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This Homemade Spaghetti Sauce is rich and hearty, packed with fresh tomatoes and savory spices. One bite and you’ll be hooked!
This homemade spaghetti sauce is savory, fresh and beats the canned stuff from the pantry any day! I’ve been making my own spaghetti sauce with fresh tomatoes for years now and I love it. It’s so easy to make, and the flavor is so much better than the store-bought kind. I love making this sauce with diced tomatoes from my garden, fresh herbs like fresh basil and fresh parsley. You can’t beat the flavor of homegrown produce in a dish like this one!
Ingredients in Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
This homemade spaghetti sauce recipe is a staple at our house, and will be at yours too! Top your spaghetti noodles with this fragrant, fresh pasta sauce and your family will love it! Here’s what you need:
- Tomatoes – fresh, garden tomatoes work best. I start with about a dozen or so, depending on how large they are. If you can’t find good, fresh tomatoes, you can use a couple of cans of crushed tomatoes.
- Onion – One large onion, diced or chopped with a food processor.
- Mushrooms – I love using fresh, chopped mushrooms for this marinara sauce. Homegrown vegetables give a nice bulk to this sauce.
- Soy sauce – I know it sounds weird, but soy sauce gives the mushrooms a wonderful meaty flavor that can’t be beat! Whenever I make sautéed mushrooms I always add a splash of soy sauce.
- Additional Seasonings – garlic, fresh basil and oregano, a little brown sugar, and salt and pepper to taste.
What Tomatoes are Best for Spaghetti Sauce?
Garden tomatoes are the way to go, in my opinion (check out our awesome guide for growing tomatoes, trust me, we have some amazing tips). As far as tomato varieties go, choose tomatoes that have a rich flavor and are less watery. Roma tomatoes, also known as plum tomatoes, are a popular choice because of their meaty texture and fewer seeds. San Marzano tomatoes, often considered the gold standard for sauces, have a sweet, low-acid flesh that adds depth to your sauce. You can get them at the grocery or online for under $5. Heirloom tomatoes can also be a great choice, offering unique and complex flavors. If you have an abundance of cherry or grape tomatoes, they can contribute a sweet twist to your sauce. Keep in mind that the type of tomato you choose will impact the sauce’s flavor, so consider the balance of sweetness and acidity that you desire and taste as you go!
Additions to this Sauce
Once you have a sauce simmering on the stove, you can add all kinds of meat to create a luscious meat sauce. I will often do a mixture of ground beef and ground pork but Italian sausage, ground turkey, ground chicken, beef short ribs, or even meatballs can be added for more protein.
More Garden Fresh Ingredients
If you like a “chunky” homemade garden spaghetti sauce, just chop up any veggies you like and stir them in while sautéing the onions.
- Red bell pepper
- Green bell pepper
- Carrots, shredded or finely chopped.
- Red pepper flakes
- Zucchini
Soy Sauce in Spaghetti Sauce?
You may notice that soy sauce is a key ingredient in this recipe. All the Italians are dying inside right now but hear me out. Adding soy sauce to chopped mushrooms is an old trick that a chef in Utah taught me. When you add soy sauce to mushrooms while they are cooking, it gives them a rich, meaty flavor that is unparalleled. I ALWAYS add a splash of soy sauce when I sauté mushrooms. And I promise, it doesn’t make it taste weird or soy sauce-y at all. It just brings out the flavor SO much more. You have GOT to try this trick. It takes the flavor to the next level!
Roasting Fresh Tomatoes
Another suggestion for Homemade Spaghetti Sauce with Fresh Tomatoes comes from one of our readers, Diana. She says, “I have a suggestion for those who don’t mind the extra time it might take. I started roasting my fresh tomatoes last year for canning and wow! what a difference that made! The natural sugars come out and it also concentrates the tomato flavor.” Here are her suggestions:
- Cut tomatoes in half, remove as much of the seeds/gel as possible into a strainer with a bowl to catch the juices and then place the halves cut side down on a large cookie pan covered with parchment paper.
- Even though you remove a lot of the seeds/tomato get before roasting, you will get a lot of liquid from roasting. Save it all and strain it.
- Roast the tomatoes at 350-400 degrees until the skins start turning color. When the skins are browned, remove the tray from the oven and drain the liquid into the strainer with the seeds/gel. Let the tomatoes cool somewhat and remove the skin.
- You can then add the tomatoes and the strained liquid/gel to the pot and process them the way you would for sauce or canning. The roasting concentrates the tomato flavor remarkably.
- Roasted Sun Golds are like candy after halving and roasting. Cut them in half, add chopped onion and garlic, red bell pepper, and some olive oil. Roast at about 325 since they are small and the skins are thin. No need to remove seeds or skins…just blend in the food processor.
