Whether you like your sauce thick and hearty or light and fresh, there’s a keto recipe out there for you. Check out some of the best spaghetti sauce recipe ideas!
Being on a keto diet has plenty of pros and cons. On the one hand, you have free range to eat bacon 24/7. On the other, you have to find new and interesting ways to make food that normally contains carbs taste good without them. Spaghetti is one of those foods.
While there are several keto-friendly spaghetti sauce options on the market, they can be expensive. And let’s face it – nothing beats a homemade meal.
If you’re looking for a delicious and easy keto spaghetti sauce recipe, we’ve got you covered.
Best Spaghetti Sauce Recipes to Make at Home
Making spaghetti sauce vegan isn’t a problem, but you can’t say the same about the spaghetti itself since they’re 100% carbs.
Fortunately enough, there are plenty of low-carb and keto-friendly pasta alternatives that taste just as good as the real deal.
Once you replace spaghetti with something keto-friendly like zoodles (noodles made from zucchini), shift your attention to the following spaghetti sauce recipe ideas:
1. Quick Marinara – Best Spaghetti Sauce Recipe from Scratch
Making your spaghetti sauce is a great way of ensuring no hidden sugars or carbs in your meal. So we’re starting this list with one of our favorite recipes for quick marinara.
This keto tomato sauce is delicious, easy to make, sugar-free, gluten-free, and dairy-free – perfect for those on a keto diet or with food allergies.
Ingredients:
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Red pepper flakes
- Crushed tomatoes
- Chopped garlic
- Oregano
- Salt
This quick Marinara sauce is an absolute delight. And it’s nearly impossible to get it wrong since the list of ingredients is short and made up of classic ingredients.
Besides, it doesn’t need any fancy seasonings since it’s quite versatile, so don’t limit yourself to using it on pasta only. For example, it’s excellent for some delicious homemade keto pizzas.
2. Simple Spaghetti Sauce Recipe
This homemade spaghetti sauce recipe from Picky Eater Blog is super simple and anyone can make it, regardless of their cooking skills.
Ingredients:
- Crushed tomatoes
- Chopped red onions
- Italian seasoning
- Red wine vinegar
- Minced garlic
- Pepper
- Salt
With only 7 ingredients and about 15 minutes of your time, you can cook a batch of this beginner-friendly Marinara sauce that will make even the blandest spaghetti taste like a piece of Italy.
It’s keto, appetizing, and you can use it in many other recipes that call for Marinara sauce, such as keto pizza chaffles.
3. Easy Spaghetti Sauce Recipe
This classic Mediterranean spaghetti sauce recipe on The Mediterranean Dish is similar to the previous one, except that it calls for a few extra ingredients to give it that extra something.
Ingredients:
- Canned crushed tomatoes
- Sweet Spanish paprika
- Grated yellow onions
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Red pepper flakes
- Grated carrots
- Dried oregano
- Fresh parsley
- Minced garlic
- Black pepper
- Kosher salt
- Fresh basil
- Water
We like how this sauce brings together the taste and texture of several classic vegetables, including carrots and onions. And it’s 100% vegan.
Furthermore, it follows the keto diet guidelines, as long as you ditch the pasta and enjoy it with some zucchini noodles or cauliflower rice.
4. Spaghetti Sauce Recipe with Meat
Pasta and meat go together like peanut butter and jelly, so it’s no surprise that plenty of spaghetti sauce recipes call for meat.
This particular recipe from Cassidy’s Craveable Creations is keto, paleo-friendly, and Whole30-compliant, which means that it’s free of sugar, dairy, soy, grains, and legumes.
Ingredients:
- Crushed tomatoes
- Green bell peppers
- Chopped onions
- Balsamic vinegar
- Ground pepper
- Ground thyme
- Tomato paste
- Minced garlic
- Bried parsley
- Ground beef
- Avocado oil
- Beef broth
- Fresh basil
- Bay leaves
- Oregano
- Salt
If you’re looking for a hearty spaghetti sauce recipe that will fill you up and keep you satisfied, this is the one for you. The ground beef and the beef broth give the sauce a protein boost, while the vegetables add plenty of flavor and nutrients.
