Simple and Flavorful Spaghetti Sauce

Today’s Simple and Flavorful Spaghetti Sauce has been a regular on our meal rotation for years. In fact, my husband asked for it for Father’s Day dinner this year. So, I happily obliged because it is delicious, flavorful, and easy!!!! This recipe goes with meatballs, Italian sausage, or just plain over pasta. Additionally, you can use it for lasagna or over chicken Parmesan. This is also a great basic to have on hand and uses only kitchen staples. However, there are a couple of things to keep in mind if you want great sauce, so read on.

I learned a long time ago that quality of tomatoes matters a lot in a good sauce because not all canned tomatoes are not created equal. First of all, though we love fresh tomato sauce, canned tomatoes have a richness and depth that makes them perfect for spaghetti, so that’s what I use. Stewed tomatoes and diced tomatoes have a lot of water and aren’t a good choice for this sauce. Crushed tomatoes with puree are perfect for spaghetti sauce and are what this recipe calls for.

As far as brand goes there are one of 2 types of canned tomatoes I use for this. The first is S & W because they have excellent crushed tomatoes in rich puree and are a reliable staple. Their canned tomatoes are thick, rich, and high quality. The other brands don’t compare. However, if I can find REAL crushed San Marzano tomatoes then I will use those first. San Marzano tomatoes are the predecessor to the Roma tomato and are used widely in Italian sauces. They are a very famous tomato and one of the highest quality tomatoes you can get. Additionally, they are grown under very particular conditions and are actually certified for authenticity! They are extremely delicious in sauce, but not always available. They are also more expensive. So, I absolutely recommend these if you have them at your local store.

Next, for a good sauce it is important to simmer a bit and allow the flavors to blend. This is because the marriage of flavors is important here and needs a bit of time to come together. Also, adding olive oil to tomato sauce is a nice touch that adds a balanced depth to the acidity of the tomato sauce. And that’s it for my tomato sauce tips: quality tomatoes, olive oil, and time simmering. This is a very economical sauce that can be frozen, and it can easily be doubled or tripled to feed a large group on a budget. And now on to the recipe!

Simple and flavorful Spaghetti Sauce

Can double or triple recipe.

2 cans of S & W crushed tomatoes in rich puree or San Marzano crushed tomatoes in rich puree (note: they may come in Italian seasoned as well as plain, but either will do. However, if you use Italian seasoned then skip adding herbs to your sauce.)

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 tsp. dried basil

2 tsps. of sea salt

4 tsps. of sugar

1/4 cup of virgin olive oil

2 large cloves of garlic (or substitute garlic powder)

2 tbsps. of minced dried onion

Start by combining all ingredients in a pot and bring to a simmer. Continue to simmer for 1/2 hour in a covered pot. Finally, use sauce as desired with meatballs, Italian sausage, and more. And that’s it! Isn’t that easy!

Enjoy your day!

Enjoy!