No Fresh Tomatoes? No Problem!
Home-grown tomatoes are delicious in this recipe but fresh, garden tomatoes can be hard to come by year-round. Whenever we can’t use fresh tomatoes, we always use DOP San Marzano Tomatoes. They are THE best alternative to homegrown tomatoes. We even use San Marzano tomatoes before resorting to store-bought tomatoes. For this recipe we use two 28oz. cans of tomatoes. We prefer using whole tomatoes as opposed to crushed tomatoes (most DOP tomato brands only come with whole tomatoes) and simply mash them with a potato masher as the sauce cooks down.
Low and Slow for Thick Sauce
To thicken your sauce, slow and steady is your ticket. Last time I made this, I had it simmering for eight hours (uncovered, stirring occasionally). Trust me, the longer you can let it simmer, the better! If you are finding that the water isn’t evaporating as quickly as you would like or it isn’t thickening up how you want it to, there is an easy fix. Just add some tomato paste, about a tablespoon at a time, until you reach the consistency you are looking for. You can also blend chunks of tomatoes in an immersion blender and add to the sauce for extra thickness.
Freeze for Later
Spaghetti Sauce with Fresh Tomatoes will stay good in the refrigerator for about three to four days. Any longer than that, you may just want to freeze it for later.Make a double batch of this glorious sauce and freeze it in a freezer safe Tupperware-type container, a large freezer-safe Ziploc bag, or a glass jar. If you do go the glass jar route, make sure to leave an inch or two of space at the top of the jar so the sauce doesn’t expand and break the jar. When freezing, make sure to cool the sauce completely in the fridge before freezing. The sauce will stay nice and fresh in the freezer for up to six months. Low on freezer space or prefer to can your sauce? Try our homemade canned spaghetti sauce!
More Homemade Pasta Sauce Recipes
Looking for more delicious pasta sauces you can pair with your spaghetti? Try one of our other homemade savory pasta sauce recipes! If you are looking for more of an authentic Italian tomato sauce, try our Pomodoro sauce recipe (Sugo di Pomodoro). This recipe comes directly from Italy and pairs perfectly with spaghetti. If you have lots of tomatoes and are looking for more long-term storage for your spaghetti sauce, try our homemade canned spaghetti sauce. Then you can enjoy your sauce all-year round! For Ravioli, try our Homemade Ravioli Sauce.
Homemade Spaghetti Sauce with Fresh Tomatoes
Video
Ingredients
- 12-14 tomatoes (fresh, garden tomatoes work best- appx. 6-8 lbs. You can also use two 28oz. cans of San Marzano tomatoes)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion chopped
- 8 ounces mushrooms fresh, chopped
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce (see notes above)
- 6 cloves garlic
- 10-12 basil leaves chopped
- 1 tablespoon oregano finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon Kosher salt (or to taste)
- 1 teaspoon pepper (or to taste)
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Place tomatoes a few at a time in the water and remove after 10-15 seconds.
- Immediately place tomatoes in an ice-water bath and remove skins and stems. Cut tomatoes into fourths and place in a food processor or blender.
- Process tomatoes a few times, you want them to be the consistency of crushed tomatoes (don’t over process). Set aside.
- Heat oil in a large skillet. Add onions and sauté until they become soft and transparent.
- Add mushrooms and cook for about 2-3 minutes. Add soy sauce and garlic and continue to cook until mushrooms become soft.
- Add tomatoes, basil, oregano, brown sugar, salt and pepper.
- Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally for at least one hour. The longer the better! Ideally 2+ hours.
- Serve over cooked pasta.
I have a suggestion for those who don’t mind the extra time it might take. I started roasting my fresh tomatoes last year for canning and wow! what a difference that made! The natural sugars come out and it also concentrates the tomato flavor. I cut them in half, remove as much of the seeds/gel as possible into a strainer with a bowl to catch the juices and then place the halves cut side down on a large cookie pain (I place parchment paper down first). Even though you remove a lot of the seeds/tomato get before roasting, you will get a lot of liquid from roasting. Save it all and strain it. Roast the tomatoes until the skins start turning color. I can’t remember what temperature I used but I believe between 350 and 400. When the skins are browned, I remove the tray from the oven and drain the liquid into the strainer with the seeds/gel. Let the tomatoes cool somewhat and remove the skin. I find it is easier to remove the skins while they are still pretty warm. You can then add the tomatoes and the strained liquid/gel to the pot and process them the way you would for sauce or canning. You have eliminated the majority of the seeds that way as well as the skin. The roasting concentrates the tomato flavor remarkably. I won’t process my tomatoes for canning any other way after tasting the difference in the final product. If using fresh tomatoes processed this way for this recipe, you may not need to add any sugar…it makes that much of a difference! Roasted Sun Golds are like candy after halving and roasting. I just half those, add chopped onion and garlic, red bell pepper, and some olive oil. Those I roast at about 325 since they are small and the skins are thin. No need to remove seeds or skins…just whiz in the food processor or using a stick blender. You can add whatever spices you want to finish the sauce off…Mexican, Italian, etc. I’m serious about that Sungold sauce…you can eat it by the spoonful after roasting! No meat or spices needed!
