Homemade Spaghetti Sauce Recipe

What Are The Best Tomatoes?

The best pasta sauces are made with San Marzano tomatoes. San Marzano is a plum tomato. These tomatoes have a stronger, sweeter flavor and less acidity. You can buy canned San Marzano tomatoes at the grocery store. The label should make it very obvious that the tomatoes are of this variety.

Can I use whole tomatoes for pasta sauce?

If you want to make a pasta sauce entirely from scratch using whole tomatoes rather than canned tomatoes, you’ll need to peel the tomatoes and remove the stems. The easiest way to peel tomatoes is to blanch them in boiling water for 1-2 minutes, then immediately place them in an ice bath. The skin can then be easily removed. We also have a different Fire Roasted Pasta Sauce recipe.

What’s the difference between marinara and pasta sauce?

Marinara is slightly different from pasta sauce. Both are ketchup. Marinara adds very simple extra seasonings like garlic, salt and basil. Pasta sauces often contain additional ingredients and spices such as onion, fennel, parsley, and oregano.

Ground beef:

We don’t add ground beef to our pasta sauce because we usually serve it with meatballs. However, you can always add ground beef. You’ll need to add it with the onion and cook it thoroughly, then drain the excess fat, or cook it on its own and add it to the sauce just before serving.

Service suggestion:

We serve this pasta sauce with homemade grilled meatballs. Packed with flavor, these meatballs are the perfect accompaniment to this sauce. They also freeze well so you can have a complete, homemade from-scratch freezer meal for those busy nights.

Time-saving tips:

Simmering pasta sauce for a long time allows it to develop a lot of flavor. This recipe calls for 1-4 hours of simmering. If you don’t feel comfortable leaving it on the stove, just transfer it all to a slow cooker and let it simmer. Leave it on high for 4-5 hours and you have a ripe pasta sauce.