How to make homemade spaghetti sauce

Learn How to make homemade spaghetti sauce. Make this delicious pasta sauce at home and put it on everything!

I love making homemade spaghetti sauce because I can control the sugar and salt in it and put all the flavors I love into it. I tend to keep it simple with olive oil, garlic, dried basil, chunky tomatoes and sometimes a little fresh basil at the end. Sometimes I’ll buy a jar of pre-made sauce if I’m in a hurry but I find so many of them MUCH too sweet! Keep cans of tomatoes as well as tomato paste in the pantry so you can easily make pasta sauce quickly anytime you want, it comes together in about 15 minutes. I like to buy tomato paste in the tube I think it’s stores better in the fridge that way. Whenever I buy those little cans of tomato paste and never use the whole thing and end up putting the rest in a ziplock bag that gets forgotten in the back of the refrigerator.

I keep cans of whole, peeled tomatoes in my pantry for homemade spaghetti sauce but I also use them in soup recipes and Low Country Red Rice. It can be messy squeezing the whole peeled tomatoes to breaking them up but I think it’s worth it. I like it much better than using diced tomatoes. But diced tomatoes the fine too if you want to skip the step of crushing the tomatoes yourself.

When I add dried oregano to the pasta sauce I like to crush it between my fingers to release the flavor and add them into the olive oil that I’m setting the garlic in before the tomatoes go into the pot. I think that’s the best way to get the oregano flavor into the dish. Saute thinly sliced garlic in olive oil starting in a cold pan but be careful not to let it brown too much or it will add a bitter flavor to your sauce.

A little crushed red pepper flake goes a long way for those that like things spicy…and I do! Add the crushed red pepper flakes right after you add the tomatoes and simmer for 15 minutes

I don’t always add fresh basil to my spaghetti sauce but when I do I just tear 2 leaves into pieces and add them into the sauce at the very end of cooking. This preserves the basil volatile flavors that can disappear with too much cooking.

Once you learn how to make your own homemade spaghetti sauce you can put it on so many dishes. It’s great on pizza, fantastic on chicken Parmesan and delicious with the addition of some cream over shrimp and spinach with bowtie pasta.

What would you put this delicious sauce on? I’d love to hear your pasta creation ideas. Please let me know in the comments below.

How to make homemade spaghetti sauce

Demetra Overton Sweet Savant

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 20 minutes mins

Servings 5 cups

Ingredients

  

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 teaspoon dry oregano
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• one- 28 ounce can whole peeled tomatoes
• one - 14 ounce can of tomato sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes optional
• 2-3 fresh basil leaves

Instructions

 

• Slice the garlic cloves into thin slices
• In a cold 4 quart pot add olive oil garlic and dry oregano. Turn the heat on to medium/low and saute the sliced garlic for 1 minute. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring for another minute
• Crush the whole peeled tomatoes with your hand and add the tomatoes in it;s juice to the pan
• Stir in the tomato sauce and add the red pepper flakes if using
• Simmer the sauce for 15 minutes
• Tear the basil (if you're using it) into pieces and add them to the sauce
• Serve