Thank you so much for this suggestion, Diana. Since we won’t have garden tomatoes in the fall, I won’t be able to try this myself until then. I added your comment under the “suggestions” section of the post so all of our readers can see it. This sounds so delicious, I can’t wait to try it!
I think you will be shocked at how concentrated the tomato flavors become by roasting them. I certainly was! I originally was looking for a way to use a huge number of Sungolds and stumbled across the recipe for roasting them. It turned out so well that I thought about applying that method to regular tomatoes that I was going to can. My aunt and my mom requested that I can for them this past summer (they’re in their mid-80’s) and I was happy to do it for them. My aunt has not stopped raving about how great the canned tomatoes turned out, especially when used for spaghetti sauce. It is time-consuming and more hands-on, but I believe worth every minute of it, especially in those months when you’re longing for a good tomato taste in the dead of winter…lol! I think you will be very happy with the results! You can always try making a trial run and then make a fresh tomato sauce with that method. Because you roast the tomatoes, you don’t have to spend a long time simmering it later. I’d love to know what you think after you try that method! It made a day and night difference for me.
Hello,
If I want my sauce to be spicier, what’s the best spice for that?
Thank you!
When I want a spicier spaghetti sauce I usually use dried red pepper flakes! That seems to match the spice profile the best.
Such a great recipe! I used fresh tomatoes from my garden and it was a hit. My only suggestion was to remove the brown sugar as they found the sauce a little too sweet. I added cooked ground chicken to the recipe but I have way too much sauce now. How long can I freeze it for?
You can freeze it for 4-6 months! Thanks for the 5-star rating!
What type of tomatoes would you recommend to use with this recipe. I will be trying it but will need to purchase the tomatoes from the store. Any recommendation is appreciated. I was thinking due to the meatiness to use Roma but then to add another variety for a bit more depth. Not sure which would be best.
We’ve found that the best substitute for fresh tomatoes is 2 cans of canned crushed tomatoes.
Thank you! I actually made this recipe yesterday from Roma tomatoes. I found the prep time to be much much longer than what was shown when you include the peeling of the tomatoes, etc. The simmer time is not near long enough, even at 2 hrs. I cooked for 3 hrs yesterday, then placed in fridge overnight and started it up again today. I still thought it was a bit too bland for me and it could be just because the tomatoes may not have been the richest/sweetest ripened as they were purchased from the store. I ended up doctoring it later this afternoon to get it finished. I added some canned paste, used my blender to cream up about 4 ladles of my mixture, then added it back. I then added some canned tomato sauce as well as a splash of Red wine, more spice, 2 chicken bouillon and 1 beef bouillon cubes to flavor a bit deeper. I do appreciate the recipe base and I’m sure I it must have been the tomatoes — I just was not getting the richness I desired.
Having made this recipe with homegrown tomatoes, I’m pretty sure that was the problem. With homegrown tomatoes, it’s beautiful. I can definitely see how canned tomatoes would not work as well, though — there’s not enough juice to be able to let them cook down as long.
If you can get hold of homegrown, though, do try it — it’s worth it.
Can I freeze this? Making it today and have tons of tomatoes from my garden.
Yes! Put it in a freezer safe Tupperware-type container, a large freezer-safe Ziploc bag or a glass jar. If you do go the glass jar route, make sure to leave an inch or two of space at the top of the jar so the sauce doesn’t expand and break. When freezing, make sure to cool the sauce completely in the fridge before freezing.The sauce will stay nice and fresh in the freezer for up to six months.
Haven’t made it yet, but I have noticed that you never comment on removing the seeds from the tomatoes. Do you remove the seeds before processing?
Nope, we don’t remove the seeds. We don’t even really notice them. You can remove them if they bother you though!
Delicious!!!
Thank you for giving me the confidence to try spaghetti sauce with fresh tomatoes. I have always used Prego or made sauce from “scratch” with canned tomatoes and sauce. The tomatoes were so liquidy after processing I thought it would take all day to boil down to a sauce, but less than one hour at high heat worked great. I had 1/2 beef 1/2 Italian sausage in with it. It’s simmering now for dinner tonight!
