Italian Grandma Sauce Makes Everything So Much Better

Emily Abrams

There’s nothing like waking up to the comforting smell of your grandma’s homemade tomato sauce. The whole kitchen becomes engulfed with the sweet smell of basil, garlic, oregano and savory browned beef. Frank Sinatra and Louis Prima tunes blast throughout the house and there are enough tomatoes on the kitchen counter to feed a small army. Everyone has that one recipe that brings back memories from their childhood, memories that only a certain smell can evoke. For me, It’s the big pot of tomato sauce — or “sawwwce” as my Brooklyn-Italian relatives pronounce it — that only comes around on special occasions. Growing up in an Italian household you were expected to help with sauce prep. This involved waking up at ungodly hours to make meatballs so that the sauce can cook for what seems like an entire day. My grandma always called it “mathematical meatballs and scientific sauce” because of how exact she was with measurements. Making the sauce is always a production, but the best kind of production.

Just so you know how legit this sauce is, here’s part of the OG handwritten recipe, and scroll down for an easy-to-read breakdown:

Emily Abrams

Make the meatballs before assembling the sauce.

Meatballs (16 to 18 meatballs depending on the size)

2 lbs. ground beef (combination of chuck and round)
2 tsp. Salt (around 1 tsp. per lb.)
1/4 tsp. Pepper (around 1/8 tsp. per lb.)
4-5 Tbsp. Parsley (2 Tbsp. for 1 lb.)
4-5 Tbsp. Grated cheese (approx. 1 1/4 tsp. per lb.)
2 1/2 tsp. Crushed garlic (1 1/4 tsp. per lb.)
1/2 – 3/4 tsp. Oregano (1/4 tsp. per lb.)
3 Large eggs
2 c. Cubed bread crumbs (1 cup per lb.)
3 oz. Milk and water combined (around 6 Tbsp. and judge according to the amount of bread and eggs)

Ready, Set, Go

Season the ground beef with salt, pepper, parsley, garlic, oregano, grated cheese and egg. Mix it all together so everything is evenly distributed. In a separate bowl, combine the bread crumbs with the milk and water combination, so that the bread is softened. Mix together the bread crumb mixture with the ground beef mixture until everything is evenly incorporated. Form the meatballs.  You should end up with around 16 to 18, depending on the size.

In a large frying pan heat enough EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) to coat the bottom of the pan. Brown your meatballs on three sides each. If your pan is big enough you should be able to fit all the balls in there at once. Once they are nice and golden brown, set them aside. Don’t worry if the meatballs aren’t fully cooked because they’re going to have plenty of time to cook in the tomato sauce once you’re all done with the prep work.

Sauce Ingredients 

Meatballs
2 Hot sausages
4 Fennel sausages
3/4 lb. Sparerib or pork (remember to remove all bones)
1, 29 oz. can Tomato puree 
1, 29 oz. can Crushed tomatoes
2, 35 oz. cans Plum tomatoes
6 cloves Garlic
1 1/2 c. Onions
3 Tbsp. Parsley, coarsely chopped
1/4 tsp. Black pepper
2 1/2 tsp. Salt
1 1/2 tsp. Sugar
3 Basil leaves (the larger the better)
8 Tbsp. Olive oil

Emily Abrams

Ready, Set, Go

Go find your largest stock pot. This is going to be the pot you cook all the sauce in, so choose wisely.

In a medium-sized saucepan, start to heat the crushed and plum tomatoes in order to get the cooking process started.

Now in the large stock pot, over medium heat, heat up half of the olive oil and brown your sausages and sparerib/pork. Set this meat aside with the meatballs. In the same pot (don’t clean it because you’ll want the extra flavor later on) add the remaining olive oil and brown the garlic. Remove the garlic and then brown the onions in the same pot. When the onions start to get translucent, add the parsley. Add in the heated tomatoes and then the can of tomato puree. Lastly, add the black pepper, salt, sugar, basil, garlic, all of the browned meat and the meatballs.

Once everything is in the pot, simmer on low with the cover slightly ajar. After about an hour of cooking, if the sauce looks a little watery, you can add in 3 to 6 Tbsp. of tomato paste. Continue cooking the sauce for about 2 to 2 1/2 hours, or longer, depending on the thickness and the flavor you want the sauce to have. Also, don’t skimp on the olive oil, it’s the good kind of fat. You can always add more as the sauce is cooking.

Emily Abrams

So now you’re probably wondering “What do I do with this masterpiece???” Well, the absolute number one thing to do is boil up some fresh ricotta raviolis and smother them with this rich tomato sauce. You can also pour it over a chicken cutlet, cover with a few slices of fresh mozzarella and make some ridiculous chicken parm. Use the sauce for a lasagna, get fancy and make a meaty shakshuka or just be really Italian and hover over the sauce with a loaf of bread and dip away until your heart’s content. Keep in mind you’re going to have A LOT of sauce leftovers so feel free to freeze the rest for a rainy day.

This Italian grandma tomato sauce is a labor of love and once you master the recipe, which has been meticulously tested by real deal Brooklyn Italians for decades, you’ll be the one getting your friends and family together for Sunday dinners.