This easy homemade spaghetti sauce with beef recipe is the best! Not only is it super quick and ready in just about 35 minutes, but it uses just 7 ingredients, and it freezes really well, making mid-week meal prep a cinch. This is the perfect spaghetti sauce, in my opinion.
Substitute ground pork, chicken, or turkey if you're trying to eat less beef, and feel free to pair this sauce with this homemade spaghetti alla chitarra (see the photos below!) or just about any pasta shape you have in your pantry, from penne to pappardelle.
Just so we're clear, this is a quick, everyday spaghetti sauce, not ragù alla Bolognese. The two are completely different sauces: Bolognese is a slow-simmered beef and pork ragù with pancetta that needs hours to simmer. If that's what you're after, here's my authentic Bolognese recipe with my best tips from the locals in Bologna, Italy.
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Why You'll Love This Spaghetti Pasta Recipe
- It's super quick and easy (ready in about 35 minutes)
- It's an authentic Italian spaghetti ragù sauce recipe
- A perfect meat sauce for lasagna or almost any pasta shape
- A very kid-friendly homemade spaghetti sauce
- It freezes really well
- Uses just 7 total ingredients (8 if you count salt)
Best Tips For Making Spaghetti Sauce From Scratch
A few simple techniques and good ingredients are what separate a flat spaghetti sauce from a really good homemade one. Higher-quality ingredients always help, but this recipe still works even if you can't get the imported Italian ones.
- Garlic, carrot, and onion are the trio I swear by. A true Italian soffritto also includes celery, and plenty of Americans add it to spaghetti sauce (I almost always used to add it, before I figured out this method). But cooking the carrots first until golden, then adding the onions, gives this sauce the sweetest, most balanced flavor without it, so I almost always leave out celery. Plus, my Italian family here doesn't use celery in any sugos except once or twice a year.
- Use the best tomatoes you can find, ideally one with just 2 to 3 natural ingredients. If yours tastes acidic, balance it with a pinch or two of sugar or honey. Many cheaper brands hide preservatives, added water, and excessive salt, so read the label. Mutti passata and chopped or whole tomatoes, Bianco DiNapoli (made in California), and Cento San Marzano are all good options.
- Use 100% real extra virgin olive oil, Italian or Spanish, not a blend cut with other oils. Read the back label, since a lot of supermarket "olive oil" is mostly soybean or sunflower oil plus a little olive oil. Trader Joe's carries decent budget options if you can't splurge.
- Don't over-salt the pasta water, because you'll stir some of that starchy water into the sauce at the end.
- Add up to ¼ cup of starchy pasta water to the finished meat sauce to help it bind and coat the noodles.
- Pasta: Bronze-drawn or gold-drawn pasta is best. If it's pricey or hard to find, De Cecco, Garofalo, Barilla, Voiello, or Molisana are all reliable.
Abbruzzese Italian Ingredients in This Spaghetti con Ragù Recipe
If you're curious about the artisanal Italian ingredients I've used, they all come from Abruzzo, Italy, which is a food mecca for anyone who loves to eat or cook.
For the pasta, I've used handmade slow-dried Cav. Giuseppe Cocco artisanal bronze-drawn spaghetti, organic Pera d'Abruzzo tomato passata (organic Abruzzo pear tomatoes) from La Giara (one of our favorite Italian Slow Food producers), extra virgin olive oil from Juliis Timando (another one of our favorite Slow Food producers in Abruzzo), and a 20-month DOP Grana Padano to sprinkle over the top.
If you don't have access to any (or all) of these Italian ingredients, don't worry -- as mentioned above, there are lots of great-tasting substitutions you can easily find in the States or just about anywhere in the world.
Easy Homemade Spaghetti Sauce Ingredients
I use ½ pound of lean ground beef for this tomato sauce, but feel free to increase it to a full 1 pound if desired. Using a 90/10 lean beef is a bit healthier and allows the extra virgin olive oil to be front and center, as opposed to the flavor of too much beef fat.
I recommend finely dicing the carrot and onion, which allows it to cook a bit more quickly and also sort of "melt" into the tomato sauce, giving it a velvety mouthfeel when you eat a forkful.
- Italian tomato passata (substitute finely chopped or crushed tomatoes)
- spaghetti pasta (or other favorite pasta)
- extra virgin olive oil
- garlic
- carrot
- onion
- carrot
- lean ground beef
- salt to taste
Optional Add-ins
- 2 tablespoons dry white OR red wine to deglaze the cooked beef
- 1 to 2 fresh basil leaves
Optional Garnish
- grated Grana Padano DOP cheese (sub Parmigiano-Reggiano or Parmesan)
How to Make Spaghetti Sauce Like an Italian
Feel free to make this spaghetti sauce 1 to 2 days before you plan to eat it. But even if you're crunched for time, it can be made and ready to eat in just about 35 to 40 minutes, including prep time. Making it a reliable, easy spaghetti sauce recipe even for busy weeknights.
