Ingredient Notes:
Ground Meat – I’m using a combination of ground beef and ground pork in my homemade spaghetti meat sauce! Both will add flavor but you can change it up and use all beef or all sausage if you prefer!
Garlic & Onion – Pretty much necessary ingredients for any good spaghetti sauce as far as I am concerned. Especially all that garlic! With six cloves of garlic in this sauce you’ll definitely be getting plenty of flavor – but feel free to add as much as your heart desires. There is no limit to garlic.
Tomato – You’ll need canned crushed tomatoes as well as tomato paste. We use canned tomatoes instead of fresh, but always go for a high quality brand. Canned tomatoes are picked and canned at the peak of freshness and good all year long.
Italian Seasoning – A simple blend of basil, oregano, thyme, and other savory herbs and spices.
Sugar – Sugar might seem like an odd addition, but it’s just a bit and it helps to balance out the acid in the tomatoes. Skip this if you prefer or grate in a carrot to add some natural sweetness.
Red Pepper Flakes – These are optional, but they really don’t make this spicy. They just add a depth of flavor.
How to Make Homemade Spaghetti Sauce:
Brown the ground beef and sausage in a heavy bottomed pot, such as a dutch oven. Once cooked through, stir in the garlic and onion and keep cooking until softened.
Stir in the tomato sauce, tomato paste, and seasonings and bring this to a simmer. Cook this uncovered for 2-4 hours. The longer the better!
Give your sauce a taste and adjust the seasonings to suit your tastes. You may need more salt or more sugar. A dash of Worcestershire sauce adds more savory depth and a knob of butter will add a silky mouthfeel to the sauce.
Recipes To Use Our Spaghetti Sauce With:
We love making pasta and other Italian favorites! They always go over well with my kids and are usually our go-to for dinner parties!
Use this as a sauce for pizza and top it off with cheese and pepperoni. You’ll have a meat lovers pizza thanks to the sauce!
Use this in our ravioli lasagna and you’ll really turn your pasta into a protein packed dish.
This is perfect over spaghetti, penne, or any other shape of noodle as well.
This would also be tasty in our Crockpot Lasagna! Just be sure to add an extra cup of water to the sauce before layering the lasagna, so there is plenty of liquid for the noodles to soak up.
What gives spaghetti sauce flavor?
Loads of garlic, plenty of Italian seasonings like basil, oregano, and rosemary, and a mixture of beef and pork.
I use a jar of Italian Seasoning – it’s just a blend of herbs. You can put in a mix of your favorite Italian herbs instead if you like or add in fresh herbs.
The beef and pork in this spaghetti sauce recipe add a delicious richness to the sauce and they get so tender as they simmer away for hours with the sauce.
I don’t drain the fat from the meat after cooking as that helps add flavor to the sauce as well.
Feel free to also stir in some red pepper flakes or a splash of red wine to add even more flavor.