Besides, the herbal mixture of thyme, basil, and oregano gives the sauce a classic Italian flavor that we just can’t get enough of.
5. Authentic Homemade Italian Spaghetti Sauce Recipes
When you think of spaghetti, you think of Italy – and vice-versa, which is why we just had to include an Italian spaghetti sauce recipe on our list for authenticity.
This meatless sauce from No Plate Like Home is as authentic as it gets, made with fresh tomatoes, garlic, onion, and dried herbs.
Ingredients:
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Tomato sauce
- Minced garlic
- Chopped onions
- Fresh parsley
- Black pepper
- Salt
For the sake of the sauce’s consistency (and to make sure that you’re not adding any sugar by accident), the author suggests that you avoid tomato puree as much as possible and stick to the recommended tomato sauce.
It’s vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free – perfect for those on a keto diet that want to prove they can still lose weight while eating tasty food.
6. Low-Carb Italian Spaghetti Sauce Recipe
The previous recipe was all about sticking to traditional recipes, but some may argue that it lacked one vital ingredient: meat.
This recipe from Keto Cooking Christian has got you covered. It’s a keto and low-carb Italian spaghetti sauce that’s packed with beef and sweet Italian sausage, giving the sauce a unique flavor you’re sure to love.
Ingredients:
- Crushed tomatoes
- Ground sweet Italian sausage
- Minced garlic
- Ground beef
- Fresh basil
- White wine
- Olive oil
- Pepper
- Salt
The type of beef and Italian sausage you use will play the biggest role in determining the flavor of this sauce. So we recommend using a high-quality sausage that you know tastes good.
As for the beef, get the fattest ground beef you can find to add a richness to the sauce that you just can’t get from leaner cuts of meat.
7. Grandma’s Recipes for Spaghetti Sauce with Meat
Grandma’s cooking is something that we all aspire to. And this spaghetti sauce recipe from The Forked Spoon is the closest we’ve come to replicating it.
It’s yet another of those meaty spaghetti sauces. But trust that it will turn a typical serving of spaghetti into a culinary throwback to simpler times.
Ingredients:
- Salt
- Pepper
- Dried basil
- Ground beef
- Diced onions
- Vegetable oil
- Minced garlic
- Tomato sauce
- Tomato paste
- Dried oregano
- Red pepper flakes
- Mild Italian sausage
- Grated Parmesan cheese
Since this recipe doesn’t call for any fresh or canned tomatoes, the base of this spaghetti sauce will be the tomato paste and the tomato sauce.
Because of this, you must pay very close attention to the product’s label since both store-bought tomato paste and tomato sauce are usually loaded with added sugar.
We recommend giving Hunt’s Tomato Paste and Hunt’s Tomato Sauce a try; they’re both amazing and low-carb.
8. Best Spaghetti Meat Sauce Recipe
Meat lovers will adore this spaghetti meat sauce recipe from Better Than Bread Keto because it’s loaded with so much beef that you’ll begin questioning whether it should be considered a sauce.
Ingredients:
- Canned San Marzano tomatoes
- Ground black pepper
- High-fat ground beef
- Chopped oregano
- Minced onions
- Minced garlic
- Fresh basil
- Kosher salt
- Olive oil
Making this sauce will be pretty fun since it requires a more hands-on approach, as you’ll need to manually crush the canned tomatoes to remove their cores, stems, and skins.
Sure enough, that may sound messy, but we think the result will be well worth it. As for the beef, we highly recommend going with 70/30 ground beef (like the original recipe) because it makes the sauce more flavorful.
9. Lamb Ragu – Spaghetti Meat Sauce Recipes
Every self-entitled carnivore considers that beef is the ultimate source of protein. But we’re here to show you that lamb can be just as good, if not better.
As for the style of this sauce, we decided that some ragu would fit in great in our list since it’s keto, no matter how you look at it.
This lamb ragu recipe from Delish will make all the beef-lovers out there second-guess their decision to stick with the status quo.
Ingredients:
- Ground lamb
- Crushed tomatoes
- Crushed red pepper flakes
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Chopped onions
- Chopped celery
- Diced carrots
- Tomato paste
- Thyme
- Rosemary
- Oregano
- Minced garlic
- Red wine
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper
The combination of lamb and red wine is timeless, and it’s pretty popular in a lot of other lamb dishes, particularly since the red wine manages to cut down on the gaminess of the lamb.