So glad you took the leap and made it with fresh tomatoes. It makes all the difference, right? Thank you so much for the kind comment and for the 5-stars! What a compliment!
Absolutely Hearty & Delicious!! The tip on adding the soy sauce was brilliant as it brought out the best in the chopped mushrooms. Would highly recommend!!
Thanks Lena! So glad you liked this sauce. I’m so glad you didn’t leave out the soy sauce, it makes such a huge difference!
When simmering sauce, should I put lid on or keep off.
You will want to keep the lid off so it can reduce. With the lid on, it will gather condensation and drip back down into your sauce and it won’t reduce. Hope this helps!
How much sauce do you get from 8-10 lbs of tomatoes? Is that the same amount as 5 jars of store bought spaghetti sauce? (I know this one will taste 100 times better, I’m just trying to compare apples and apples.)
It really depends on how much the sauce is reduced and if you are weighing the tomatoes before or after you are peeling them… you should get close to 3-4 store-bought sized jars with 8-10 lbs. Hope this helps!
Hello! Is the high sodium from the soy sauce? I’m trying to make from scratch as much as possible due to 1 kidney. Thank you.
You can use low-sodium soy sauce if you are concerned. It does raise the sodium levels a bit. Hope this helps!
I made this today from our garden tomatoes. I have tried several recipes before. I was skeptical about a few of the ingredients, but I was so wrong. This was the MOST AWESOME sauce I have ever tasted. I cut the brown sugar in half but didn’t change anything else. Thank you! I will definitely make this again.
Hi Karen- I am so happy to hear you liked this recipe! Thank you for trusting me 😉 Thanks for taking the time to come back and comment, and thank you so much for the 5-stars! 😀
Hello – If I use canned crushed tomatoes do I still simmer for two hours?
Even if using canned tomatoes, I would still simmer as long as you can, just so those delicious flavors have a chance to cook together and combine. Hope this helps!
Super awesome/simple recipe! I’ve made many marinara recipes, and this is by far my family’s fave…Thank you!!
So glad you and your family enjoyed it! We are honored that of all the recipes you have tried, our was your favorite! Thank you! You made my day 🙂
I haven’t made this yet. I was wondering, if I leave out mushrooms should I also leave out the soy sauce?
You can go either way. They purpose of the soy sauce it to enhance the flavor of the mushrooms but it also brings out the flavor in the tomatoes. Totally up to you!
Can I jar this?
Yes, you can pressure can this or if you want to use a water canner you will want to actually use this recipe:
https://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/canned-spaghetti-sauce/
This has been tried and tested for canning and is just as delicious!
Can I add meat like sausage and ground beef or will it take away from the original flavor
Meat is a great addition to this sauce! We don’t recommend canning the sauce with meat in it, but you can make it and eat it fresh or freeze it with the meat. Hope this helps!
Why am I using brown sugar?
It helps balance out the flavors and makes it taste more rich. You will love it, I promise!
Hi can I use regular sugar instead of brown sugar?
You can, but we find that the brown sugar gives it a richer taste!
If fresh herbs were are not available, would dried be okay? I searched the grocery stores and no fresh was available anywhere….making this today since I have garden tomatoes that need to be used up before they go bad.
Yes, you can definitely use dried! I only use the fresh herbs because they are readily available. You are fine just using whatever you have on hand. Dried will be great. 😀 Hope this helps!
I would just recommend, if using dried herbs, to use half as much as the “Fresh” amount.
I have a clarifying question before I make this. What is the amount of tomatoes in pounds? This measure is much easier because of variation in size of tomatoes. I know you have 10-12 pounds of tomatoes written, but that can’t be right. I am making tomato sauce right now from 4 lbs of tomatoes and I used about the same amount that you listed.
It really depends on the size of your tomatoes. In the recipe card we have 8-10 lbs of tomatoes. The measurements provided are also the weight pre-peeled. This recipe is extremely forgiving– you can use a variation of tomato amounts and still be totally fine. Hope this helps!
I’ve tried making sauce from fresh tomatoes before and wasn’t impressed. I tried this recipe because I have so many tomatoes. It was delicious. My family loved it also. Definitely keeping this recipe. Thank-you
I’m so glad you and your family love this recipe as much as we do! Thank you for sharing your success!
My local farmer had “pick your own vegetables” day so I stocked up on tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers. Trying this recipe was my first attempt at making homemade spaghetti sauce and it turned out perfect! I made a double batch and let It simmer for 8 hours. It was so thick and flavorful. I will never use jarred sauce again! I had it with breaded eggplant and vegan meatballs. Thanks for sharing this recipie!!
So so glad to hear you liked this spaghetti sauce! The best way to use up garden tomatoes IMHO 😉 love your idea of sides, too! That sounds delicious!