My Dad loves to make spaghetti sauce and is very picky when it comes to spaghetti sauce. One of my fondest memories growing up is having a spaghetti dinner every Sunday at my grandmother’s house. This tradition continued for several years at my own home. My father doesn’t cook a lot, but one of the things he likes to make is spaghetti sauce. I think it’s the process of browning the sausage or pork, stirring the ingredients every 30 minutes or so and the pleasing aroma that the sauce emenates after simmering on the stove all day.
Making homemade spaghetti sauce is more of a ritual reserved for a lazy Sunday afternoon. The longer the sauce simmers on the stove the better it will taste. The idea is to make a huge pot of it and then freeze the leftover sauce in containers for later use. When my parents were visiting at Christmas my Dad made his sauce and it left about 4 containers for later use. It has been nice to have since I don’t make homemade spaghetti sauce, but maybe one of these days I will. My son’s favorite dinner is spaghetti just like his grandfather, but so far he hasn’t volunteered to make the sauce.
I hope you enjoy this family recipe. Feel free to make adjustments according to your own tastes.
| Bernie's Spaghetti Sauce Recipe | Print |
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 2 cans 15 oz. tomato sauce
- 1 small can tomato paste
- 1 can 14.5 oz. diced tomatoes with basil
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 3 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1 bay leaf
- salt to taste
- oregano to taste
- minced garlic to taste
- Optional: ¼ cup red wine or to taste
- Optional: 1 lb. boneless pork chops, Italian sausage
- Brown the ground beef. If adding pork (cut into pieces) and/or Italian sausage brown in olive oil and cook about ¾ of the way through.
- Combine all of the ingredients in a large stock pot and simmer on the stove for at least 3 hours. The longer the better.
- Stir sauce occasionally.
- Serve with your favorite pasta.
I had to share this post with Max and Mitchell so they could see how Pop-pop does it up right! They love to make a spaghetti dinner together. My mom used to make it this way too.
Sounds like the boys can take over making the spaghetti sauce now 🙂
Thanks for sharing. I will have George try this!
Hope he likes it. I’m sure he’ll want to add his own touch as well 🙂
Yum, I love the smell of a good sauce simmering on the stovetop. Can’t wait to try this sauce!
Hope you enjoy it Anne!
That looks amazing! I am going to make that this week. A family recipe always taste best!
Thanks Kristin! Hope you enjoy it!
Gotta try this! I’ve never made homemade spaghetti sauce.
Had his sauce on Sunday. “You probably prefer it out of the jar”, he says to me. Part of the “Bernie experience” is the cynicism that can’t be captured in a simple recipe. 🙂 Love ya, dad!
It could have been his dry humor 🙂
I made this yesterday, and it was absolutely delicious. How could I ever go back to jarred sauce now?
So glad you liked it! Thanks for taking the time to come back and leave a comment.
Wow – with the italian sausage? That sounds like heaven in a dish… I’m afraid I’m from a “sauce in a jar” family. But I do appreciate a good sauce if someone cares to make it for me. Might have to give this a try!
It’s a good Sunday afternoon project Seana. What’s nice is that it makes a lot and you can freeze it in containers for multiple dinners.