A quick note as someone who lives and cooks in Italy: A real ragù is defined by a long, slow simmer. So, a purist would call this faster sauce a 'sugo di carne' (a meat sauce). In everyday use, and especially back home in the States, "ragù" gets used for just about any meaty tomato pasta sauce, so that's how I'm using it here. Just so you're clear on the difference.
Make the Spaghetti Sauce.
Step 1. Build the aromatics (carrots first). Add the olive oil and smashed garlic cloves to a medium-sized pot over medium-high heat and let the garlic blister for a couple of minutes. Add the carrots and cook about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they turn golden brown. This concentrates their natural sweetness, and if your tomatoes are lower quality or a little too acidic, the golden carrots work like a natural sweetener that balances the sauce. Add the onions and a little salt and cook until soft and translucent.
Step 2. Cook the beef. Add the ground beef and break it up using a spatula, season with salt to taste, and sauté until the meat is cooked through (about 8 to 10 minutes).
(Optional Step For More Flavor) For even more delicious flavor and extra depth, pour in a splash of dry white or red wine once the beef is browned and let the alcohol cook off for 3 minutes, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
Step 3. Add the tomatoes & simmer. Add the tomato passata, and season with salt to taste. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover with a lid, and cook for about 25 minutes, or until the sauce has slightly reduced and thickened. Adjust the seasoning, adding more salt if needed. Remove the garlic cloves and discard.
Cook the Spaghetti & Combine
Step 4. Cook the spaghetti. During the last 10 minutes of cooking the sauce, add the dried pasta to a lightly salted pot of boiling water, set a timer, and cook to al dente doneness according to packaged directions.
Step 5. Combine everything. When there are about 2 minutes left of pasta cooking time, add about ¼ cup of starchy pasta cooking water directly to the spaghetti sauce and stir well to combine. Strain the spaghetti, add it to the pot with the sauce, and stir vigorously to coat the noodles well. Top with grated cheese if desired and serve immediately. Enjoy!
Try It on Fresh Spaghetti alla Chitarra
This sauce is great on dried spaghetti, but if you want to see what it tastes like here in Italy in the Abruzzo and Marche regions, spoon it over fresh spaghetti alla chitarra. It's an egg-based semolina pasta, so it's richer and more tender than regular dried spaghetti, and the square-cut strands hold onto the meat sauce beautifully.
This is spaghetti with meat sauce at its absolute best and made entirely the authentic Italian way.
The Best Way To Reheat Leftover Spaghetti So It Tastes Just-Made (or almost)
The Italian way: don't make leftovers
In Italy, leftover spaghetti isn't really a thing. Italians cook only the pasta needed per person (usually 80-90g) and toss it with a few ladles of sauce. The remaining sauce is refrigerated separately and combined with freshly boiled pasta the next day, so the pasta is always perfectly al dente. This is how I prefer to cook pasta at home.
The American way: skillet or microwave
That said, leftover spaghetti was absolutely a thing in our house growing up, and it saved my mom a lot of time. We'd happily have eaten it cold straight from the fridge, but my mom would reheat it in a skillet with a little oil.
Reheating leftover spaghetti in a wide skillet is the best method: more direct contact with heat means the pasta warms quickly without going mushy, and you get a little crisp on the noodles for added flavor and texture.
Short on time? Microwave for up to 1 minute.
FAQ
Plan on roughly ¾ to 1 cup of sauce per person, tossed with about 80 to 100g (3 to 4 ounces) of dried spaghetti. This batch comfortably sauces about 4 servings, and it scales up well if you are feeding a crowd.
Two things make the biggest difference. Cook the carrots along with the garlic first until really golden before adding the onions, which concentrates their natural sweetness and balances acidic tomatoes without any sugar. Second, deglaze the browned beef with a couple of tablespoons of dry white or red wine and let it cook off for 3-4 minutes for real depth. High quality Italian tomatoes and real extra virgin olive oil do the rest.
Yes. The sauce can be made 1 to 2 days ahead and refrigerated, and it freezes really well, so it's a good one to batch for busy weeknights. The Italian habit is to refrigerate or freeze the sauce on its own and toss it with freshly cooked pasta when you are ready to eat, so the noodles stay perfectly al dente.
Absolutely. Swap the lean ground beef for ground pork, turkey, or chicken if you prefer, or are trying to eat less beef. The method stays exactly the same.
Looking for More Easy Spaghetti Recipes?
If you love simple spaghetti recipes, we think you'll also enjoy a few of our family favorite recipes below -- everything from Amatriciana and carbonara to our fresh summer garden pasta.
- Spaghetti alla Chitarra (Guitar Pasta From Abruzzo, Italy)
- Italian Spaghetti With Zucchini & Fresh Tomatoes
- Pasta alle Zucchine (Spaghetti with Zucchini)
- Linguine with Clam Sauce Recipe (Pasta alle Vongole)
- Spaghetti alla Carbonara (Cook Pasta Like A Roman)
- Amatriciana Recipe (Pasta Amatriciana with Guanciale or Pancetta)
- Spaghetti Aglio Olio e Peperoncino w/Crispy Prosciutto
- Triple Shrimp Pasta (Creamy Shrimp Trighetto Pasta)
More Easy Pasta With Beef Recipes
We don't eat nearly as much beef as we once did, but sometimes we have a craving for pasta with a tasty beef sauce - these recipes hit the spot every time.
