Tomato soup spaghetti sauce is a quick, old-fashioned meat sauce made from two cans of condensed tomato soup, a pound of ground beef, a chopped onion and a few dried seasonings. The soup makes a smooth, slightly sweet, mellow sauce with no chunks of tomato, and a spoonful of vinegar gives it a little brightness. It is ready in 20 minutes in one skillet. It is a thrifty pantry dinner that many of us remember from childhood, and it is still a good answer when there is no jar of sauce in the cupboard.
How to make tomato soup spaghetti sauce: Cook 1 pound of ground beef with a chopped onion until the beef reaches 160°F. Stir in 2 cans of condensed tomato soup, garlic powder, oregano, basil and vinegar. Add 1/2 cup of water, and more if needed, until the sauce is a little thinner than you want it. Simmer until it thickens to your liking and serve over cooked pasta.
Why You’ll Love It
- Pantry ingredients. Two cans of soup and three dried seasonings.
- Twenty minutes. About as fast as boiling the pasta.
- Smooth and mild. No tomato chunks, which picky eaters like.
- One skillet. The meat and the sauce cook together.
- Easy to adjust. You control how thick it is and how it is seasoned.
Ingredient Notes
Condensed tomato soup. Two cans of 10 3/4 ounces each. Use it straight from the can. Do not make it up as soup first.
Ground beef. One pound.
Onion. One medium onion, chopped.
Garlic powder and oregano. One teaspoon of each.
Basil. A 1/2 teaspoon, dried.
Vinegar. One tablespoon. It balances the sweetness of the soup.
Water. A 1/2 cup to start, and up to 1 cup in all.
Ingredients
- 2 cans (10 3/4 ounces each) condensed tomato soup
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon basil
- 1 tablespoon vinegar
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1/2 cup water, plus more as needed
How to Make Tomato Soup Spaghetti Sauce
1. Cook the beef and onion. Cook the ground beef and onion together until the beef is cooked through. Check the beef with a food thermometer. It must reach 160°F.
2. Add the soup and seasonings. Stir in the tomato soup, garlic powder, oregano, basil and vinegar.
3. Adjust and simmer. Add water until the sauce is slightly thinner than you want it, using up to 1 cup in all. Simmer until it reaches the thickness you like.
4. Serve. Serve the sauce over cooked pasta.
How Much Water Should You Add?
Start with 1/2 cup. Condensed soup is thick and concentrated, and straight from the can it is closer to a paste than a sauce. A little water loosens it so that it can simmer and coat the pasta.
The trick is to add water until the sauce is a bit thinner than you want it to be at the table. That sounds backward, but the sauce reduces as it simmers. If it starts at the perfect thickness, it will end up too stiff.
| How it looks | What to do |
|---|---|
| Thick and pasty after the soup goes in | Stir in the first 1/2 cup of water |
| Still heavy, and it mounds on the spoon | Add more water a splash at a time, up to 1 cup in all |
| Loose, and it runs off the spoon in a stream | Stop adding water. Simmer to reduce it |
| Coats the back of the spoon | It is ready to serve |
How much you need depends on the pan, the heat and the fat in the beef. A wide skillet over a lively flame loses water quickly. A deep saucepan on low heat loses very little. So do not pour in the whole cup at once. Add, stir, look and add again.
If you overshoot and the sauce is watery, there is no harm done. Keep it at a simmer with the lid off, and it will thicken again in a few minutes.
Tips for Success
Should I drain the beef?
If there is a lot of fat in the pan after browning, spoon most of it off before the soup goes in. Too much fat makes the sauce greasy.
How do I know the beef is done?
Color is not a reliable guide. Use a thermometer, and look for 160°F.
What kind of vinegar?
The recipe only says vinegar. Plain white vinegar or cider vinegar are both mild choices.
Can I change the seasonings?
Yes. Make it once as written, taste it and then adjust the herbs to suit your family.
How much pasta does it cover?
The recipe is written for 2 generous servings. With a pound of beef in it, the sauce is very meaty, so it will stretch further over extra pasta if you need it to.
Can I cook the spaghetti in the sauce?
This sauce is made to be spooned over pasta that has been boiled separately. It does not have enough liquid to cook dry spaghetti.
Storage and Reheating
Refrigerate leftover sauce within 2 hours, in a shallow, covered container. It keeps for 3 to 4 days in the fridge or 3 to 4 months in the freezer. Thaw it in the refrigerator, not on the counter. Reheat on the stove until it comes to a boil and reaches 165°F, adding a splash of water if it has thickened.
What to Serve With It
Spoon the sauce over spaghetti and add garlic bread and a salad. For a from-scratch pot, try the homemade spaghetti sauce. For more pasta nights, there is old school spaghetti, the 5-ingredient slow cooker one pot spaghetti and an easy ravioli sauce. And if you came looking for soup, make the slow cooker Amish tomato noodle soup or the slow cooker unstuffed cabbage roll soup.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much water should I add to condensed tomato soup to make spaghetti sauce?
Start with 1/2 cup and add more as needed, up to 1 cup in all, then simmer to the thickness you like.
What are the ingredients and instructions for easy spaghetti sauce?
Brown ground beef with onion, stir in condensed tomato soup, garlic powder, oregano, basil and vinegar, thin with water and simmer.
Can spaghetti sauce be turned into tomato soup?
That is a separate recipe. Here the soup becomes the sauce, not the other way around.
Can you cook spaghetti in the sauce instead of water?
Not in this one. Boil the pasta separately and spoon the sauce over it.
Final Notes
I keep a cup of water next to the stove and add it a splash at a time, watching how the sauce falls from the spoon. If you make it, leave a comment to tell me how it turned out or ask a question.
Tomato Soup Spaghetti Sauce
Want This Recipe Later?
We'll send this recipe straight to your inbox.
Ingredients
- 2 cans condensed tomato soup 10 3/4 ounces each
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon basil
- 1 tablespoon vinegar
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 onion medium, chopped
- 1/2 cup water use up to 1 cup total, as needed for the sauce's consistency
Instructions
- Cook the ground beef and onion together until the beef is cooked through. Check the beef with a food thermometer. It must reach 160°F.
- Stir in the tomato soup, garlic powder, oregano, basil and vinegar.
- Add water until the sauce is slightly thinner than you want it, using up to 1 cup in all. Simmer until it reaches the thickness you like.
- Serve the sauce over cooked pasta.
Notes
Nutrition
Made this recipe? Tap a star to rate it.