The only real downside of this recipe is that lamb usually develops a specific taste once it goes cold, so this isn’t the kind of sauce you can reheat.
This sauce will turn out a bit meatier and chunkier than some of our other entries, so feel free to use it as a meat base for other delicious recipes, such as keto lasagna.
10. Homemade Ragu Spaghetti Sauce Recipe
Ragu Bolognese is, without a doubt, one of the most popular spaghetti sauces out there, and we couldn’t include it in our list.
This recipe comes from Taste of Home, resulting in a sauce that is just as meaty as our previous entry. But it will feel a lot richer thanks to some added ingredients.
Ingredients:
- Canned crushed tomatoes
- Grated Parmesan cheese
- Red wine or beef broth
- Heavy whipping cream
- Minced parsley
- Ground beef
- Ground pork
- Bacon strips
- Chopped onions
- Chopped celery
- Chopped carrots
- Minced garlic
- Tomato sauce
- Tomato paste
- Bay leaves
- Sugar
- Salt
- Butter
- Dried thyme
- Ground cumin
- Dried oregano
- Ground nutmeg
- Ground pepper
This ragu relies on pork, beef, bacon, and broth to give it its intense meat flavor, but the use of Parmesan cheese and heavy whipping cream is what gives it that thick and rich consistency.
Sure enough, you’ll need to figure out whether you’ll substitute or forget to add the sugar entirely, but as far as your protein and your fat sources go, you’re all set.
This kind of sauce will get better as it sits in your fridge for a day or two because all those flavors will have time to blend together perfectly.
11. Spaghetti Sauce Recipe (No Meat)
After so many meaty sauce recipes, we figured that you probably need a little break, and what better way to do so than with a delicious vegetarian sauce.
We decided to include this homemade meatless spaghetti sauce recipe from Taste of Home in our list, although we will recommend replacing one of the ingredients.
Most vegetarian sauces are pretty bland, but that’s not the case here. Even though this particular recipe doesn’t require any meat, it’s still pretty hearty and filling, making it a great option for those meatless Mondays.
Ingredients:
- Fresh tomatoes
- Tomato paste
- Minced garlic
- Bay leaves
- Canola oil
- Salt
- Pepper
- Dried basil
- Brown sugar (to be replaced)
- Dried oregano
- Hot cooked pasta
- Minced fresh basil
- Chopped onions
Brown sugar plays a big role in giving this sauce a unique flavor profile, but we believe it’s best to avoid it if you’re trying to stay keto. Fortunately, there are quite a few keto-approved substitutes you can use, such as stevia or monk fruit.
As for the other ingredients, they’re all pretty much staples in Italian cuisine, so we don’t think you’ll have any issues tracking them down.
12. Homemade Spaghetti Sauce Recipes
Well-rounded meat lovers don’t care if you serve pork, beef, or poultry, as long as the dish is packed with flavor.
This homemade spaghetti sauce recipe from Belly Full is the perfect example, as it uses a combination of all three to create a unique and delicious sauce.
Ingredients:
- Spicy Italian sausage
- Lean ground beef
- Chicken broth
- Minced garlic
- Kosher salt
- Pepper
- Tomato paste
- Italian seasoning
- Chopped parsley
- Diced sweet onion
- Canned crushed tomatoes
- Diced fire-roasted tomatoes
- Granulated sugar (to be replaced)
It’s not that common for a spaghetti sauce recipe to combine beef, pork, and chicken flavor. But we have to say that it works pretty well.
Unfortunately, the only caveat of the original recipe is that it’s not keto due to the added sugar. However, we’re sure that you’re familiar with the different alternatives you can use. Or you can just skip the sugar.
13. Vegetarian Spaghetti Sauce Recipe
If you loved our previous entry, you’ll fall head over heels for this one since it is a meat-free spaghetti sauce. We found it on Happy Veggie Kitchen, a website 100% dedicated to vegetarian recipes.