Let's get started!
Print📖 Recipe
The Ultimate Spaghetti Sauce with Beef (Spaghetti Con Ragù)
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 to 6 servings depending on hunger level
- Diet: Kosher
Description
This easy, beefy homemade spaghetti sauce recipe is the best! Not only is it super quick and ready in just about 35 minutes, but it uses just 7 ingredients, and it freezes really well, making mid-week meal prep a cinch.
Ingredients
- 24 ounces Italian tomato passata (700g) (sub finely chopped, crushed or whole tomatoes)
- 16 ounces spaghetti pasta (or other favorite pasta) (450g)
- ½ pound (8 ounces) lean ground beef, or up to 1 pound if desired (225g)
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, or more to taste (30g)
- 3 garlic cloves, smashed
- 1-2 medium carrots, finely diced (100g)
- 1 large onion, finely diced (200g) (sub shallot or leeks)
- salt to taste
Optional Add-ins:
- 2 tablespoons dry white OR red wine to deglaze cooked beef (30g)
For Garnish:
- freshly grated aged Parmigiano-Reggiano (or Grana Padano or American Parmesan)
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Instructions
- Cook the aromatics (carrots first). Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 3 smashed garlic cloves to a medium-sized pot over medium-high heat and let the garlic blister for a couple of minutes. Add the carrots and cook about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they turn golden brown. This concentrates their natural sweetness and helps balance lower-quality or acidic tomatoes. Add the onions and a little salt and cook until soft and translucent.
- Cook the beef. Add the ground beef, break it up with a spatula, season with salt to taste, and sauté until cooked through, about 8 to 10 minutes. Optional, for more flavor. Pour in 2 tablespoons of dry white or red wine once the beef is browned and let the alcohol cook off for about 3 minutes, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
- Add the tomatoes and simmer. Add the tomato passata and season with salt to taste. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover with a lid, and cook about 25 minutes, or until slightly reduced and thickened. Adjust the seasoning. Remove the garlic cloves and discard.
- Cook the spaghetti. During the last 10 minutes of cooking the sauce, add the pasta to a lightly salted pot of boiling water and cook to al dente according to package directions.
- Combine everything. About 2 minutes before the pasta is done, add about ¼ cup of starchy pasta cooking water to the sauce and stir to combine. Strain the spaghetti, add it to the pot, and toss vigorously to coat. Top with grated cheese if desired and serve immediately. Enjoy!
Notes
Ingredient quality:
Tomato passata: choose one with just 2 to 3 natural ingredients. If your passata or canned tomatoes taste acidic, balance it with a pinch or two of sugar or honey. Good options: Mutti passata, Bianco DiNapoli (made in California), or Cento San Marzano.
Olive oil: use 100% real Italian or Spanish extra virgin olive oil, not a blend cut with vegetable oils. Read the back label, since many cheap "olive oils" are mostly soybean or sunflower oil. Trader Joe's has solid budget options.
Pasta: bronze-drawn or gold-drawn is best. If it is pricey or hard to find, De Cecco, Garofalo, Barilla, Voiello, or Molisana are all reliable.
Technique:
Don't over-salt the pasta water, since you'll stir some of it into the sauce at the end.
Add a few splashes of starchy pasta water (not more than ¼ cup) to the finished sauce to help it bind and coat the noodles. Don't add too much, or it will thin the sauce too much.
Make ahead and leftovers:
Make the sauce 1 to 2 days ahead, or refrigerate leftover sauce on its own and toss with freshly cooked pasta the next day so the noodles stay al dente. This is the Italian way, and it means no soggy reheated pasta.
To reheat already-dressed spaghetti, a wide skillet with a little oil beats the microwave: the noodles heat fast, stay firm, and pick up a little crisp. A microwave works in a pinch (up to 1 minute).
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Pasta
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4 ounce serving
- Calories: 660g
- Sugar: 11g
- Sodium: 260mg
- Fat: 15g
- Saturated Fat: 4g
- Unsaturated Fat: 11g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 100g
- Fiber: 6.4g
- Protein: 29g
- Cholesterol: 50g
Roger_mic says
This was awesome! I had never used the technique of adding a little pasta cooking water to the tomato sauce, but it made all the difference along with a really good extra virgin olive oil. I bought the Mutti tomatoes you mentioned from a local Italian import store (I think Harris Teeter's carries them, but wasn't sure if those were actually coming from Italy and not just some factory here)?. They were a little expensive compared to other brands but totally worth it. I bought a wedge of aged grana padano and everything together was sublime!
Catherine V. says
Finally splurged on the real DOP tomatoes and organic ground beef and I could taste (and see) the difference immediately! This is the best spaghetti sauce I've ever made...pure comfort food:)