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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
- 5-6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pound (454 g) 80/20 ground beef OR 90/10 ground beef
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 6 ounce (170 g) can tomato paste
- 24 ounce (680 g) jar tomato puree
- Pinch of dried oregano
- Pinch of onion powder
- Pinch of garlic powder
- Handful of fresh basil, chopped
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 6 ounces (170 ml) water
Instructions
- In a large stockpot, saute garlic until soft and fragrant in 2 tablespoons of olive oil, about 2 minutes.5-6 cloves garlic
- Add your meat in with the garlic and brown until meat has been thoroughly cooked through, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.1 pound (454 g) 80/20 ground beef OR 90/10 ground beef, 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.6 ounce (170 g) can tomato paste, 24 ounce (680 g) jar tomato puree, Pinch of dried oregano, Pinch of onion powder, Pinch of garlic powder, Handful of fresh basil, 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, 6 ounces (170 ml) water
- 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
Hi Julie! It so sad to see someone take time to say negative things (*ahem Sande*). Your blog shows your passion in your cooking and baking! I’ve only stumbled upon your blog a couple months ago and it has inspired me to cook and bake some of the things you’ve blogged! (I tried this recipe and my husband and friends loved it!) Thanks for inspiring me (and I’m sure others) to cook and bake! Have a good weekend!
I can’t help but laugh at Sande’s messages. She made herself look pretty foolish. If SHE was so concerned with a “correct way” to make sauce (gravy as she puts it), she needs to get her own blog and put it THERE. She sure wasted energy trying criticize what you put on YOUR blog. I appreciate the info you have shared!!
I grew up in NJ around nothing but Italians. I miss all that fabulous cooking!! The one thing they told me to never forget when it comes to pasta sauce is………..use SAUSAGE. Never use ground beef. The flavors from the sausage along with your spices will put the sauce over the top! I look forward to trying this recipe!!
Ignore the haters….they have tiny little lives and don’t have anything better to do or they would be doing it. It is usually jealous people that spew hatful comments on blogs of people they don’t actually know and can hide behind their computer screen. If she didn’t like it she could’ve simply moved on to something she considered more worthy of her time.
Thank you, thank you. <3
I’ve been wanting to post my family’s version of “gravy” (aka, spaghetti sauce) on my new blog someday soon.
I agree with you 100% that the slow simmer makes the most AMAZING sauce. Of course, a simple marinara that is simmered for only 15 to 20 minutes is good too. It mostly comes down to the quality of tomatoes in my honest opinion.
Found you via Pinterest and that sauce looks AMAZING! I’ve been looking for an honest to goodness spagetti/pasta sauce recipe for a while now. I am definitely going to try this one. Love that it uses ground beef. Many of them use another cut of beef or sausage, and I’m not opposed to the sausage idea but for my family spagetti has always been with meat sauce made with ground beef.
It was a hit!! It was so thick it stuck to every bit of pasta so that every bite was a mouthful of awesomeness… it was ridiculously easy to put together, you just gotta plan ahead so that you give it enough time to cook. “Basic tomato sauce” or not, it was super easy and very good, that’s a win-win in my book… Thanks again Julie for sharing! :)
I’m so glad to hear this! I love how thick the sauce is :) thanks for coming back to leave feedback for this!
Funny lady.
Like I said you shouldn’t have a food blog if you can’t accept criticism. And the ones drooling over your sauce have either never had homemade pasta gravy before and don’t know what the real thing taste like.
Now scurry along and cook something else for them to go bonkers over.
Can you please please share YOUR recipe? If it’s so much better I would love to try it.
Sande l go away please your a depressing person i sugest u see a doctor and get on some meds you sound like a narcist. Like i said just go away…i mafe this recipe and it was fantastic and im italian
First, sorry about crazy lady above. It’s amazing how hateful people can be- and for absolutely no reason! I just wanted to say that I have this on the stove right now and I’m looking forward to it. Also, when I first saw your blog name my brain separated the words as table fort wob log. I got a little confused and then laughed at myself. Cheers to you and thanks for sharing the recipe.
Haha, that’s funny – my brain sometimes does that too. That crazy lady is a bit off her rocker but besides that, I hope you enjoyed the sauce :)
I made this tonight, its only been simmering an hour so far on the stove (husband won’t be home for another hour-ish) and it already tastes Uh-Mazing!!! So much better than what you buy in a jar… the only thing I did different was use ground turkey because my husband’s Dr. ordered diet does not allow beef… for me the key to making the turkey taste similar to the beef is to let it brown a little… thank you so much for sharing, it is definately going to be a regular in our house from now on!!
I love that you switched it up with ground turkey! Definitely a healthier alternative. I hope you and your husband enjoyed it!
My original post was rude and hateful…really!
Hun, you don’t know rude and hateful when it’s coming from me. But I’ll end it at this….as your not worth my time or energy.
I wasn’t trolling your blog to see if you approved my comment. I more important things to do than to post on a losers blog. I simply set all comments I leave anywhere to automatically send all follow up comments to my email address.
Sorry….your correct. I should have double checked what I posted but then again, we all make mistakes especially typo’s.
Now go back and stir something.
Like I said..it’s a basic tomato sauce. Nothing special. Now were did all the lovely Italian spices go?
And on a side not…”marinara”…that’s all your recipe is. Marinara with meat. Sickening sweet marinara.
Funny you’ll approve and leave that one up but wouldn’t approve the original. Go figure.
Sure you want me to me to bring on the rude and hateful. Really…a hateful comment over basic tomato sauce.
Do you stroke and kiss yourself every morning when you wake up and thank god for making you so wonderful.
If you were going to end it “at this,” then what was up with the 8 other sentences below that?
Check your facts, darling. I never replied to your first comment so therefore, you wouldn’t have a follow up comment to your email address. Therefore, you DID come back to my blog to check whether or not your first comment was approved. Ah, so you definitely don’t have a life. Lovely!
What an idiot you are Sande…
Sande, you need Jesus and Spell Check in your life.
Sande, do you see what you are doing? you are turning a spaghetti sauce recipe into a forum for hatred and bullying behavior. You are clearly a sad and lonely person. I don’t ever post comments to trollers and this thread could be years old but still…. you need to take a look in the mirror and figure out who it is that hurt you. Sad.