Made From Scratch Spaghetti Sauce
homemade spaghetti sauce takes a ‘little’ extra time but it’s SO worth it, and I promise you’ll never eat store-bought again!
Hello, friends!
I’m so excited to be sharing today’s recipe that I could seriously do a little dance around my kitchen!
So why does ‘THIS’ particular recipe have me wanting to the happy dance?
Well, #1 because I’m a HUGE pasta lover, and spaghetti is one of my favorites!
And #2, I’ve been working on the development of this recipe for quite some time now, and I FINALLY have a winner!
And #3- I just came in from my garden with yet another basket full of tomatoes!! Which means I get to make a few batches of this delicious sauce to freeze for later!
But before I do that, let’s start with why I LOVE to use fresh tomatoes for this sauce!
First, because…well, they are fresh and what is better than fresh? Nothing in my book. But fresh doesn’t mean they have to come straight out of your garden!
Fresh can mean straight out of your local grocery, as long as you know what kind of tomatoes you’re looking for! My choice?
Roma! Now there are all kinds of varieties of ‘Roma’ tomatoes, but you frankly, it really doesn’t matter which variety your store has. This type of tomatoes is widely sourced and available in almost every grocery store year-round.
Not that that means EVERY Roma tomato is going to be full of flavor, say like one that comes right out of your garden. But that’s okay too! Because we’re going to add PLENTY of flavor!
what if I don’t want to use fresh tomatoes?
No problem. Whenever I run out of this sauce I’ve frozen for the winter months, I’ll use canned tomatoes to make some more. IÂ would just recommend a ‘good’ quality brand. Try to avoid those that add ‘extra’ salt and use chemicals like calcium chloride.
***My top picks are Red Gold and Muir Glen.
But let’s get back to those ‘fresh’ tomatoes. To bring out all that delicious flavor, I like to roast mine in the oven for about 15 minutes or so.
Roasting also helps with the removal of the skin. Which, many prefer keeping on. I don’t. So when the tomatoes have cooled just a bit, I simply pick each one up, and the skin literally just falls right off. Then I plop what’s left (the pulp or the good stuff as far as I’m concerned) into my food processor!
Now I don’t know about you, but I’m not a fan of seeds in my sauce either. But we will get to that in a minute. First, we need to pulse these tomatoes into sauce!
what if I don’t have a food processor?
A blender, immersion blender, or even a good ole’ fashioned potato masher will work in a pinch!
Now about those seeds. Once you’ve got the sauce, it’s as simple as straining through a sieve.
And magically you now have tomato sauce WITHOUT seeds! Woot! Woot!
Of course, that’s just the beginning.
Yes, I know. It seems like a LOT of steps just to make a sauce. But like I said earlier, the sauce is SO worth the effort!
Besides, now that you have the base of your sauce ready, it’s time to add even MORE flavor. And who doesn’t like MORE flavor?
We start with:
- Onion
- Carrot (it adds a bit of sweetness and thickens the sauce)
- Garlic
I dice mine pretty big because I like a chunkier sauce. You could certainly do smaller bits or use your food processor.
Then add in some:
- Rosemary
- Thyme
- Oregano
- Basil
- Tomato Paste-For added richness
- Chicken stock (It helps to thin out the sauce a bit+ more flavor!)
And of course, we add back in that delicious sauce we just made! After everything is in the saucepan, I just let it simmer for about 20-30 minutes.
Then it’s time to plate up, friends! I like to add more fresh basil and some Parmesan shavings over the top of mine! How about you?
This sauce recipe makes about 2 cups and can be stored in an air-tight container or jar in the fridge for 3-4 days. You can also freeze the sauce. (Just make sure it’s completely cool before putting it in a freezer-friendly container. **Remember, if you place the sauce in a canning jar like above, always leave room for the sauce to expand.
Here’s the full recipe!
Made From Scratch Spaghetti Sauce
A Homemade Spaghetti Sauce made with fresh tomatoes and herbs.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Medium Roma Tomatoes **More if you use smaller tomatoes
- 1/2 cup diced yellow onion
- 1 medium carrot diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 cup green pepper diced
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon fresh basil
- 1 Tablespoon fresh oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh rosemary
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme
- 1/2 cup chicken stock (low sodium) (or water)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
Instructions
-
Preheat oven to 400. Cut each tomato in half and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove the tomatoes from the oven and allow to cool slightly. Then slide the skin off each tomato half and place the pulp in a food processor. **You can use a blender or immersion blender as a substitute. If using a food processor, pulse a few times or until the tomatoes are smooth. To remove the seeds strain the sauce through a sieve. Then set the sauce aside. Meanwhile, add the olive oil to a medium saucepan. Add onions and carrots to the saucepan. Saute until slightly softened. (About 2 minutes.) Add green pepper and garlic. Saute for 1 minute more. Add in Tomato Paste, and herbs. Stir until the paste is incorporated with the herbs and vegetables. Add in fresh tomato sauce, chicken stock, and salt and pepper. Bring to a low boil. Lower the heat and cover. Allow the sauce to simmer for 20-30 minutes. If sauce thickens too much, add in more stock.
Recipe Notes
***1 Can of Good Quality Crushed Tomatoes can be substituted for fresh tomatoes.
***If you're not a fan of a 'chunkier' sauce you can chop the onion, pepper, and carrot in the food processor before sauteing.
 
Nutritional information for the recipe is provided as a courtesy and is approximate only. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site
Spaghetti is definitely one of my favorite comfort foods. It’s a hearty, delicious, and good for you too!
I usually pair it up with a side salad and a piece of garlic toast. And sometimes, I’ll even add my YUMMY meatballs! (I’ll be sharing those in an upcoming post!)
I hope you enjoy today’s recipe for Made From Scratch Spaghetti Sauce!
Thank you so much for stopping by!
Christine, I am so proud to say I do make my own spaghetti sauce. I started doing it and now my family doesn’t like anything but homemade. I am saving your recipe because it is a little different than mine and I want to try yours. I think I will have to do this over the weekend. You made me want some spaghetti.
That’s awesome, Terrie! My family is the same way! You’ll have to send me your recipe! I’d love to try it!
This is so exciting Christine! We put up red sauce for the first time a few years ago and had so much fun trying out different recipes. Yours looks amazing so I can’t wait to try it too. It’s such a great staple to have in the kitchen and great for freezing too. Hugs and thank you for the recipe, CoCo
Thank you so much, CoCo! I’m such a pasta lover and this sauce is such a treat this time of year. I wish I had space to grow even more tomatoes because I’d love to have enough sauce to freeze! Hopefully in our next home! Crossing fingers! I hope you enjoy the recipe and feel free to share yours with me because this girl LOVES spaghetti!
This sounds delicious! I keep trying different spaghetti sauces from the store since they got rid of my favorite one and I still haven’t found one I really love. I’m going to definitely try this! I agree – fresh is so much better.
Thank you, Michelle! I know exactly what you mean about the store-bought! I started getting so frustrated by them that I would make Michael choose one that way I could blame him if it tasted like crap! LOL! Now the only one I can blame is me. 🙂 Fresh is DEFINITELY better!
Omg such a lovely color pasta sauce. Love the idea of adding the tomato paste. I can smell the freshness of the tomatoes. I am going to sure try this recipe. Thank you for the share.
Thank you, Aarthi! I hope you enjoy the recipe! I’ve been busy freezing more of my tomatoes because we really were so blessed with a bumper crop this year! It will be time, soon to make more batches of this sauce!