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Great Grandma’s Pasta Sauce has been passed down through the generations and it originated from a friend’s Italian great great grandmother. It is the most delicious, rich, flavorful, pasta sauce I’ve ever had in my entire life and I can’t wait for you to try it!
What makes great grandma’s pasta sauce so special?
My friend told me that for every Christmas and get together, his grandmother used to make her famous pasta dish.
It’s made with this homemade pasta sauce that simmers on the stove for hours.
This pasta sauce is like liquid gold.
It’s the most delicious, rich, flavorful, pasta sauce I’ve ever had in my entire life.
This pasta sauce was actually from his great grandmother who came over from Italy. YOU KNOW it’s good when it’s from a legit Italian. Not some Chef Boyardee character.
The secret to this sauce is the simmering process.
Low and slow, baby. That’s how all the flavors develop and marry one another in a sweet, luscious concoction.
If you want to taste what the Italians are so blessed with over in Italy, I suggest you give this pasta sauce a try. You won’t ever go back to your plain ‘ol marinara that you thought was good. This sauce here is genius.
And genuine.
Don’t hate on great grandma’s pasta sauce
As you can see in the comments section below, there was some haterade on this pasta sauce.
There is a multitude of ways to make pasta sauce. I am not claiming this is THE right and ONLY way to make it.
This is how his family makes it.
If this isn’t the way “your” Italian grandmother or mother or whatever makes it…please don’t yell at me and tell me so.
Recipes are passed down from generations for a reason.
Every recipe is different. Every recipe is modified for each family.
There no “right” way to make something. That is why recipes bring such joy in the kitchen; they can be changed up.
I’m bringing this up because of comments I’ve gotten about this recipe and thus have turned off commenting for that very reason.
This pasta sauce is so easy to make!
You literally need the most basic of ingredients:
- Ground beef
- Tomato puree
- Garlic
- Spices
- Fresh basil
- Water
Can I freeze this pasta sauce?
To be honest, I haven’t tried to freeze this before but I know others who have and it’s fine! I would put it in one of those plastic takeout containers and reheat on the stovetop (like defrost it then plop it into a saucepan).
Can this pasta sauce be made in the slow cooker?
Technically, yes, because the idea is to cook it low and slow. I haven’t done it myself but I know others have done it so I’d put it on low for 3-4 hours!
So many great recipes that you could use great grandma’s pasta sauce recipe in:
Grab the recipe for great grandma’s pasta sauce below and be prepared to get wrapped up in comfort!
Great Grandma’s Pasta Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 pound (454 g) 80/20 ground beef OR 90/10 ground beef
- 6 ounce (170 g) can tomato paste
- 6 ounce (170 ml) water
- 24 ounce (680 g) jar tomato puree
- 5–6 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoon granulated sugar
- Pinch of dried oregano
- Pinch of onion powder
- Pinch of garlic powder
- Handful of fresh basil, chopped
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a large stockpot, saute garlic until soft and fragrant in 2 tbsp. of olive oil, about 2 minutes.
- Throw your meat in with the garlic and brown until meat has been thoroughly cooked through, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
- Pour in the tomato paste, tomato puree, and seasoning, including the fresh basil and sugar. Stir to mix well. With the 6 oz. can from the tomato paste, fill that with water and pour it in the stockpot as well.
- Let mixture simmer, uncovered, for 2 or more hours (the longer the better, but minimum 2 hours), stirring occasionally.
- Serve hot over fresh pasta.
Notes
Nutrition
Photography by Jesse Reilly
I’m going to try this tonight. I just want to say I know so sorry about that strange comment. Very odd. Has nothing to do with your recipe. Keep cooking and sharing your recipes
Making this sauce now as i type but quick question, how come yours looks so deep red and with seeds in it? I am making this for a lasagna monday so i will be freezing it. I normally have a go to recipe i use which calls for a little bit of this and a little bit of that and whatever Italian seasoning i happen to have up there at the time. This one smells and tastes delicious, thank you for sharing! I love to cook my sauces low and slow all day if i need too even when it was from a jar I would dr it up and let it simmer all day. It was so good so i am hoping this is 10x better!
the seeds are red pepper flakes that were added for photo styling and also because i like things a little more spicy. deep red could be the lighting or editing of photos.
Can I use a can of crushed tomatoes instead?
yes, you can!
Thank you! Yes, we made this last night and it was tasty. We made a few tweaks though that I want to share with others not to take away from your recipe because it was perfect with the homemade fettuccine we made.
I used a can of crushed tomatoes with Basil because I didn’t have the puree can and that worked out just fine. We added fresh Basil but using dried Basil seasoning would have worked too (assuming its still fragrant). Next time, we will use only 1 tablespoon of sugar though (it was a tad sweeter than we like). I grated half of a white onion (juice and all) into the pot and chopped up the bits and added those as well. Can’t really have garlic without onion ya know. ;-)
We had Sangria on hand so threw in 1/4 cup of that 1 hour into simmering but any red wine I think is a great idea. Totally optional but throwing in a single pad of butter (1 tbl) right before serving adds flavor. We didn’t because we are cutting back on that stuff, but from the past this really does add the cherry on the top.
Lastly, we used ground chicken. I don’t think we will do that again, use ground beef as in the recipe or a hot Italian sausage just something with a bit more fat. This is what adds the flavor to the sauce. For all the vegetarians, you would add some other fat such as olive oil, gee, etc…
Anyways, just sharing really not taking away from this wonderful recipe which I appreciate you posting and sharing. Thank you.
I followed the recipe and it was terrible. Absolutely tasteless and dry
hi! i’m sorry it didn’t work out for you. could i ask you what you meant by ‘dry’ though? like it was just primarily meat and not much tomato sauce/liquid? or something else?
You must have not followed the recipe correctly or there was a mistake. I followed exactly what the recipe said and mine is nowhere near dry? or tasteless!
This may be grandma’s pasta sauce but she was probably German
Made this today and hubby said it was the best know more jar sauce. Made in Crock-Pot
Something is definitely missing. I have made many marinara sauces using fresh ingredients from our garden. The first red flag with this recipe was too much garlic and sugar. Adjusted both based on previous experience and could still not get the flavors to come together. I don’t know if it was the tomato paste but the end result was either too harsh or too sweet
Will not revisit.
Delicious!! My sauce for life!! Thank you!!
My husband and I LOVE this recipe!!! This is the only pasta sauce he wants! ☺️Thank you very much for sharing. It’s sooo delicious!!!
I was all set to try this until I read your response to the elderly man. He was merely commenting they used carrots to sweeten the sauce in Calabria. I’m sure he mentioned where he was from so you’d know he’s an Italian. None of the comments left for you were as rude as your comment to him. Please be kinder.
Honestly, you can take my comment how you want; if you won’t make a recipe because you think I was rude to someone, then so be it. I was appreciative of his insight, explained why I thought recipes are tweaked and how they are passed down, and then stated that I don’t think he has the authority because he wrote he’s Calabrian. The way I took his comment was very authoritative, if you didn’t then that’s great! Just like how you took my comment to be rude, when I really wasn’t trying to be.