Ingredients:
- Canned tomatoes
- Tomato paste
- Minced garlic
- Romano peppers
- Chopped white onions
- Chopped crimini or chestnut mushrooms
- Fish-free Worcestershire sauce
- Dried Italian herb mix
- Red pepper flakes
- Sliced black olives
- Balsamic vinegar
- Red wine
- Pepper
- Salt
- Brown sugar (to be replaced)
While we understand that not everyone has the time (or patience) to chop up fresh vegetables, we still believe they make for a tastier sauce.
As for the brown sugar, you probably already know that it has to go, but we’ll reiterate it just in case. You can once again use stevia or monk fruit as substitutes.
14. Spaghetti Sauce Recipe with Fresh Tomatoes
The taste of any food is more or less influenced by the quality and the freshness of the ingredients used, and that’s certainly the case with spaghetti sauce.
We decided to include this recipe from All Recipes, as it uses fresh tomatoes as its base. This will give the sauce a unique flavor profile that you won’t be able to find in any store-bought tomato sauce.
Ingredients:
- Fresh tomatoes
- Chopped onions
- Garlic powder
- Dried parsley
- Dried basil
- Olive oil
- Salt
- White sugar (to be replaced)
One slight inconvenience with this sauce will be cutting and crushing the fresh tomatoes since they are very firm and not as easy to work with as canned tomatoes. But it’s nothing a few stirs in the saucepan can’t fix.
The only other potential issue is the white sugar. But we’re pretty confident you can find a keto-approved substitute for it.
15. Olive Garden Spaghetti Sauce Recipe
If KFC is known for its chicken and Burger King is known for their burgers, then Olive Garden is arguably the king of pasta, so no wonder that people fell in love with their sauces.
However, if you’re not a big fan of dining out or trying to save some money, you can always try making their signature sauce at home. This particular recipe on Chic’n’Savy Reviews is a dead-ringer for the real thing, so give it a try and see for yourself.
Ingredients:
- Canned crushed tomatoes
- Olive oil
- Dried basil
- Garlic cloves
- Black pepper
- Minced green peppers
- Grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
Their recipe also states that you can use white sugar as an optional ingredient that can help mellow out the bitterness of some of the ingredients, but since we want our sauces to be as keto as possible, we recommend that we skip it.
As for whether or not it tastes like the real thing, we’ll let you be the judge of that, but we think that it’s pretty spot-on.
16. Crockpot Spaghetti Sauce Recipe
We decided to include this slow cooker spaghetti sauce recipe from Fit Slow Cooker Queen that you can also make with a crockpot.
Even though it uses the same ingredients as all of the other sauces on this list, the slow-cooking method gives it a unique flavor you’re sure to love.
Ingredients:
- Ground beef
- Diced celery stalks
- Crushed tomatoes
- Coconut milk
- Diced onions
- Diced carrots
- Minced garlic
- Bay leaves
- Oregano
- Bacon
- Salt
- Basil
- Pepper
Because we are using a slow cooker, you can imagine that this isn’t exactly a sauce that you can make when you’re in a hurry since even cooking it at the highest setting will still require 3-4 hours of waiting.
Sure enough, there’s always the option of cooking it under pressure, since then you’ll only need about 25-30 minutes.
17. Homemade Spaghetti Sauce Recipe for Canning
Not everyone is a big fan of cooking every meal from scratch. And that’s why cooking and preparing food in advance can be such a lifesaver.
This homemade canned spaghetti sauce from Taste of Home is the perfect recipe for anyone who likes to have quick and easy meals on hand.
Ingredients:
- Tomatoes
- Tomato paste
- Green peppers
- Dried parsley flakes
- Crushed red pepper flakes
- Worcestershire sauce
- Dried oregano
- Minced garlic
- Lemon juice
- Dried basil
- Bay leaves
- Canola oil
- Onions
- Salt
- Sugar (to be replaced)
This spaghetti sauce recipe is pretty standard. And if you follow the original recipe, you’ll end up with about 9 quarts of tomato sauce that you can easily store for 2-3 years, depending on how well you sterilize and store them.
18. Low-Sodium Spaghetti Sauce Recipe for Canning
Those of you who suffer from high blood pressure or are just trying to eat healthier, in general, know that your sodium intake is one of the main things that you need to watch out for.
This low-sodium spaghetti sauce recipe from Healthy Canning is perfect for anyone looking for a delicious and healthy alternative to the regular, high-sodium variety.
