Copycat McCormick Spaghetti Seasoning Recipe

Looking for a way to quickly whip up deliciously flavored, homemade spaghetti sauce? Then you will want to make this copycat McCormick Spaghetti Seasoning Recipe.

Sure you can buy a jar of spaghetti sauce at your local grocery store. But McCormick sells these packets of spaghetti sauce seasoning that you mix into a blend of tomato paste, water and a few other ingredients if you desired to make a thick and zesty spaghetti sauce.

This spice blend makes it so easy to create your own homemade spaghetti sauce. You may never go back to buying jars of sauce again!

Copycat McCormick Spaghetti Seasoning

Sure you can buy store bought packets of McCormick’s Thick and Zesty Spaghetti Seasoning mix. But why not learn to make your own for a fraction of the cost. You probably already have many of these ingredients on hand.

Here’s what you’ll need.

Ingredients for Copycat McCormick Spaghetti Seasoning Mix:

• Onion Powder – you’ll want to use either onion powder or granulated onion. Don’t use onion salt as this seasoning mix is more salt than onion. Still with the powder or granulated onion for the most flavor. The only different between the two is the size. Onion powder is dried onion that has been ground into a powder form. Granulated onion is not as finely ground. Both work great in this recipe.

• Garlic Powder – use garlic powder or granulated garlic. Skip the garlic salt seasoning for the same reason you’ll want to skip the onion salt (see the above explanation).

• Other Herbs including dried parsley, dried basil and Italian Seasoning mix.

• Salt and Black Pepper – no recipe is complete without adding salt and black pepper.

How to make this Spaghetti Seasoning Mix

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl or dish and stir until mixed.

Use immediately or store in an airtight container in the pantry for up to 5 months. I prefer to use a glass jar to store this mix instead of a plastic ziplock bag. The glass keeps the humidity out so the onion and garlic powder won’t clump up.

This amount makes enough for spaghetti sauces that use about 1 pound of meat such as ground beef, ground Italian sausage or even ground turkey.

Looking to make extra spaghetti seasoning mix? This recipe is easy enough to double or triple so you can have extra mix on hand for a larger batch of sauce or to save to make sauce on another day.

How do I make store bought spaghetti sauce tasty?

To give your store bought spaghetti sauce a flavor boost try adding 1 tablespoon of this mixture to a jar of spaghetti sauce (about 24 ounces of sauce).

You can also use this seasoning mix to create a quick homemade spaghetti sauce using tomato paste or tomato sauce.

To make spaghetti sauce with Copycat McCormick Spaghetti seasoning mix:

To make a homemade spaghetti sauce using tomato paste you’ll need the following ingredients:

5 tablespoons of Copycat McCormick Spaghetti Seasoning Mix

1 3/4 cups Water

6 ounces of Tomato Paste

2 teaspoons Olive Oil

In a sauce pan combine the seasoning mix, water, tomato paste and olive oil. Blend well.

Bring to a boil. Cover the sauce pan, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve over your favorite pasta.

To make spaghetti sauce using tomato sauce in place of the tomato paste:

Replace the tomato paste with 8 ounces of tomato sauce. Reduce the water to 1 cup.

Blend the ingredients in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil, cover the pan, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes stirring occasionally.

Serve over your favorite pasta.

Here are some other things to add to your sauce to make it extra special:

• Fresh Vegetables – sauté fresh vegetables such as onion, peppers, carrots, broccoli florets and even diced tomatoes in a pan until just soft. Add them to your spaghetti sauce and simmer for a few minutes to blend in the flavors.

• Garlic – fresh garlic adds a nice boost of flavor to spaghetti sauce. I love to add in finely diced roasted garlic to my sauce.

• Spinach – add some spinach to your spaghetti sauce. Use frozen, chopped spinach or try wilting fresh baby spinach in a pan before adding to your sauce.

• Olives or Capers – use sliced or quartered olives to give your sauce a flavor boost. A tablespoon of capers also tastes delicious in spaghetti sauce.

• Vinegar or Lemon Juice – adding a bit of vinegar (red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar) or even a little bit of lemon juice will add a bit of tang to your spaghetti sauce.

• Ricotta Cheese or Parmesan Cheese – stir in 2 or 3 tablespoons of ricotta cheese or Parmesan cheese into your sauce.

• Meat – try adding browned ground beef, ground turkey or even ground chorizo to your sauce. Italian sausage also tastes delicious in spaghetti sauce. You can remove it from the casing and brake it up into crumbles while its cooking or cut already cooked Italian sausage into slices.

Try using your homemade sauce in some of these recipes:

Air Fryer Eggplant Pizza Slices

Chicken and Peppers in Sauce

Crockpot Ravioli Lasagna

Parmesan Meatballs

Slow Cooker Sausage and Peppers

Try this recipe and love it? Review it by clicking the star rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ on the recipe card! This helps other readers to find this recipe since the recipe rating will encourage search engines, such as Google, to suggest it to others. This helps support Remake My Plate as we are a reader supported publication.

Looking to make other homemade seasoning mixes? Try some of these:

Cajun Seasoning Mix

Italian Seasoning Mix

Easy Steak Seasoning Recipe

Best Chicken Seasoning Mix

Greek Seasoning Mix

Want to get new recipes sent directly to your inbox? Then subscribe to our newsletter (see below) and be the first to know when we post a new recipe as well as get weekly shopping, cooking and meal planning tips. Follow me on Pinterest where you can find links to our recipes as well as other recipes you and your family will enjoy.

This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our disclosure policy. If you click on the banner below you will be taken directly to my Etsy shop to see the digital items currently listed.

Share this recipe with a friend!