Full of flavor and made from ingredients you probably already have in your pantry, this Quick and Easy Homemade Spaghetti Sauce is ready in less than 30 minutes! It's so good you may never buy a jar of sauce again!
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I don't know anyone who doesn't love spaghetti. It's a go-to weeknight dinner for many of us because it's quick, easy, and delicious. Boil some noodles, open a jar of sauce, warm it up, and dinner is done.
Yes, there are some pretty good jarred spaghetti sauces out there. Many of them, unfortunately, are not budget-friendly (I mean, come on, $8 or more a jar?). But there's nothing better than making your own homemade sauce!
"But wait," you say. "Don't you have to cook tomato sauce for hours and hours for it to be any good?"
HECK, NO!
Believe it or not, you CAN make really delicious homemade spaghetti sauce in less than 30 minutes! Yes, less than 30 minutes!! And it's made from basic pantry staples that you probably already have on hand.
Not only is this sauce good on your favorite pasta, you can also use it in your favorite Italian recipes like lasagna, manicotti, stuffed shells, ravioli, baked ziti, chicken parm, or meatball subs. Dip mozzarella sticks, breadsticks, or stromboli in it. Use it on pizza.
Can you tell I'm hungry right now?
Plus, it freezes well, so you can make a larger batch and have your own "jarred" sauce on hand. How awesome is that?!
Ingredients You Need
- Olive oil
- Onion
- Garlic
- Red wine
- Canned crushed tomatoes
- Tomato paste
- Sugar
- Dried basil
- Dried oregano
- Dried parsley
- Salt and pepper
How to Make Quick & Easy Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
This recipe makes a little over 3½ cups of sauce, which is pretty much the equivalent of a standard jar of spaghetti sauce.
I recommend using a not-too-sweet red wine that you like to drink. It doesn't have to be expensive. You just have to like it. If it doesn't taste good from the bottle, it's not gonna taste good in your sauce.
I use my favorite Cabernet Sauvignon, which is less than $10 a bottle (yep, I am totally not a wine snob). A little in the pot, a little for me...
If you'd rather not use wine (although it really does make the sauce extra delicious) or don't have any, you could replace it with ½ cup of beef broth plus 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar (I make it this way if I don't have any wine, and it's really good too!). Or you could just go with ½ of cup beef broth.
Want to make it a meat sauce? All you have to do is brown some ground beef or sausage first (one pound is a good amount for this much sauce). Drain off the extra fat and proceed with the recipe.
Here's some sauce I made with one pound of sweet Italian sausage:
So, are you ready to give it a try? You have to wait for the water to boil and then wait for the noodles to cook anyway. Why not make some sauce while you're waiting?
It also goes great with my quick and easy Instant Potato Gnocchi. YUM!
I hope you try this recipe for Quick and Easy Homemade Spaghetti Sauce and love it as much as do. Thanks for visiting today!
More Homemade Italian Sauces to Try
If you make this recipe, I'd love to know how it went! Please leave a comment and star rating below. Thanks!
📋Recipe
Quick and Easy Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ cup red wine
- 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan/pot (I use a 3 or 4-quart saucepan) over medium heat.
- Add the onions and saute until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and saute for about 30 seconds.
- Add the red wine, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, basil, oregano, and parsley. Stir to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Adjust seasonings if needed.
Notes
- This recipe makes a little over 3½ cups, which is just about the same as a standard jar of spaghetti sauce.
- If you don't want to use red wine (or don't have any), you can substitute ½ cup of beef broth plus 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar or just ½ cup of beef broth.
- If you would like to make meat sauce, first brown some ground beef or sausage (a pound is a good amount for this much sauce). Drain off any excess grease and proceed with the recipe.
- This sauce freezes well.
Recipe adapted from Cooking Light.
Savannah D. says
LOVELY recipe!! I just made this sauce, the only thing I didn’t have on hand was the crushed tomatoes so I bought those and subbed in beef broth since I don’t buy wine—absolutely delish!! I doubled the recipe because I like to have leftovers to take to work for lunch and added a little over a pound of ground beef. Definitely don’t skimp on the garlic if you’re doubling, garlic really takes the flavor up a notch. And I added a couple extra teaspoons of sugar because for some odd reason that really does soften the tomato tang nicely. For me, the simplest recipes are the best since I work full-time and am not exactly Julia Childs in the kitchen. This recipe is absolutely wonderful, I very much recommend!
Michelle says
Thank you so much for trying the recipe, Savannah! Thrilled to hear how much you enjoyed it, and I appreciate you taking the time to comment and leave a rating!