Skip the store packet and keep a bigger, cheaper jar on hand instead. This homemade Spaghetti Sauce Seasoning gives you a fast tomato-sauce base with onion, herbs, garlic, and green pepper already blended, so dinner moves along without a lot of fuss.
It makes a generous dry mix, and that matters because the recipe uses 3/4 cup mix per batch with crushed tomatoes, mushrooms, onion, and cooked ground beef. If you like having a shortcut ready for pasta night, this one sits in the pantry right alongside Spaghetti Sauce Spice Mix or Copycat Spatini Spaghetti Sauce Mix, but with a bulk-style yield that stretches a lot farther.
Stored in an airtight jar in a cool, dark, dry cupboard, this dry seasoning mix keeps best quality for about 1 year, which is a sensible estimate for a blend built from dried herbs and vegetables. Keep moisture out, use a dry spoon, and don’t park the jar over the stove unless you enjoy paying good money for faded seasoning. Once prepared as spaghetti sauce with the beef and vegetables, refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours and use them within 3 to 4 days. For safe leftover timing, follow the storage guidance from the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service.
Spaghetti Sauce Seasoning Recipe
You’ll Need:
- 2 cups dry minced onion
- 3 tablespoons oregano
- 2 tablespoons dried green pepper flakes
- 4 teaspoons dried basil
- 1 tablespoon dry minced garlic
- 4 teaspoons salt
- 4 tablespoons dry parsley
- 1 heaping tablespoon Italian seasoning mix
Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and stir until the herbs and dried vegetables are evenly distributed. Transfer the mix to a clean airtight jar or container and label it so nobody mistakes it for potpourri, which would be an unfortunate supper.
Expert Tip: Shake or stir the jar before each use. The larger onion pieces tend to settle differently than the lighter herbs, and a quick mix keeps each batch balanced instead of salty at the bottom and bland at the top.
To Use:
Combine 3/4 cup dry mix with 1 pound cooked ground beef, three 24-ounce cans crushed tomatoes, 1 cup fresh or canned mushrooms, and 1 cup chopped onions. Simmer until the onions soften and the flavors blend.
One prepared batch makes about 11 cups sauce, or roughly 22 servings at 1/2 cup each, depending on how long you simmer it and how generous you are with the ladle. Serve it over spaghetti, spoon it into baked pasta, or use it in lasagna when you want a sauce with a little more body and seasoning built in.
For the dry mix, store it in an airtight container in a cool, dark, dry place for about 1 year for best quality. For prepared sauce, cool leftovers promptly, refrigerate within 2 hours, and use within 3 to 4 days. Freeze prepared sauce in tightly sealed containers for up to 3 to 4 months for best quality.
Note: Yield and servings are estimates. This dry mix makes about 6 cups seasoning, which is enough for roughly 8 sauce batches at 3/4 cup each, with a little mix left in the jar.
💸 Budget101® Price Breakdown: Spaghetti Sauce Seasoning
Frequently Asked Questions about Spaghetti Sauce Seasoning
One batch makes about 11 cups of sauce once you add the 1 pound of cooked ground beef, three 24-ounce cans of crushed tomatoes, 1 cup mushrooms, and 1 cup chopped onion. That works out to roughly 22 half-cup servings, which is plenty for a family pasta night with a little left for lunch if nobody goes back for thirds.
Absolutely. Leave the beef out for a meatless sauce, or swap in cooked Italian sausage, turkey, or extra mushrooms if that’s what you have. If you remove the meat entirely, simmer the sauce a bit longer so the dried onion in the mix has time to soften and do its job.
Use the mix as written if you can, but if green pepper flakes are hard to find, you can simply leave them out of the dry blend and add fresh chopped green pepper when you make the sauce. A practical swap is about 1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped fresh green pepper per sauce batch, depending on how pepper-forward you like it.
Because dried onion is doing real work here, not just waving from the spice rack. It adds body, sweetness, and that cooked-all-day flavor once it rehydrates in the tomatoes, which helps the sauce taste fuller even on a weeknight schedule.
