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Best Spaghetti

Updated: 05.22.25 | Marc Matsumoto | 20 Comments

4.48 from 23 votes
By using some science and a bit of elbow grease, my Spaghetti and Meat Sauce recipe gets the most flavor out of the ingredients in the least amount of time.
Recipe Video
A plate of easy spaghetti and meat sauce that comes together in under 30 minutes from scratch.

The Best Spaghetti From Scratch

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce is one of those classic global comfort foods that moms around the world make for their kids. Pasta and sauce has a myriad of variations, whether it's Spaghetti Napolitan in Japan, Macaroni and Cheese in the US, or this Italian-American classic, it's always a favorite family meal. Although the sauce and pasta have roots in Italy, it didn't come together as a dish until Italians started migrating to other parts of the world. 

These days, people are busy, and I get the temptation to use the pre-made stuff from a jar, but making the best spaghetti from scratch doesn't take that much more work, and homemade spaghetti sauce tastes so good that it's worth the small extra effort. Meat sauce also freezes well, so if you're really pressed for time, you can make a big batch of this on the weekend, portion it, then just pull it out of the freezer, reheat, and toss with freshly boiled spaghetti on a weeknight. 

Jump to:
  • The Best Spaghetti From Scratch
  • Why This Recipe Works
  • What are the ingredients for the Best Spaghetti Sauce?
  • How to Make Spaghetti With Meat Sauce
  • Put them Together
  • Other Spaghetti Recipes
  • 📖 Recipe
  • Comments

Why This Recipe Works

  1. By physically cutting the aromatics into smaller pieces and adding some baking soda to raise the pH, we're able to caramelize them much faster than normal. This infuses the sauce with a balancing natural sweetness, and tons of flavor that most quick sauces won't have.  
  2. Using a combination of ground pork and beef creates a more complex flavor profile, making the sauce taste like it's been simmered for hours. 
  3. Cooking the meat in red wine (rather than sautéing it) keeps it tender, so you don't have to cook it for long. 
  4. In addition to the puréed tomatoes, I also like to add a small amount of ketchup. There are three very good reasons to do this. The first is that ketchup has a concentrated tomato flavor, which makes the sauce taste like it's been cooking for much longer. The second is that ketchup is sweet, so by adding a small amount, it's not enough to make the sauce overly sweet, but it helps balance the acidity of the tomatoes and wine. Finally, ketchup includes spices like nutmeg and cloves, which are often added to more complex meat sauce recipes. By adding the ketchup, you get the nuances of these spices without having to add the spices themselves. 
  5. Simmering the sauce at a higher temperature while stirring it evaporates the excess moisture quickly, which allows you to reduce the sauce down to a nice thick consistency without cooking it for hours. 
Overhead view of the best spaghetti from scratch on a white plate sprinkled with parmesan and parsley.

What are the ingredients for the Best Spaghetti Sauce?

Broadly speaking, spaghetti sauce has three main components, the aromatics, the meat, and the liquids. 

Meat

  • Ground Beef - My best spaghetti sauce gets most of its flavor from the ground beef, so I like adding a relatively high ratio of lean ground beef. If I have the time, I like to grind my own beef, so I know exactly what's in it, and it also allows me to grind it coarsely, which gives the sauce a better texture. 
  • Ground Pork - I like to add a bit of ground pork, which adds savory umami to the sauce. Ground lamb, chopped bacon, or Italian sausage are other good alternatives. 

Aromatics (a.k.a. Sofrito)

  • Garlic - Garlic makes almost anything better, and I like adding lots of minced garlic cloves to my sauce. 
  • Onions - Onions add flavor and mild sweetness, but it's important to caramelize them to get the most flavor out of them. One of the tricks to doing this quickly is to mince them as small as  possible. 
  • Carrots - Carrots are a traditional part of sofrito, but they need to be cooked for a long time to dissolve into the sauce. By grating them, this not only speeds up the time it takes to caramelize them, but it also allows them to dissolve seamlessly into the sauce in minutes instead of hours. 

Liquids

  • Red Wine - Although white wine will work, I like using red wine because it gives the sauce a deeper color and flavor, which makes it seem like the sauce was cooked for much longer. 
  • Tomato Puree - Although I use whole canned tomatoes for my slow-cooked Bolognese, I like using pureed tomatoes for this because it reduces the cooking time as the tomatoes are already broken down. You can substitute whole stewed tomatoes if you like, but I recommend mashing them up a bit first before you add them. I do NOT recommend using diced tomatoes, as these have been picked before they're fully ripe so that they can maintain their shape after being diced and canned. Tomato sauce doesn't have as much tomato flavor as tomato puree, and tomato paste lacks the freshness that puree provides.
  • Ketchup - A small amount balances out the acidity of the wine and tomatoes while adding a concentrated tomato flavor and spices. It's one of my secrets to making my best spaghetti recipe taste like it took hours to cook.

