Spaghetti Sauce a la Shannie

Most of you have seen me mention homemade spaghetti on Facebook, and a lot of you have asked how the heck do you make spaghetti?!

My mama never fed me Ragu as a child, so I just learned to cook the sauce exactly like she did. It's delicious, full of flavor, healthy, and you know exactly what's going in it. Since you made it, and all.

I'll start off by saying that we eat a lot of spaghetti 'round these parts. It's one of our favorite meals. I can cook the entire meal in 25 minutes. It's healthy. And it's el cheapo. We only use half a "pack" (pound) of hamburger meat, so we can really make two meals out of one pound of beef. Noodles are very cheap, and canned goods are cheap too. Especially if you're shopping at Walmart.


So follow me on this Italian journey (snicker snicker) and see just how easy it is to make delectable spaghetti sauce that will make your Airman's mouth water...

My Mama's Spaghetti Sauce 101:

1. Brown your beef. I stick it in the same pot in which I'll make my sauce. It saves me from washing an extra dish. And I hate washing dishes. Afterward, drain the grease. Like I said, we use half a pound for the two of us. It's plenty.

not the most appetizing picture

2. Pull your Diced Tomatoes & Tomato PASTE out of the cabinet. Paste. Not sauce. And it needs to be these sizes too. Dump them both on top of the beef. Fill up the diced tomatoes can 3/4 full of water. Dump the water on top of it.

Great Value is JUST as good as Hunts

Did that make sense? I hope so. So now you have ground beef, tomato paste, diced tomatoes, and 3/4 a can of water in your pot.

It's coming together now! See?!

3. Yank the Black Pepper, Oregano, and Basil off your spice rack. Also grab the salt [not pictured]. Pour in a lot of black pepper, a few generous shakes of oregano, and a lot of basil. And don't be timid. Just shake your arm off. I take my salt and just drizzle it in there. Lots of spices. Go for it.

Black Pepper is such a hit that our label is coming off..

4. That's it. Just keep simmering. And tasting. And tasting some more, because it's so darn good that you'll make yourself believe that you need to keep taste testing. Even though you know it's perfect.

It's hard to take a photo with all that steam goin' on..

That's it. Somewhere in there, you need to stick some spaghetti noodles in a pot of water and salt your water. And also, you need to prepare a salad with diced tomatoes. Because salads go with spaghetti... in our opinion. I wish I knew how to make garlic bread, but I'm no Julia Child over here.

Now keep taste testing until your airman comes home from work. Yum yum yum.

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So there we have it. Not as easy as yanking the jar of Ragu out of the pantry and heating it up. But it's so much better. It's insanely better. The taste is out of this world. Please give it a whirl. You'll chuck your jar of Ragu out the window and never look back. I promise!

100% Husband Approved!

Yep, Mark thinks this stuff is the bomb. I even got a high five after he took the first bite. And then he was so excited about its awesomeness that he got out of his chair to kiss me because it tasted so good. Has Ragu ever gotten you a high-five or a kiss? I doubt it.


I bet I make my mom just SO proud on a daily basis. Right mom? Right? :)



There are zillions of ways to make spaghetti sauce. If you use a different "recipe," let me hear about it! Yum!