Recipe and step by step tutorial for Homemade Pasta Sauce. I also have a recipe and tutorial for homemade pasta.
Growing up, my mom made incredible pasta sauce! After a lot of trial and error, I’ve come up with a pasta sauce my family loves, all from fresh ingredients! Here’s a photo recipe, for anyone who wants to give a homemade pasta sauce recipe a try!
Ingredients:
What You'll Find on This Page
- 4 cups diced tomatoes
- 1 chopped onion
- 1 Tablespoon fresh basil
- 1Tablespoon molasses
- 1 lb hamburger
- 1 Tbsp salt
How to Make Pasta Sauce at Home
Fresh tomatoes and fresh basil (below) are the two main ingredients for this sauce! I chop up the tomatoes and let them simmer. The longer they simmer, the better the sauce, but you want them to cook for at least 45 minutes. You can add a little olive oil if you want, but it isn’t necessary (I do recommend adding it if you plan to keep your sauce vegetarian, since you need some fat in the recipe). You can blanche your tomatoes if you want the skins off; I’m too lazy to do this and my kids eat the skins just fine (they cook up pretty small, especially if you dice your tomatoes smaller than I did for this photo).
While the tomato and basil is simmering, you can add the salt and molasses (my mom’s secret ingredient).
The sauce will thicken up as the extra liquid simmers away, but you can also thicken it using corn starch! Use a spoon to remove some of the liquid from the sauce, and place it in a jar. Add some corn starch (the more you add, the thicker it will be. I usually add about a tablespoon, because I don’t let my sauce simmer as long as it would in a perfect world because I don’t usually start cooking dinner early enough for that to happen.) Shake the jar, until the corn starch is completely mixed up, then add it back into the sauce and stir. It will turn clear as it cooks.
You can use the simmering time to cook your hamburger, garlic, and onions (add as many as you want – more garlic and more onions means a stronger garlic/onion flavor) if you are making a meat sauce. For the vegetarian version, saute garlic and onions in olive oil. My kids like very finely diced carrots added to the vegetarian version.
Add your sauteed mixture to the main sauce, and continue to let simmer until you reach the consistency you want. I use this same sauce for lasagna, but add a little water since I use no-boil noodles, or fresh ones when I am super organized.
Sometimes I make enough extra to can – beats the store bought version any day!
Do you have a from-scratch recipe that you love?
Share comments and feedback below, on my Facebook page, or by tagging me on Instagram. Sign up for my newsletter to receive book recommendations, crafts, activities, and parenting tips in your inbox every week.
MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.
So delicious! I always make one for dinner and one for the freezer.
Amalia
xo
That’s a great strategy!
Ah…I love making pasta sauce too. The pics look great! Thanks for the inspiration.
Homemade sauce is the best! Do you have a favorite recipe?
I find making pasta sauce hard! I’ve never tried molasses. I’m going to have to try that next time instead of sugar.
Molasses has a zing you don’t get with sugar.
That looks wonderful!!! I like to make a double batch to freeze for later.
I do that too, when I’m organized enough!
Yum! I have a homemade sauce but yours beats mine with the fresh tomatoes (I used canned). And yes, simmering tomatoes take the flavor to a whole new level. I agree, 45 minutes is the MINIMUM simmer time!
It’s amazing how much difference that extra cooking time makes in the tomato flavor!
I just made spaghetti for dinner tonight. It was a busy night and so I just threw together something out of a can- your version looks much better!
You should definitely give this a try, Carly – it’s delicious!
Can I come over for dinner? Looks delicious and easy to make!
Yum, I love spaghetti.
So do I! I love how easy it is to make for a bunch of people to eat for dinner, too!
That has to smell wonderful! Now I’m hungry.
Homemade sauce made with summer tomatoes is one of my favorite ways to enjoy them well after the season has passed! I can’t wait to try your recipe for my spaghetti and meatball lovers! Thanks!
Yummy. I can just smell the kitchen from the photos! I’ve never used molasses in my sauce – must try it some time!
This looks amazing, and something that I would love to try on a fall winter weekend. Pinning this!
That looks so so yummy! I cook 90% of our meals from scratch and I will be pinning this to add!
This looks absolutely delicious. My husband makes a wonderful pasta sauce, and his secret ingredient is pickles :)
That looks good! I’m Italian and our home made sauce is very different. We start with salt pork and special seasoning then we simmer it on low heat with tomato sauce, tomatoes, a bay leaf, garlic, garlic salt, a little pepper and a roast. We simmer the roast in the sauce for about 3 hours and it gets very tender and takes in the flavor of the sauce.
Thanks for sharing your recipe. I might have to post mine on my blog for you. Have a terrific day!
I have been searching for THE pasta sauce recipe. I’m so excited to try this. I’m a “from scratch” cook so this is right up my alley! Thanks, MaryAnne!
My Mouth is watering. Can I come to your place for lunch. Yum!
My mouth is watering! I made homemade pasta sauce when we lived in England, but I’ve fallen out of the habit. I’m definitely going to have to try your version.
We have a slow-cooker butter chicken curry recipe we make from scratch that our whole family loves.
Yum and all fresh! I should try this. I do a lot of adding to sauce, meat and veggies, but have never made the actual sauce from scratch. I use the same thickening method when I make gravy.