I love Italian food and especially linguine with spaghetti sauce and sweet sausage! Pasta is the ultimate comfort food and tomato sauce simmered for 4-5 hours building that rich delicious sauce with incredible flavors that Italian grandmothers love to make.
You’ll see many recipes for “Quick and Easy Spaghetti Sauce” and in a pinch they’re fine. But making spaghetti sauce like Nonna or your favorite Italian restaurant isn’t difficult and once it’s on the stove, there isn’t any more you need to do other than an occasional stir of the pot for this simple recipe.
When it comes to cooking, it’s about the ingredients and the technique. In this case, the ingredients are minimal and the cooking technique is easy to follow. What makes this sauce exceptional is letting it simmer and build the rich flavors that we love.
And that my friends is the real secret to good tomato sauce.
What do I need to make restaurant-style spaghetti sauce?
Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make Spaghetti Sauce with Sausage. In Chef Speak this is called the “Mise en Place” which translates to “Everything in its Place”.
Not only does setting your ingredients up ahead of time speed up the cooking process, it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.
Do I have to use sausage to make spaghetti sauce?
No, you don’t. You can use this recipe and just eliminate the sausage. Sausage or pork bones do add additional flavor, but if you let it simmer for four or five hours it will still be an amazingly delicious sauce even without the sausage.
Start by browning the sausage in a large pot with olive oil. My favorite pot to use for this sauce is a Rondeau. It’s been an essential piece of cooking equipment
If you do big batch cooking at home this 16 qt All-Clad Rondeau would make a great addition to your kitchen. In commercial kitchens, the Rondeau is the most versatile pot we have.
Chef Dennis Tip:
*You can use spicy Italian sausage if you like heat, but I prefer the milder regular or sweet Italian sausage. I found the addition of red pepper flakes to the sauce will add enough heat for my tastes.
You can also use sausage meat (out of the casing) if you want a meatier sauce. That alone or combined with ground beef is another delicious way to make spaghetti sauce.
After the sausage has been browned add the diced onions and garlic and saute until the onions are translucent. Don’t let the onions or garlic burn!
When that step has been completed add the tomatoes and fresh basil, sea salt, sugar and black pepper to the pan.
What is the best type of tomatoes for spaghetti sauce?
I only use San Marzano tomatoes in my sauce. San Marzano tomatoes are prized for their balanced and distinct tomato flavor. I also find them to be less acidic. My wife has problems with most tomato sauces unless they’re made with San Marzano plum tomatoes.
Where can I buy San Marzano Tomatoes?
You can find San Marzano tomatoes at just about every grocery store. In the larger chains, you’ll even find different brands including organic varieties. But all San Marzano tomatoes are not created equally. You’ll find some brands contain less tomato and more juice and some may actually be from other regions.
The volcanic soil and the microclimate of the Campagna region account for their balanced rich tomato flavor. In Italy, tomatoes labeled as “San Marzano” must adhere to strict DOP (the Italian protected designation of origin) guidelines, which govern where they’re grown and how they’re processed.
Using the same plant or the same seeds in another region of Italy or other countries will not make San Marzano tomatoes.
How do I tell if the tomatoes are really San Marzano?
The easiest way to tell if the tomatoes are fake is if they contain crushed or diced tomatoes. San Marzanos are only certified whole or in fillets, peeled, and canned.
And since you’re buying tomatoes whole, you need to crush them for the sauce. I use an immersion blender for this task.
I absolutely love my Waring Professional Immersion Blender. I had two less powerful household units that both burned out. This immersion blender has been going strong for 5 years already and shows no signs of slowing up.
I love that I can use the immersion blender right in the can, it makes clean up easy and purees tomatoes, soups and sauces perfectly.
Recipe FAQ’s
Yes, you can. Italian sausage, meatballs, ribs, or just about any meat can be put directly into the sauce raw as long as you are cooking the sauce until the meat is cooked. The internal temperature of the meat must be at least 165 degrees
I love using the sauce to make Chicken Parm or Eggplant parm, it’s so much better than jarred spaghetti sauces. You can also add cream and Romano or parmesan cheese to make a Rosa Sauce (aka Vodka Sauce).
Yes, it does. And I always make a large batch of sauce when I do make spaghetti sauce and freeze enough for those days I don’t feel like cooking. It will last up to 3 months in a tightly sealed container.
More Pasta Recipes You’ll Love!
