Jo Mama’s World Famous Spaghetti
About This Recipe
“My kids will give up a steak dinner for this spaghetti. It is a recipe I have been perfecting for years and it is so good (if I may humbly say) that my kids are disappointed when they eat spaghetti anywhere else but home! In fact they tell me I should open a restaurant and serve only this spaghetti and garlic bread. In response to requests, I have posted the recipe for Jo Mama’s World Famous Lasagna that uses approximately 1/2 of the sauce from this recipe. Have spaghetti one night and lasagna later!Thanks to all of you who have tried my recipe and have written a review.I read and appreciate every one of them!Chef Note:After I posted this recipe I remembered a funny incident–my dear husband usually has a nice bottle of wine handy so when I make a batch of spaghetti I just help myself to a splash of it. On one occasion, there wasn’t a bottle opened, but there was a bottle sitting on the counter so I got out the corkscrew and helped myself. For some reason, the spaghetti that night was the best ever. My husband asked what wine I put in it and I showed him the bottle. He nearly fell off the chair. I had opened a rather expensive bottle he had bought to give his boss. Goes to show you–don’t use a wine for cooking you wouldn’t drink. You get the best results from a good wine!”
Ingredients
Directions
Reviews
“Sharlene~W, This Was EXCELLENT, Permanent Keeper in our house! I followed otherâs suggestions of only ½ the water, and only 1 lb. of Italian sausage + 1 lb of ground beef and it turned out great. I will Definitely be making this again! This does make a lot, enough to freeze for another meal. I did add double garlic and onions in it because we like them so much. P.S. Our daughter thinks the name (Jo Mama’s World Famous Spaghetti) is cool too, and spaghetti is her favorite. Usually she asks if the sauce is Ragu or not, then she grabs the garlic powder. I don’t that’s gonna happen for supper tonight. Thanks for another great Keeper!P.S. It didn’t happen tonight, everyone loved it!”
“I used 1 lb. HOT Italian sausage & 1 lb. ground chuck. I only used enough water to rinse all the tomato cans.I also added 1 large jar sliced mushrooms and 1 can sliced black olives.It has been simmering now for 1 1/2 hours (I intend to go for 2-3), tastes UNBELIEVABLY good, and is definitely the best I’ve ever made (and I’ve tried many recipes).Thank you to all the other “commenters” too!”
“This is by far, the best Spaghetti Sauce I have tasted! All those years of perfecting definitely paid off!”
“This recipe was good.The ingredients all worked well together, and the wine added a nice flavor.I used 1 lb. hamburger and 1 lb. Italian sausage (personal preference).I did think the sauce would/should have been thicker.There seemed to be a lot of meat and not enough “tomato” sauce.Maybe I’ll add only 1 lb. of meat next time.”
“I like the flavor that the sausage gives to this recipe. It makes a nice change from ground beef flavor. Like most cooks, I modified the recipe slightly. I used about a half pound of sweet Italian sausage, which I cooked and then drained on paper towels to remove as much grease as possible. The sauce is nice and thick and works well for Once A Month Cooking because it freezes nicely. I’ll make this one again. UPDATE: I won’t be buying the bottled sauce any more and I threw out my old spaghetti sauce recipe! I have several containers of this sauce in my freezer now.The one change I made was to lower the fat content by using only 1/2 pound of sweet Italian sausage.I fried the sausage and drained it well before using.The taste is still great even with much less meat.I put this recipe in my Once a Month Cooking file.”
“Wonderful taste.I shredded country style pork that I cooked in a pressure cooker and added it along with 1 lb sausage and ground beef.I also use a trick from my daughter’s Italian mother-in-law: at the end of cooking, add a tsp baking soda.It foams up and simmers down, taking the acid out of the tomatoes so the sauce doesn’t talk back to you.Thanks again for sharing your wonderful creation!”
“This turned out very good. I made half a recipe since there are only 3 of us in the family.I added some pork neckbones to the sauce while it was simmering. That is supposed to add alot of flavor to a spaghetti sauce.I was a little unsure of the 2 cups of water so I added about 1 3/4 cups.Next time I think I will only add 1 cup or possibly leave it out altogether.”
“This is excellent! I made it with 1 pound ground beef and 1 pound mild italian sausage and I simmered it for about 2 1/2 hours. And, we haven’t actually had it as a meal yet, but of course I tried it before I put it in the freezer for a later date. It is GOOD!”
“Tastes very good but next time I make it I will only put in 1 pound of sausage.My DH is very picky when it comes to spaghetti sauce and he liked this one. Very easy to make also.”