Spices

  • Oregano - The classic Italian herb for a homemade spaghetti sauce recipe, oregano provides an herbaceous note to the sauce.
  • Black Pepper - Provides heat and floral notes, and pairs well with the meats and wine.
  • Other Spices - I've kept this recipe pretty classic and simple, but if you want to kick it up a notch, red pepper flakes, dried basil, or even my Umami Seasoning Salt would make great additions.

How to Make Spaghetti With Meat Sauce

The Spaghetti

Water takes a while to boil, so I always start by putting a large pot of salted water on to boil.  I usually add 1 tablespoon of table salt for every gallon of water. This ensures each strand of pasta is well seasoned. 

Salting a big pot of boiling water for the spaghetti.

Any kind of spaghetti will work, but spaghetti noodles come in thicknesses ranging from 1.4mm to 2.2mm thick. While any thickness will work for this best spaghetti recipe, thicker noodles take longer to cook, while thinner noodles will take less time, so check the package to figure out the right amount of time to boil the pasta. I usually boil it for 1 minute less than what the package says and then finish cooking it in the sauce.

The Sauce

The first step to making any great sauce is to caramelize the aromatics. This is a process that can normally take up to an hour to do properly, but by cutting the aromatics small, adding some baking soda, and steaming them covered with a lid, we can reduce this down to around 13 minutes. 

Amongst its many superpowers, baking soda has the ability to break down the aromatics, which makes them cook faster and eventually dissolve into the sauce as if they'd been cooked for hours. It also raises the pH of the mixture, which speeds up both caramelization and the Maillard reaction. Both of these browning reactions lead to the creation of new flavor compounds, which take pungent, spicy onions and turn them into mellow, sweet flavor bombs. 

Stirring onions, garlic and grated carrots together in a frying pan.

Once the garlic, onions, carrots, baking soda, and olive oil mixed together in a pan, I cover it with a lid before turning on the heat. This traps the steam escaping from the vegetables. Since water vapor is much more efficient than air at transferring heat to the aromatics, it makes them cook through much faster. 

Aromatics that have been steamed caramelized for meat sauce.

After about 10 minutes of steaming, you can remove the lid and boil off any remaining liquid, while allowing the aromatics to caramelize in a matter of minutes. 

Ground beef and pork that have been added to the caramelized aromatics for making spaghetti sauce.

Then, I add the beef and pork and crumble them up a bit with a spatula before adding the wine. You want to add the wine to the meat before it's fully cooked as the liquid keeps the ground meat from getting tough (which would require a lot of time to tenderize). 

Red wine being added to the meat sauce.

Finally, the tomato puree, ketchup, oregano, salt, and pepper get added, and I cook this together over medium heat to get it to reduce quickly. You should be able to get the sauce to the right consistency in under 10 minutes. Still, it's important to stir it continuously, which not only prevents the sauce from burning, it also speeds up the evaporation of excess liquid. You can tell when the sauce is done when you can scrape a spatula along the bottom of the pan, and the sauce takes a moment to fill in the gap. 

Quick spaghetti sauce after simmering for 10 minutes.

Put them Together

This is perhaps the most important step because it marries the two components of my best spaghetti recipe together. Once your meat sauce is nice and thick and your pasta is about a minute from being fully cooked, transfer the spaghetti straight into the pan with the sauce using tongs. Don't worry about the starchy pasta water that hitches a ride because this extra liquid allows you to finish cooking the pasta in the sauce. If your spaghetti starts to clump up, just add more pasta water one ladleful at a time as you mix. When the pasta is cooked to your liking, and each strand is coated in a glistening layer of meat sauce, it's done! You may have trouble believing that this amazing spaghetti recipe only took about half an hour to cook. At this point you can serve it, or you can grate in your favorite dry cheese such as Parmigiano-Reggiano (a.k.a. Parmesan), or Pecorino Romano and stir it in.

What's the history of Spaghetti with Meat Sauce?

Like most things in food lore, it's unclear exactly where Spaghetti with Meat Sauce was created, but one thing that is certain is that it did not originate in Italy. One theory suggests that it was created in the US about 100 years ago when there was a large influx of Italian immigrants. Between 1880 and 1924, more than four million Italians emigrated to the US, many of them from the south of Italy. This is an important clue because although Meat Sauce is often called "Bolognese" (named after a city in the north), the preparation and ingredients are actually closer to a Neapolitan ragù, which comes from the southern city of Naples (which is also where pizza was born). Meat sauced tossed together with boiled spaghetti noodles.r

What's the difference between Meat Sauce and Bolognese?

