How to Make Spaghetti Sauce from Scratch (No More Jar Sauce)

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce: From a Jar Sauce Guy to Homemade Bliss

I admit it, I was a jar sauce guy for many years. My mom makes fantastic spaghetti sauce, but it takes all day. Growing up, spaghetti was a food that took all day to cook. So, as a working man, I bought jars of sauce for my spaghetti most of the time. It was serviceable enough—brown hamburger, drain, add sauce, heat, cook pasta, drain, and presto! Spaghetti.

But a year or so ago, I started working on making my own “fast” sauce. It’s somewhere between opening a jar of unknown ingredients and the family all-day recipe. Now, I almost never buy jar sauce! It’s too easy to make it myself. So here’s my basic spaghetti sauce (I also use it for lasagna). Feel free to alter it in any way!

And don’t think I’m looking down on you! I’m a dad. I know what it’s like to get off work, pick the kids up from soccer, and you have to get food in everybody’s belly and homework and baths done! Nobody faults you for grabbing a jar of sauce, a box of spaghetti, and a pack of hamburger on the way home! But if you are still opening that jar of Prego because you think it’s your only option, give this a try—you might be surprised!

Spaghetti Sauce Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs ground beef (or turkey, Italian sausage, etc.)
• 2 28oz cans crushed tomatoes (for a thinner sauce, use tomato sauce; for chunky sauce, use diced or stewed tomatoes)
• 1 10 oz can tomato paste + 2 cans of water
• 2 tbsp flour
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 bell pepper, diced
• 1-2 tbsp chopped garlic
• 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
• 1-2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper
• 1 tsp hot sauce
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Brown your hamburger with your peppers and onions. Drain.
2. Add olive oil and garlic. Cook for 1-2 minutes.
3. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute.
4. Add the tomato paste and 2 cans of water, along with the tomatoes.
5. Finish with the seasonings, sugar, and sauces.
6. You can eat it as soon as it’s heated through, but it tastes better if it simmers for an hour or more.

There you go. Nothing too complicated, but it’s delicious, and you know everything that goes into it. Plus, you can alter it to match your tastes!