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Homemade Spaghetti Sauce is as simple as it gets. This easy pasta sauce recipe is made in under an hour but tastes like it simmered all day long. Fast, easy and crowd pleasing, you need this recipe in your weekly rotation.
If there’s one thing I mastered early on, it was making my own Italian homemade Spaghetti Sauces. I use the term “Italian” loosely because I know there are a ton of nonnas rolling in their graves over this one.
Remember, I’m a Polish girl making Spaghetti Sauce over here and I only had a few hundred pizza joints to lead the way for me. This easy spaghetti sauce is inspired by one of my favorite local restaurants and it’s even better than their version.
Making your own sauce at home is so easy to do and you can even let it simmer longer than the recipe calls for the flavor will just get better and better the longer it cooks. But if you’re in a hurry, I got you. This sauce is on the table in less than an hour so you can easily whip it up on a busy weeknight to get your pasta fix.
How To Make Spaghetti Sauce
Simple is the name of the game here and I used a few pantry items to pull this Homemade Spaghetti Sauce from scratch together in a snap. The fish sauce sounds really weird but it’s the secret ingredient that gives your sauce the slow cooked flavor. If you don’t want to use fish sauce you can substitute with Worcestershire sauce. Or skip it altogether.
- Heat the olive oil in a large dutch oven or stock pot over med-high heat.
- Add the onions to the oil and cook until softened.
- Add the garlic and cook for one minute.
- Stir in the oregano and then add the wine.
- Cook until reduced by half.
- Add the sugar, fish sauce, tomato puree and crushed tomatoes.
- Stir the sauce until well combined and then add the salt and pepper.
- Simmer on low heat for 5-10 minutes.
- Serve over pasta or meatballs or whatever you want, basically.
A lot of people would suggest that the sugar is something you shouldn’t add to the sauce but sugar helps tame the acidity from the tomatoes. If you like a more tomato-y sauce you can leave the sugar out entirely.
What is Spaghetti Sauce?
Spaghetti sauce is widely known as a basic Italian tomato sauce that’s kept relatively simple. You can jazz it up with a variety of spices and herbs just to give it a fresh spin for whatever pasta you’re topping.
Most Italian spaghetti sauce is made primarily with tomatoes, onions and olive oil with little else. But it’s simmered low and slow for hours on a Sunday afternoon with lots of stirring and tasting and more stirring.
This easy Spaghetti Sauce is made in under an hour so I added a few more ingredients to mimic slow simmered flavor without the long cook time.
If you want to set it and forget it, you can also make this recipe in your Slow Cooker or crockpot so you’re free to go about your day with a pot of homemade pasta sauce waiting for you at dinnertime.
The Difference Between Marinara and Spaghetti Sauce
Generally, marinara sauce can be considered spaghetti sauce but marinara is a much thinner sauce because it’s cooked with minimal ingredients and for a very short bit of time.
Marinara sauce is a basic tomato sauce with a few seasonings thrown in and a few drizzles of olive oil.
Spaghetti Sauce can really be any type of sauce that you, then, put on your spaghetti. But, traditionally, Spaghetti Sauce can also have vegetables, meat or other flavorings added, like cheese, to amp up the flavor. Sometimes we stir in a bit of Basil Pesto to make it even better!
It’s also cooked for a much longer period of time….except in this quick recipe.
Tips for Making In Advance and Freezing Spaghetti Sauce
This sauce recipe is fantastic for making in advance and freezing for easy weeknight dinners.
Transfer cooled sauce to an airtight container and transfer to the refrigerator. You can store your sauce in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Before freezing spaghetti sauce, be sure to allow it to cool completely. You can store the sauce in a silicone freezer bag or freezer safe container. If you’re using a freezer bag, freeze it on a flat surface so that it freezes flat allowing you to store it easily.
Spaghetti Sauce can be frozen for up to 4-6 months. To reheat, place frozen sauce in a pot and reheat on the stove until warm, stirring frequently until thawed.
How To Use Spaghetti Sauce
Top Instant Pot Spaghetti Squash with ladles of sauce for a low carb dinner.
Slow Cooker Baked Spaghetti is heaven with homemade spaghetti sauce.
Easy Spaghetti Pie Recipe is a great way to transform leftovers.
Instant Pot Stuffed Peppers Recipe are divine topped with this sauce.
More Easy Pasta Sauce Recipes
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Spaghetti Sauce Recipe
Equipment
- sauce pan
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large vidalia onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 3/4 cup red wine
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 28 ounce can tomato puree
- 1 28 ounce can fire roasted crushed tomatoes
- kosher salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large dutch oven or stock pot over med-high heat.
- Add the onions to the oil and cook until softened.
- Add the garlic and cook for one minute.
- Stir in the oregano and then add the wine.
- Cook until reduced by half.
- Add the sugar, fish sauce, tomato puree and crushed tomatoes.
- Stir the sauce until well combined and then add the salt and pepper.
- Turn the heat to low and cover.
- Simmer for 10-15 minutes.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Sorry Kellie, I re read the recipe and the puree and tomatoes were there
I just read it fast.
No worries!
I was wondering if this could be canned as well. I’d rather can this than put it into a freezer because I really don’t want to take up valuable freezer space. Of course, if the electricity would go out, I just might lose a lot of produce and other things if the electricity would be out for quite a while. This would be just a suggestion. Also, how much would one batch of this sauce make? I’m sure that would need to make several batches to make it worth my while in canning this sauce. Just let me know. Thanks.
I didn’t test the recipe for canning and since I’m not a canning expert, yet, I can’t say for certain. This sauce only makes about 8-10 servings so you would definitely need to make multiple batches for a freezer stash or canning.
I’m shocked I like your recipes very much. They’re so familiar with my sense of taste. (I use only more garlic and honey instead of sugar). But I really like many of them.
And here I see you’re also from Poland 🙂 So cool. Pozdrawiam serdecznie.
Thank you so much! I’m so glad you enjoy them. My family is from Poland, I’m first generation American. But thank you again for your sweet comment!
You mentioned making this sauce in a slow cooker. Do you have to brown everything before putting in the cooker? For how long does it cook?
It’s best if you do brown everything but it’s not necessary. And it only needs to cook on low for about 2-3 hours.