Although the two terms are often used interchangeably, Bolognese refers to a meat sauce in the style of Bologna, Italy. It's made from minced beef and pork, along with a soffrito, milk or cream, and a small amount of tomato, which is slow-cooked for hours. Traditional Ragù alla Bolognese from Bologna is almost always served with Tagliatelle or some other wide flat pasta, not spaghetti. When you're not pressed for time, I have a fantastic recipe for Ragù Alla Bolognese.

Can I meal plan Best Spaghetti with Meat Sauce?

Spaghetti  is the perfect dish to meal plan as you can make a large batch of the sauce and then heat it up and toss it with freshly boiled pasta for a meal that can be assembled in under ten minutes. One batch of this is enough to make 2 large servings, so just multiply the sauce ingredients for the number of people you're feeding and the number of meals you want it for. Be aware that if you increase the amount significantly, the caramelization and simmering steps may take a bit more time. 

Once the sauce is done, just divide it up into the number of meals you want to have it for, and then refrigerate the portions you want to eat within the next few days, and freeze any portions you want to eat after that. Then you just have to defrost the sauce (either in a microwave, or in a pot covered with a lid), boil the pasta, and toss the two together. 

A mound of the best quick spaghetti with meat sauce dusted with parmesan cheese.

Other Spaghetti Recipes

  • Spaghetti Carbonara
  • Spaghetti with Meatballs
  • Spaghetti Amatriciana
  • Shrimp and Avocado Pasta
  • Kimchi Spaghetti
  • Spaghetti Napolitan
  • Chickpea Spaghetti

📖 Recipe

Overhead view of the best spaghetti from scratch on a white plate sprinkled with parmesan and parsley.

Best Spaghetti Recipe

By: Marc Matsumoto
4.48 from 23 votes
Print Pin
Prep Time 5 minutes mins
Cook Time 25 minutes mins
Total Time 30 minutes mins
Yield 3 servings
YouTube video

Units

Ingredients 

  • 255 grams ground beef
  • 100 grams ground pork
  • ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
  • 180 grams onion (1 small onion, finely minced)
  • 50 grams carrot (⅓ carrot, peeled, grated)
  • 14 grams garlic (minced)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • ½ cup red wine
  • 500 grams tomato puree
  • 2 tablespoons ketchup
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 225 grams spaghetti
  • Flat-leaf parsley (chopped for garnish)
  • Parmesan cheese (for garnish)

Instructions

  • Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil.
  • Dissolve the baking soda in a tablespoon of water and add it to a frying pan, along with the minced onions, grated carrot, minced garlic, and olive oil. Stir the mixture to evenly combine and cover this with a lid. Put it on the stove over medium heat, and set the timer for 10 minutes.
  • Once you see steam escaping from between the lid and the pan, turn down the heat to low, and continue steaming the onion mixture until the timer goes off.
  • When the timer goes off, remove the lid and turn up the heat to medium-high. Saute the mixture for about 3-minute or until all the liquid has evaporated and the onions start to brown.
  • Add the ground beef and ground pork and break up the clumps with a spatula.
  • Once there are no large lumps of meat left, add the wine, and continue breaking the clumps up until the mixture no longer smells like alcohol.
  • Add the tomato puree, ketchup, dried oregano, salt, and black pepper and vigorously simmer the sauce while stirring it constantly for about 10 minutes.
  • While the sauce is reducing, add the spaghetti to the boiling water, submerge it under the water as quickly as possible and cook for 1 minute less than what the package directions say.
  • The sauce is done when you can pass a spatula through it, and it takes a second for the sauce to fill in the gap.
  • When the pasta is done, use tongs to transfer the spaghetti directly to the pan with the sauce. It's okay if some of the boiling liquid goes into the sauce. Stir the noodles into the sauce and add additional boiling liquid if the pasta starts looking dry.
  • Serve the pasta garnished with chopped parsley and parmesan cheese to taste.
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Nutrition Facts

Calories • 800kcalCarbohydrates • 81gProtein • 34gFat • 35gSaturated Fat • 11gCholesterol • 84mgSodium • 1046mgPotassium • 1320mgFiber • 7gSugar • 14gVitamin A • 3516IUVitamin C • 21mgCalcium • 98mgIron • 6mg

Comments

    4.48 from 23 votes (20 ratings without comment)

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    Recipe Rating




  1. Thapelo says

    May 21, 2025 at 9:34 pm

    5 stars
    Good

    Reply
    • Marc Matsumoto says

      May 22, 2025 at 11:25 am

      Glad you liked it!