“Wow, this was a great sauce – restaurant quality in my opinion!I followed the recipe exactly (mild Italian sausage), and simmered for about 2 1/2 hours.It had an excellent flavor with the ingredients all melded together, and I loved the bite from the crushed red pepper.My husband LOVED the Italian sausage (I usually use ground beef), and he picked your recipe hands down over my mom’s recipe (and I have to agree).Lucky for him this recipe makes 4 quarts because there is sauce in the freezer for later.This has become my new spaghetti sauce recipe.Thanks!NOTE:Next time I might drain my sausage just to be a little more health conscious but I will tell you that I was surprised that I didn’t notice the sausage grease in the sauce because it was a homogeneous mixture (no separation).”
“This is one of the best spaghetti sauce recipes I have tried!!I used lean ground beef instead of the sausage and fresh herbs – wow!!We had plenty of leftover sauce so I used the rest as a base for my lasagna – yummy!I took the other’s advice and reduced the water amount – glad I did!I also cooked my sauce on low for approximately 5 hours.Great recipe , this is one we will use again and again!!”
“Wonderful recipe!!This went well with recipe #21317.I wasnt sure about adding the water listed in the ing.,since it didnt metion it in the instructions but I ended up adding about 1/2c of it.This is definatley a keeper.I can see why your kids like it so much,my picky daughter even cleared her plate with a “mommy that was good”.Thanks for sharing this special recipe!!!!”
“I’ve been searching for a good sauce for a long time and I think I finally found one. It has a medium thick consistency and held its own on spaghetti without running. I made it with about 3/4 lb. of both lean hamburger and hot Italian sausage. I used enough water to rinse out the cans, and perhaps 1/3 cup red wine. I might try adding mushrooms and some diced green bell pepper next batch. Overall, this is a keeper!”
“This is REALLY good sauce!! I did use 1/2 sausage and 1/2 ground beef though. Froze what was left over (more than enough for 2 meals for a family of 4). I gave the 5th star because the sauce was EVEN BETTER the 2nd time around!! Used it on stuffed shells and OH MY!! YUMMMMMMMY!!!!!! :)UPDATE: I just made your sauce for the 2nd time.This time I used it to make baked Ziti with meatballs.One of my kids who doesn’t do anything but pizza and cheeseburgers had 2 plates!!I have come to the conclusion that I am just going to make up a couple of batches at the beginning of every month and that way I have it in the freezer at all times.It is truly the BEST homemade sauce I have ever had!! Thanks again for such a great recipe!!!”
“This sauce was fantastic! I love my beggies though, so I doublt the onion, added about 3/4 cup diced bell pepper, and a pint of fresh mushrooms (I left about 1/3 of them in slices, the prettier ones – the rest I diced to spread throughout the sauce more.) I also increased the wine to about 1/3 cup, because I love the flavor, so I only used about 1 1/2 cups water. I let it simmer for about 4 hours before serving, and let the remainer simmer another hour or two before cooling and storing. With the added veggies, the sauce would be fine with the recommended amount of water as long as you’re willing to simmer it for a few hours 🙂 I also used 1 lb. ground chuck and 1/2 lb. mild Italian sausage instead of 2 lbs. sausage, it was great. The whole family loved it, I even sent some home to my dad (Southern custom, kind of.) It was truly a special dinner. Thanks so much, I’ll definitely be making this again. I thought maybe next time I’d keep the recipe as is and use it as a sauce for lasanga or manicotti, I know it will definitely be great!:)”
“One more time-it was great! My husband said it was the best he’s had in his life! I added 1 lb. of lean hamburger instead of the italian sausage (to save calories), one can of sliced black olives (no calories saved), 8 oz. fresh mushrooms (sauted and added during last 1/2 hour).”
“I made this because I needed to feed 8 people. This sauce is out of this world!! All present voted it the BEST. I made this exactly like the recipe says. I added all the water and let it simmer for 5 hours and the aroma while it was cooking was wonderful! Sharlene, I can see why this is famous. It truly is delicious! Thanks!”
“I took the recipe to the store with me to get all these ingredients, assuming I could find my boxed up spices,(we just moved)which I could not locate. I had the recipe started using half mild sausage and half groung beef then I absolutely did not know what I was going to do. Well, I found a couple envelopes of generic seasoning for spaghetti and the wrapper said it contained most of the spices called for so I dumped in 2 envelopes. I let it simmer and geez, it was so,so outrageous. I didn’t have wine either but I will always use this recipe. My family absolutely flipped out! No more bottled stuff for sure! Thank you for taking time to share this recipe!”
“Sorry, but my kids (and husband!) all voted my own recipe over yours.I will post mine as Jo Mama’s Competition!Would love you to try it and voice an opinion!”
“I made this recipe with 1 lb of mild Italian sausage and 1 lb ground beef.I also added fresh basil instead of dried.Otherwise I followed it perfectly.This made a very big pot of sauce and I will be able to freeze some for my next spaghetti dinner.One of my daughters friends came for supper and we all agreed it was delicious.Thanks for the recipe, Sharlene.”