You can, and it’s an easy adjustment. Start by cutting the salt from 4 teaspoons to 2 teaspoons if you want more control, especially if you’re using canned tomatoes or canned mushrooms that already bring sodium to the party. Then taste the finished sauce near the end of simmering and adjust only if it needs it.
Keep steam and wet spoons away from it, and store it in a tightly sealed container in a dry cupboard. If your kitchen runs humid, divide the mix into smaller jars so you aren’t opening the same container over and over while hot pots are steaming nearby.
Yes, but you’ll need to balance the texture. Tomato sauce makes a smoother, thinner result, while tomato paste needs added water. A good starting point is to replace each 24-ounce can of crushed tomatoes with about 2 cups tomato sauce, or use paste thinned until it looks like a pourable spaghetti sauce before simmering.
Figure on about 8 full batches. The mix yields roughly 6 cups total, and each batch uses 3/4 cup, so it’s a solid pantry jar if spaghetti shows up on your meal plan more than once in a blue moon.
Halve everything for the easiest small batch. That gives you about 3 cups of mix, which still makes around 4 sauce batches without taking over the cupboard. If you scale it, keep the same proportions and measure carefully because the herbs are small but pushy.
Go with the usual winners: spaghetti, baked ziti, stuffed shells, or lasagna. It also works well as a base for meatball subs or as the sauce layer in casseroles, especially if you want something heartier than plain seasoned tomato sauce.
Did you make this? Mention @Budget101com on Instagram so we can see how you used it.
📌 Love this Spaghetti Sauce Seasoning? Pin it!
🖨️ Print-Friendly Spaghetti Sauce Seasoning
Spaghetti Sauce Seasoning
Ingredients
- 2 cups dry minced onion
- 3 tablespoons oregano
- 2 tablespoons dried green pepper flakes
- 4 teaspoons dried basil
- 1 tablespoon dry minced garlic
- 4 teaspoons salt
- 4 tablespoons dry parsley
- 1 heaping tablespoon Italian seasoning mix
Instructions
- Combine the dry minced onion, oregano, dried green pepper flakes, dried basil, dry minced garlic, salt, parsley, and Italian seasoning mix in a large bowl.
- Stir until the ingredients are evenly distributed.
- Transfer the seasoning mix to an airtight jar or container and seal tightly.
- To prepare sauce, combine 3/4 cup dry mix with 1 pound cooked ground beef, three 24-ounce cans crushed tomatoes, 1 cup fresh or canned mushrooms, and 1 cup chopped onions.
- Simmer until the onions soften and the sauce is heated through.
Recipe Size Alteration
💡 If you altered the ingredients above by doubling or tripling the recipe, you may also need to change the pan/dish size and adjust the cook time.
Notes
This recipe yields about 6 cups dry mix, enough for about 8 prepared sauce batches at 3/4 cup mix per batch.
Store the dry mix in an airtight container in a cool, dark, dry place for about 1 year for best quality.
Refrigerate prepared sauce within 2 hours and use within 3 to 4 days.
Hi Liss et al.,
About six years ago, you had a recipe for Spaghetti Sauce Season Mix that is different from the one posted under all three links on your Budget 101 Seasonings. It contained Oregano, Basil, Marjoram, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Salt, and Pepper, but I’m afraid I lost the recipe and exact proportion of ingredients. Would you, or anyone on this site, be kind enough to repost it, as it was absolutely wonderful! Thank you in advance!
There are currently 4 different Spaghetti Sauce Seasoning Mixes available on our site:
1. Copycat Spatini Spaghetti Sauce:
https://www.budget101.com/recipes/5894-spatini-spaghetti-sauce-copycat-recipe/
2. Single Spaghetti Sauce seasoning Mix:
https://www.budget101.com/recipes/1252-spaghetti-seasoning-mix/
3. Bulk Spaghetti sauce Seasoning Mix w/ recipe
https://www.budget101.com/recipes/1253-spaghetti-sauce-spice-mix/
4. This one we’re commenting on.
https://www.budget101.com/recipes/542-spaghetti-sauce-seasoning/
However, I suspect you are referring to either recipe #2 single mix or #3 bulk mix, both which contain Marjoram.