Mom's Homemade Spaghetti

Mom's Homemade Spaghetti is a timeless classic, famous in our family, and my kid's top requested dinner! Made from scratch with simple ingredients like tomato, onion, garlic, ground beef and herbs, it's the perfect pot of comfort food! Homemade Spaghetti can prepped in just 20 minutes and feeds a crowd or freezes well, you may never want to buy a store-bought jar of spaghetti again!

Just Like Mom Used to Make

• Homemade Spaghetti is just that much better! - I almost never buy a jar of spaghetti sauce, because making your own from scratch is so delicious! There are some pretty good quality jarred spaghetti sauces these days, but a homemade pot of mom's version is not much harder to put together.  There are no secret ingredients here, no big mystery why mom's is so amazing.  It's just an honest, good ole fashion, straight forward pot of sauce!

• It makes a LOT! - This is a big pot of hearty marinara sauce! It can feed a crowd or makes great leftovers. It freezes well for another spaghetti night, or get creative with reusing it. I freeze it in pint size jars, filled only ¾'s full so they don't crack, and use it for Homemade Pizza with marinara sauce or on simple Eggplant Panini's. It's great for quick flatbread pizzas for the kid's lunches too!

• Childhood Comfort Food - I hope one day to have a daughter who adores me as much as I adore my mom (update from 2020, I do!).  Ever since I packed up my car and moved to Chicago to go to culinary school when I was 23, she has called me every single day.  Even now that I don't live in that scary big city anymore, I wouldn't trade our daily chats for anything.  My mom has always been a fabulous cook and has cooked from scratch since I was a child. She never made bisquick pancakes or kraft mac and cheese, and her spaghetti was always made from scratch.  I started a hand written recipe book a good 15 years ago when I first started working it restaurants, and her spaghetti and Buttermilk Pancakes were some of the first few entries.  This is one of those recipes where "love" is an actual ingredient.  Whenever mom would ask me "what should I make for dinner?" I'd say spaghetti, hands down, my absolute favorite.  My little girl now says the exact same.

Ingredients

• Olive Oil - Used for sautéing the onion.

• Onion - Finely dice a white or yellow onion and saute until beginning to caramelize to a light brown color.

• Ground Beef - Ground beef is most common in a hearty marinara meat sauce, but ground pork or Italian sausage could be used. I like to use one pound of ground beef, but you could use more or less, depending on how meaty you like it.

• Salt and Pepper - Add directly to the sautéing onions and ground beef, but it is the seasoning for the whole pot of sauce.

• Garlic - Fresh garlic is the best in spaghetti sauce! I like to mince up 4 big cloves.

• Seasonings - I use oregano, thyme and a bay leaf, but using an equal amount of Italian seasoning is fine too.

• Brown Sugar - A bit of sugar balances the acidity of the tomatoes and gives you amazing flavor! You could use less or leave it out if you like.

• Tomato Paste - Tomato paste gives you a nice thick sauce with bold rich flavor.

• Canned Tomato - I like to use a combination of 3 large cans, usually 2 crushed and 1 whole peeled. I drain the whole peeled tomato juice into the sauce and them chop them on a cutting board. This gives you a bit of a chunkier tomato sauce. If you want your spaghetti sauce without tomato chunks, use all crushed tomatoes or grind them in a food processor before adding. Use what you have, any combination of tomatoes will work. If you have fresh garden tomatoes, check out this Freezer Marinara Sauce from the Garden.

• Fresh Parsley or Basil - If you have them, fresh herbs are great to add in addition to the dry seasonings. Fresh parsley or basil gives you those little specks of green throughout. Add them in the last half hour of simmering the sauce so their flavor doesn't get cooked away. If you have a garden full of herbs, fresh oregano or thyme could also be included.

Instructions

Step 1 - In a large pot or dutch oven, heat olive oil and saute onions.

Step 2 - Move onions to one side of the pot and brown the ground beef on the other side. Season with salt and pepper.

Step 3 - Add garlic, sugar and seasonings and mix well.

Step 4 - Add all canned tomato. Your 3 large cans of tomato can be any combination of crushed, whole peeled or even diced tomato that you like.  If you like a smooth spaghetti sauce without tomato chunks, use all crushed tomato or process whole peeled tomato in a food processor until smooth.  If you like a few tomato chunks, add the liquid from the can into the sauce, then chop the whole peeled tomatoes on a cutting board, squeeze them by hand, or pulse in a food processor until desired consistency.  

Step 5 - Simmer at least 1 hour, add chopped parsley, basil or a combination during the last half hour. When ready to serve, cook spaghetti following package instructions. Serve pasta topped with sauce and grated Parmesan cheese. Add a side salad and garlic bread!

Tips and Variations

• Storage Instructions - Store extra spaghetti sauce in the fridge for up to 5 days, or eat after 3 days if it is stored with the pasta. Microwave to reheat. Spaghetti sauce also freezes well for up to 6 months.

• Spaghetti sauce without tomato chunks - If you don't like chunks of tomato in your spaghetti sauce, or the kids don't, simply use all 3 large cans of crushed tomato. If you do want to use diced or whole peeled tomato, you can pulse them in a food processor until smooth.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Favorite Pastas!