving, warm up your salted water and cook the pasta or spaghetti noodles according to package directions.
How to Preserve Spaghetti Sauce From Scratch
Need to print the Spaghetti Sauce from Scratch recipe? Get the printable version below:
Spaghetti Sauce From Scratch Recipe
How to make a delicious spaghetti sauce from fresh tomatoes and other simple ingredients at home.
-
3
pounds
Tomatoes -
1/8
cup
Olive Oil -
1
Large Onion
diced -
6
cloves
Garlic
diced -
3
tablespoon
Fresh Thyme Leaves
chopped, optional -
1/4
cup
Fresh Basil Leaves
chopped - salt and pepper to taste
-
Remove the cores and roughly dice the tomatoes.
-
Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add diced onions and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, tomatoes, thyme and basil, and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to medium-low and allow to simmer for an hour, stirring occasionally. Using a spatula, periodically press down on the tomatoes to help break them down. Add salt and pepper to taste.
-
Remove the sauce from heat and blend. BE CAREFUL, sauce will be very hot. Can use an immersion blender. Return the sauce to the pan on a low heat.
-
15 minutes before serving, warm up water and cook the pasta according to package directions.
-
Strain the pasta and place sauce on top. Serve warm and enjoy!
This sauce has a fresh, rich flavor that stands up on its own with pasta. It also pairs nicely with cooked ground beef or sausage, if your family likes a meat sauce.
Nutrition Facts
Spaghetti Sauce From Scratch Recipe
Amount Per Serving
Calories 144
Calories from Fat 72
% Daily Value*
Fat 8g12%
Saturated Fat 1g6%
Polyunsaturated Fat 1g
Monounsaturated Fat 5g
Sodium 20mg1%
Potassium 901mg26%
Carbohydrates 19g6%
Fiber 5g21%
Sugar 10g11%
Protein 4g8%
Vitamin A 3163IU63%
Vitamin C 59mg72%
Calcium 72mg7%
Iron 2mg11%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
To round out a full meal, we like to serve our Spaghetti Sauce and pasta with a salad and some olives.
Short on time? Try this Quick Spaghetti Sauce Recipe.
More Homemade Sauces
Have you ever made spaghetti sauce from scratch? What do you like to put spaghetti sauce on besides pasta?
Merissa Alink
Merissa has been blogging about and living the simple and frugal life on Little House Living since 2009 and has internationally published 2 books on the topic. You can read about Merissa’s journey from penniless to freedom on the About Page. You can send her a message any time from the Contact Page.
This Spaghetti Sauce from Scratch recipe was originally posted on Little House Living in September 2013. It has been updated as of May 2024.