      Reply
  2. Sarah says

    December 19, 2024 at 12:44 am

    An absolute family favorite for years! I always make extra sauce to freeze for a quick meal in a pinch. Question, I lost my original printed recipe, did you used to use bacon instead of ground pork? If so, were the measurements the same or is that a different recipe I am thinking of of yours? TIA!

    Reply
    • Marc Matsumoto says

      December 19, 2024 at 10:20 am

      Hi Sarah, I'm happy to hear you and your family have been enjoying this for so long! I've updated this recipe a couple of times over the years. You can still access the original recipe (with bacon) here: https://norecipes.com/wprm_print/92995

      Reply
  3. Alicia says

    May 10, 2023 at 12:45 am

    5 stars
    My favorite! In college and love cooking this for friends

    Reply
    • Marc says

      May 10, 2023 at 7:55 am

      I'm happy to hear you and you're friends have been enjoying this Alicia! Thanks for taking the time to let me know!

      Reply
  4. Damian S. says

    December 21, 2021 at 6:39 am

    5 stars
    It tasted amazing with the wine. Superb recipe.

    Reply
    • Marc Matsumoto says

      December 21, 2021 at 10:49 am

      Thanks Damian, I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it!

      Reply
      • Brenda Ilkhanipour says

        April 19, 2022 at 12:58 am

        I would love to try this recipie! Could you tell me what kind of beef you use? Ground chuck, ground sirloin or Bison?

        Thank you!

        Reply
        • Marc Matsumoto says

          April 20, 2022 at 5:50 pm

          Hi Brenda, this will work with any ground meat as long as it doesn't have a lot of gristle or connective tissue mixed in when you grind it. Gristle or connective tissue works great for a slow cooked bolognese like this: https://norecipes.com/ragu-alla-bolognese/ because the long cooking times renders the collagen into gelatin but for this quick meat sauce, you'll end up with tough bits if it has too much gristle in it. Hope that helps!

          Reply
  5. Katrina says

    December 07, 2020 at 2:43 am

    Is there an alternative to the wine component? I don’t typically drink it so I don’t really want to buy a whole bottle lol

    Reply
    • Marc Matsumoto says

      December 07, 2020 at 2:44 am

      Hi Katrina, you could substitute some chicken stock in place of the wine.

      Reply
  6. Angus Wynne says

    July 25, 2020 at 9:28 am

    How long to heat spaghetti in boiling water?

    Reply
    • Marc Matsumoto says

      July 25, 2020 at 12:03 pm

      Hi Angus, spaghetti comes in thicknesses ranging from 1.4 to 2.2 mm thick. This has a significant impact on boiling time, so you should check your package of spaghetti for a specific time.

      Reply
  7. Richard says

    March 10, 2020 at 11:08 pm

    This worked really well for me. Due to a lucky accident, I was cooking this for a lunch, but I got delayed with work and ended up grabbing a sandwich. That let me slowly simmer things on the stove top for the entire afternoon and when dinner came around it was amazing. Score. Do love the baking soda trick, thanks Marc!

    Reply
    • Marc Matsumoto says

      March 11, 2020 at 11:29 am

      Hi Richard, I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it, and if you have the time, a slow simmer is definitely the way to go.

      Reply
  8. Edward Coleman says

    February 18, 2020 at 10:06 am

    It's actually really nice to see someone include the ketchup component. I've been doing this as well, and ketchup really can add depth in much the same way as tomato paste, but with the addition of seasoning and sweetness. Big fan of this recipe!

    Reply
    • Marc Matsumoto says

      February 18, 2020 at 3:52 pm

      Hi Edward, I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one😀 thanks for taking the time to leave me a note and let me know!

      Reply
  9. Channon Doughty says

    February 18, 2020 at 6:35 am

    I am in love with your quickly caramelize the aromatics! I have a feeling I'm going to be using this method quite often. Thank you!
    What's best about this recipe is that I am planning to make meat sauce tonight, so I get to try this recipe out right away!!
    If you're feeling adventurous, I highly recommend adding basil and sweet marjoram to your sauce. The combination of oregano, basil and marjoram really balance one another out and make for an amazing flavor! We also use bulk turkey or chicken hot Italian sausage in place of ground pork, in both our meat sauce and our meat balls.

    Reply
    • Marc Matsumoto says

      February 19, 2020 at 10:44 am

      Hi Channon, I'm glad to hear you found that tip helpful! It works for almost anything you're trying to caramelize. Just make sure you don't add too much or you'll taste the baking soda (a little goes a long way). Great call on adding marjoram and basil. I often add basil to my sauce, but I was trying to keep this one as simple as possible😉.

      Reply
Marc Matsumoto

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I’m Marc Matsumoto, a former chef raising a family in Tokyo, Japan. I believe anyone can become a great cook with the right ingredients and a few techniques, so I created No Recipes to help you unlock your culinary potential!

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