Ingredients:
- Fresh tomatoes
- Non-bitter, non-clouding salt substitute
- Chopped onions
- Chopped celery
- Minced onion
- Black pepper
- Mushrooms
- Oregano
- Marjoram
- Parsley
- Basil
- Oil
The original recipe is versatile since there is both a salted and a salt-free version, so you can make it as healthy (or not) as you want.
As for the salt substitute, there are plenty of low-sodium salts available on the market, such as NoSalt, although feel free to try out other brands.
19. Tomato Basil Canning Spaghetti Sauce Recipe
Pasta sauces that use tomatoes and basil as their base are all the rage, and some supermarkets have entire aisles dedicated to them.
This tomato basil pasta sauce recipe from The Kiwi Country Girl is a great way to get that same flavor without spending a fortune on store-bought sauces, especially if pasta isn’t the only thing you plan on cooking.
Ingredients:
- Fresh tomatoes
- Citric acid or lemon juice
- Chopped onions
- Minced garlic
- Fresh basil
- Olive oil
- Salt
The great thing about this recipe is that it’s already sugar-free, so there’s no need to look for substitutes.
Besides, this sauce is made with more than just pasta in mind since the combination of herbs makes it ideal for pretty much any dish where a red sauce would come in handy, such as on top of some delicious keto meatballs.
20. Grandma Barb’s Recipe for Spaghetti Sauce
Every family has its own secret food recipe, and some may even hold the secret to amazing spaghetti and pasta sauce.
Just take a look at Grandma Barb’s homemade spaghetti sauce recipe from Divas Can Cook, one of those recipes passed down from generation to generation.
It sounds amazing, and we invite you to try it since, who knows, maybe it will become your family’s new secret recipe.
Ingredients:
- Diced canned tomatoes
- Diced yellow onions
- Red pepper flakes
- Granulated sugar
- Tomato sauce
- Minced garlic
- Ground beef
- Black pepper
- Dried parsley
- Dried oregano
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Fennel seed
- Celery salt
- Dried basil
- Olive Oil
- Thyme
- Salt
- Paprika
- Bay leaves
- Fresh basil
- Fresh parsley
Admittedly, the list of ingredients is quite long, and you’ll probably have to go grocery shopping for a few of them, but we believe that this is one of those dishes worth the effort.
Of course, not everyone has the same tastes as Grandma Barb, so we recommend that you constantly taste the sauce as you’re making it and adjust the seasonings accordingly. Other than that, we think this recipe is pretty much perfect.
FAQ
Discover more info about homemade spaghetti sauce recipe ideas:
What sauces are OK on keto?
The biggest enemy of any diet is usually the sauce you put on your food since they’re often packed with sugar and other unhealthy ingredients.
Because of this, the best way to enjoy sauces is to make them yourself, and this keto cheese sauce that anyone can make is the perfect example that food can taste great and help you fight those extra pounds.
Is canned tomato sauce keto-friendly?
Most canned tomato sauces, pastes, and purees are usually loaded with added sugar, so we recommend avoiding them.
Of course, some brands make keto-friendly versions of these products, so if you want to use them, check the nutrition label before purchasing.
Can you eat marinara sauce on keto?
Yes and no.
If you make the sauce yourself, you can control the amount of sugar and other carbs that go into it, but if you’re buying it from the store, then chances are it’s not going to be keto-friendly.
We recommend avoiding store-bought sauces and making your own at home instead.
What sauce has no carbs?
Any sauce that doesn’t list sugar on the list of ingredients can be considered a keto sauce, although it’s best to check the nutrition sheet for the number of carbs since sugar isn’t the only carb-containing ingredient.
In general, fatty sauces (e.g., mayonnaise) tend to be keto since they don’t need any added sugar for flavoring since the fat provides all the flavor you need.
Closing Thoughts
As you can see, there are many different ways to make your keto spaghetti sauce, and each one has its unique flavor profile.
So, whether you’re looking for a meaty sauce, a vegetarian option, or something in between, we’re confident that you’ll find a recipe on this list that suits your taste buds.
What’s your favorite recipe idea for keto spaghetti sauce? Let us know in the comments below!
