Homemade Spaghetti Sauce is so full of flavor and it’s easy to make it in large batches for freezing or canning for easy homemade meals that are prepared ahead.
My family loves it when we make homemade spaghetti sauce. Whenever we make it, it’s always a huge double or triple batch to easily freeze the leftovers. Spaghetti and meatballs is such a family favorite, we almost always have frozen spaghetti sauce and meatballs in the freezer. It makes for a quick and easy weeknight meal, and it’s pretty amazing.
What are the best tomatoes to use?
The best spaghetti sauce is made using San Marzano tomatoes. San Marzano is a variety of plum tomatoes. These tomatoes have a stronger flavor and are sweeter and less acidic. You can find canned San Marzano tomatoes at your grocery store. The label should make it very obvious that the tomatoes are this variety.
Can I make spaghetti sauce from whole tomatoes?
If you want to make spaghetti sauce completely from scratch using whole tomatoes rather than canned, you’ll need to peel your tomatoes and remove the stems. The easiest way to peel tomatoes is to blanch them in boiling water for 1-2 minutes and then immediately place them into an ice bath. The skins can then be easily removed. We also have a different recipe for Fire Roasted Spaghetti Sauce.
What is the difference between marinara and spaghetti sauce?
Marinara and spaghetti sauce are slightly different things. Both are tomato-based sauces. Marinara has very simple additional flavorings added to it like garlic, salt, and basil. Spaghetti sauce usually has additional ingredients and spices like onion, fennel, parsley, and oregano.
Ground Beef:
We do not add ground beef to spaghetti sauce because we typically serve it with meatballs. However, you can always add ground beef to yours. You will want to add it in with your onions and cook thoroughly, then drain off any excess grease, or cook it separately and add to the sauce before serving.
Serving Suggestion:
We serve this spaghetti sauce up with Homemade Baked Meatballs. These meatballs are full of flavor and make the perfect companion to this sauce. They also freeze quite well so you can have a complete, from scratch homemade freezer meal waiting for those hectic nights.
Time Saving Tip:
Simmering a spaghetti sauce for a long time allows it to develop a lot of flavor. This recipe calls for 1-4 hours of simmering. If you don’t feel comfortable leaving it on the stove, simply transfer it all to a slow cooker and let it do all the simmering. Place it on high for 4-5 hours and you’ll have a well developed spaghetti sauce.
Freezer Instructions:
It’s really easy to freeze leftovers of this sauce for future use. Simply let the sauce cool and then ladle it into gallon sized ziploc bags. Our family of four requires four scoops so we only ladle four scoops into each of the bags. If you pay attention to how much your family eats, you can estimate what you’ll need pretty closely. Then you lay all of the bags on a baking sheet and pop it in the freezer. Once they are frozen solid, you can rearrange them in my freezer however they fit best. When you are ready to eat, simply thaw and reheat on the stove or in the microwave.
Canning Instructions:
Sterilize 6 pint sized mason jars. Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice into each jar. Fill the jars with prepared spaghetti sauce, leaving 1/2 inch at the top. Place the lids and bands on the jars and secure tightly. Process in a boiling water bath for 35 minutes.
Storage and Reheating Instructions:
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge, or see instructions above to store in the freezer. Reheat on the stovetop over medium-low heat until warmed through.
If you like this recipe, you may be interested in these other delicious pasta recipes:
The Best Baked Meatballs
40 mins
Fire Roasted Spaghetti Sauce From Scratch
4 hrs 45 mins
Easy Baked Chicken Meatballs
40 mins
Pasta Pomodoro
25 mins
Watch the video below where Rachel will walk you through every step of this recipe. Sometimes it helps to have a visual, and we’ve always got you covered with our cooking show. You can find the complete collection of recipes on YouTube, Facebook Watch, or our Facebook Page, or right here on our website with their corresponding recipes.
I’ve made the sauce and the meatballs and they turn out great. I’ve found that if you mix up the meatballs in a food processor they turn out better.
I made this adorable sauce last year and have been looking for it ever since. My only issue is the San Marzano tomatoes, I can only find as peeled tomatoes, not crushed.
This is the best recipe out there, IMO and wish I was eating it tonght instead of the one I made last night. thanks for posting!! I’m priniting it this time!!
I figured out how to crush the tomatoes myself!! Duh…(it matters on some recipes) I made this sauce x2 and the meatballs! Delish!!
Connie, I had the same problem finding crushed San Marzano tomatoes. Just found Delallo band at Acme in both crushed and petite diced.
I try different sauces all the time. Your sauce is great.I followed recipe exactly.
I added wine instead of chicken broth…delicious
Sauce came out great! Was looking for a recipe online and there are so many now, I went back to one I found when you lived in Vista. Our son was buddies with yours at Lake. Glad I bookmarked your site a long time ago.
Small world’s collide! I’m glad you enjoyed the sauce.
I have been using Ragu (or any other jarred sauce that’s on sale) for more than 20 years. I decided it was time I learned to make sauce from scratch and came across your recipe. I’m so glad I tried it! I’ve made it twice now and it’s so good that my husband is still raving about it.Thank you so much for sharing your recipe. I’m getting ready to make a double batch so I can freeze it in bags for later…I don’t ever want to use jarred sauce again 🙂
I too have gone directly to Ragu route ( what is a sweet headed ingredients in the fridge which I always think of as “my mark on a recipe”) and I really think that it is time to make it from scratch as well. Keeping my fingers crossed that turns out as well as your’s did!
The sauce turned out amazing! The only change I made was that my husband and I do not like seeds, so I ground the fennel seeds. Thank you!
Mmmm this is durn good! Thank you!
Very good sauce. I will use for my pasta receipt from now on!
good recipe, I doubled the sugar and cut the fennel by half
How many pounds of fresh plum tomatoes would I need to make this from scratch without the paste, sauce or crushed tomatoes?
You’d want to follow this guide instead: https://thestayathomechef.com/fire-roasted-spaghetti-sauce-from/