Restaurant Style Spaghetti Sauce with Sausage
Ingredients
- 4 cloves fresh garlic chopped
- 120 ounces crushed tomato (four 28-32 ounce cans) San Marzano if possible
- 2 pounds sweet Italian sausage
- 2 bunches fresh basil finely chopped
- 1 medium onion diced
- ½ cup olive oil
- 1 tbsp sea salt or more to taste
- ½ tsp black pepper or more to taste
- 1 tbsp sugar optional
Instructions
- In a large heated skillet or saucepot add olive oil and sausage. Saute sausage on both sides until it browns.
- When the sausage has browned add the diced onion and chopped garlic. Continue cooking until the onions are translucent, but do not allow them to burn!
- Add crushed tomatoes, rinse cans with just a little water and add to the sauce (if crushed tomatoes are not available use whole tomatoes and crush by hand or with an immersion blender).
- add chopped basil, sea salt and black pepper to taste (don’t over season, you can always add more later). If you choose to add sugar now is the time to add it.
- After your sauce has reached a boil, reduce the heat to simmer and continue to cook for at least two hours. If you've got the time let it simmer for 4-6 hours for an amazingly rich tomato sauce.
Lisa
Chef Dennis,
My family couldn’t stop praising me for this dinner! Thank you for sharing your recipe and making me look like a top Italian chef.
Chef Dennis Littley
thank you for your comment and great review Lisa, you made my day!! I hope you find more recipes to try on my blog to feed your friends and family!
Chip
Chef Dennis,
My first time making sauce, I made a 1/4 batch for 2 people (turns out that is 1 can of San Marzanos tomatos from Costco, and we’re going to have leftovers) Smells delicious, and has 3.5 hours to simmer before dinner. Thanks for this! (also my first time using an immersion blender)
Chef Dennis Littley
I hope you enjoy the sauce as much as we do! I’ll have to check out Costco for the tomatoes, never thought of looking there.
Erin
Delicious sauce. It could easily use more sausage if your family is likely to eat more. I have five boys and a husband to feed so I would double it next time.
Chef Dennis Littley
I would definitely add more sausage feeding than many men!
Justin Derr
I am going to try and make the recipe tonight but I have always been told to add fresh herbs at the end of cooking but dried are okay to add in the beginning. Gonna try your way and the other will hopefully remember to leave feed back. Thanks for the reciepe.
Chef Dennis Littley
You can add them either time, I like to let them cook in the sauce and always add some fresh basil when I reheat the sauce I’m using for dinner.
Justin Derr
Gotcha thank you again is was really good.
Justin Derr
Coming back with some feed back it was very good your way but I am still gonna try the other way and see where they both lie.
Mike M
Bookmark This Tab! My first time ever trying to make my own sauce. I was looking for a recipe that included the Italian Link Sausage. This turned out perfect at 2 hours simmer time. I can’t wait to try a 4 hour simmer.
The recipe as posted makes a lot of sauce. I fed 5 and have enough left for about 8 more dinners. Next time, I’ll probably cut it in half.
Chef Dennis Littley
it gets better the longer you let it simmer, Mike. I made a 6 hour batch last week that was ah-mazing! You may need to add a little more water to it as it cooks down. And let set in the fridge for a day or two before freezing, the flavors get even better
Adam
Chef Dennis, I am so happy I came across your website. I used to cook a lot at home, but the past couple years I fell into the rut of making the same dishes over and over. I made this sauce yesterday and it was a massive hit. My wife does not typically like sausage, but for this dish she said I should have added more and my hard to please 13 year old went back for seconds. I am looking forward to trying more of your recipes.
Chef Dennis Littley
hi Adam
thanks for taking the time to leave a comment and your great review! I’m very happy to hear you and your family enjoyed the sauce, I’ve been making it for more years than I care to remember! You can always add some meatballs to the sauce as well as the sausage. I have another recipe for sauce with meatballs and lots more recipes I’m sure your family will love!
fred
Was good. I upped the garlic substantially, added a diced green pepper, and some oregano and thyme. Also, I initially failed to brown the sausages enough so removed them after the first 45 mins or so and browned them up separately in oil, then removed the fond from that pan with a little white wine vinegar and poured everything back into the sauce.
Kathy
Absolutely wonderful Chef! I wanted to make this for our friends instead of going out as some places are not seating. The tomatoes on our 6ish & 70ishyear old tummies is the best balance of acid. Didnt have to take medication. I used the sausages and also made the chicken parmesan with Italian spaghetti as a side. It may be lots of meat but so delicious you could not get this in a restaurant here near us. I will definitely be using this forever. Thank you Chef!