Last Updated on January 17, 2025 by Kiersten
Bring our traditional Sunday dinners into your home with this easy, authentic New York Italian spaghetti sauce You’ll want to keep a jar of this pantry staple on hand at all times for quick and cozy winter meals.
Tri-State New York is the epicenter for delicious, authentic Italian food. Growing up, most of our friends and family were Italian. My mother-in-law grew up on Arthur Ave in the Bronx which is basically as Italian as it gets unless you go to the mother country.
Where we live on Long Island, you’re not considered a “good cook” unless you’ve mastered Italian cuisine. Italian food was also where I started and learned my way around a kitchen.
Tomato Sauce vs Tomato Gravy
Tomato sauce is the general term across the board for anything red that goes onto any type of pasta, pizza, or meat but there’s actually a difference.
Tomato sauce is a very quick and light sauce usually prepared in a skillet in less than an hour to cover pasta. Marinara sauce would be an example of a tomato sauce.
Tomato gravy, on the other hand, is slow cooked and simmered on the stove all day long. It is much deeper in color, a thicker consistency, and usually is made with a variety of meats to develop rich flavor.
Tomato gravy is what New Yorkers call “Sunday Sauce” or “Sunday Gravy“
You’ll also find that our grandparents and their generation are the ones who are more likely to call sauce “gravy”. It’s an old-fashioned term that seems to be used less and less as time goes on. Our family calls it sauce and so does mostly everyone I know.
Sunday Sauce is Not Just for Sundays
Something to note is that Sunday sauce is not only made on Sundays. It’s made any time something big or small happens and/or the weather is cold.
Snow storm? Throw on a pot of sauce.
Unexpected guests for dinner? Throw on a pot of sauce.
Christmas Eve or a birthday dinner? Throw on a pot of sauce.
Someone passed away and you need to bring food for a funeral? You guessed it. Whip up some homemade meatballs, sear some sausage and throw on a pot of sauce.
Basically if there’s any type of occasion whatsoever that includes a decent amount of guests – happy or sad – there will be sauce simmering somewhere.
New York Italian Spaghetti Sauce Recipe
Ingredients:
- 4 28oz cans whole peeled or crushed tomatoes
- 2 lbs sweet Italian sausage links
- 3 lbs ground beef or homemade meatballs
- 1 large sweet onion diced
- 6 cloves garlic, pressed (or 2 heaping tablespoons minced)
- Extra virgin olive oil
- 4 dried bay leaves
- 1.5 tbsp white sugar
- 2 tbsp salt
- 2 tsp dried Italian herb seasoning (or 1/2 cup fresh chopped basil and oregano)
Instructions:
- Brown sweet Italian sausage and ground beef in a very large pot. Drain the grease reserving one tablespoon in the pot and put the meat in a separate bowl.
- Sauté onion in olive oil over low heat until aromatic and softened. Add garlic and cook with the onion until fragrant – stir often to prevent scorching.
- Add tomatoes. If using whole peeled tomatoes, crush them by hand in the pot.
- Add bay leaves, sugar, salt, Italian herbs, and crushed red pepper.
- Add the sausage and beef back to the pot.
- Bring the tomato sauce to a low boil, stir often.
- Turn the heat down to low and simmer uncovered for 5-6 hours.
- If needed, add 1 tablespoon of tomato paste during last hour to thicken. Adjust salt to personal taste.
Storing and Freezing Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
Fresh meat and sauce can be kept in the refrigerator for up to a week as is. Anything longer than a week, it’s best to put it in the freezer.
Sauce that doesn’t contain meat will last longer without spoiling than one that does which is why I store them separately.
Remove the meat from the sauce and store it in a separate air tight container. Meat can be used throughout the week for many different takes on classic Italian dishes.
Store the rest of the sauce in the freezer to be used for anything you would normally use a tomato-based sauce for.
I ordered a 50 pack of quart sized plastic food containers from Amazon that I use for freezing soups and sauces. Leave an inch or two of head space at the top of each container to avoid breakage from expansion.
More Of Our Family’s Recipes
Italian Stromboli (with homemade dough)
Classic Baked Stuffed Mushrooms
Crispy Italian Chicken Cutlets
Save It For Later!
New York Italian Spaghetti Sauce (Gravy)
Bring traditional Sunday dinners into your home with this easy, authentic New York Italian spaghetti sauce (gravy). You'll want to keep a jar of this pantry staple on hand at all times for quick and cozy winter meals.
Ingredients
- 4 28oz cans whole peeled or crushed tomatoes
- 2 lbs sweet Italian sausage links
- 3 lbs ground beef or homemade meatballs
- 1 large sweet onion diced
- 6 cloves garlic, pressed (or 2 heaping tablespoons minced)
- Extra virgin olive oil
- 4 dried bay leaves
- 1.5 tbsp white sugar
- 2 tbsp salt
- 2 tsp dried Italian herb seasoning (or 1/2 cup fresh chopped basil and oregano)
Instructions
- Brown sweet Italian sausage and ground beef in a very large pot. Drain the grease reserving one tablespoon in the pot and put the meat in a separate bowl.
- Sauté onion in olive oil over low heat until aromatic and softened. Add garlic and cook with the onion until fragrant - stir often to prevent scorching.
- Add tomatoes. If using whole peeled tomatoes, crush them by hand in the pot.
- Add bay leaves, sugar, salt, Italian herbs, and crushed red pepper.
- Add the sausage and beef back to the pot.
- Bring the tomato sauce to a low boil, stir often.
- Turn the heat down to low and simmer uncovered for 5-6 hours.
- If needed, add 1 tablespoon of tomato paste during last hour to thicken. Adjust salt to personal taste.
