As the daughter and granddaughter of some amazing Italian cooks, I’ve learned that not only can you make an old-fashioned Italian spaghetti sauce easily and successfully —you can even make it on a weeknight!
In one hour!
Without being or needing an Italian grandma.
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My friend, you’re going to make a canned tomato sauce recipe that has been known to make intelligent people pour just some sauce in a bowl at the end of a meal and sop it up with a crispy piece of homemade garlic bread.
I might add a few of the tenderest beef meatballs ever made too.
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The difference is San Marzano tomatoes
San Marzano tomatoes are a special variety of Italian tomato and are a key ingredient in this red pasta sauce. I use them in this sauce because they are sweet, low in acidity but have a rich flavor and color.
There are a few easy ways to identify San Marzano tomatoes and I suggest you spend a couple of extra minutes in the Italian aisle of your grocer to find them. It’s totally worth your time!
How to make homemade Italian red pasta sauce
Optional: Add in some red wine. This adds so much flavor to the sauce and onions!
p.s. I always add more garlic because it’s garlic and life is short. If you don’t love it, don’t put as much. Just promise me you won’t leave it out all together. And if you do, don’t tell me.
PRO TIP
Sugar in tomato sauce? Yes! A little bit of sugar balances out the acidity of canned tomatoes, especially. Every canned tomato is different so adjust to your taste and brand of tomatoes.
Red sauce extra credit
- Add some fresh basil if you have some.
- Taste the sauce throughout the cooking to adjust the seasoning and heat.
- If you find the sauce isn’t as well-rounded in flavor or is on the hotter side, add a little water (1/4 cup to start) to the sauce along with a pat or two of butter. The taste can vary depending on the canned tomato you choose.
- Feel free to double or triple the recipe but don’t double the salt or the crushed red pepper. Start with a 1 1/2 ratio if doubling the recipe and go from there. Better to salt as you go and for the crushed red pepper, the heat intensifies over time. Unless you want an arrabiata sauce, then go for the heat!
How to sauce pasta like an Italian
In Italy, they sauce things lightly and gently to allow the pasta, meat or star ingredient to shine, something that I respect and totally agree with. My mom tosses the drained and cooked pasta with a couple of coffee-sized cups of sauce right back in the pasta pot.
That’s a memory ingrained for life!
Made this recipe?
I’d love it if you’d share your review and leave a star rating and comment!
Italian Red Sauce with San Marzano Tomatoes
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Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 28 oz can whole, peeled Italian tomatoes, preferably San Marzano, see note
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped, 1/2 cup
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ cup red wine, optional – see note below
- 3 oz tomato paste, or 1/2 of a 6 oz can
- 2 tsp kosher salt, to start
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- crushed red pepper, to taste – try 1/4 teaspoon to start if you like heat.
- water , as needed (in 1/4 cup increments)
- fresh basil, optional
Instructions
- Place tomatoes in a blender with their juices and pulse until desired consistency reached.
- Heat olive oil in a 4qt. saucepan (or larger if doubling) over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until translucent and rich in color, about 5 minutes. Briefly add garlic for 30 seconds until you smell it.
- Add red wine here, if desired. Cook for at least two minutes until wine is incorporated. See note below.
- Reduce heat to medium-low and add tomato paste. Swirl around until softened and combined with onions about 2 minutes. Add spices ending with sugar and quickly combine because you don’t want the sugar to burn but to caramelize just a bit.
- Quickly add pureed tomatoes and simmer over low heat for about 45 minutes. Check the seasoning after 30 minutes or so. Add more salt/pepper or a little more sugar if the tomatoes are more on the acidic side.
- Taste and adjust for seasoning.
- The sauce will thicken which is what you want. You are looking for a rich, red, sauce with kick-butt flavor. You can leave it as it and use it w/meat or as a pizza sauce.
Notes
- Check flavor and consistency after 30 minutes. The sauce can be thinned down with 1/4 cup of water.
- You also can add some red wine (1/2 cup) right after the onions and garlic are added.
- Make my homemade meatballs using this sauce.
- You can cook down and use as dipping sauce for focaccia, a pizza sauce or even your favorite appetizer (I see you, frozen mozzarella stick lovers!).
- Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days in the refrigerator.
- Reheat on the stove on low until heated through. Can also be microwaved in a microwave-safe bowl (covered) until heated.
- Freeze cooled, cooked spaghetti sauce in freezer-safe bags or sealed, airtight containers for up to 3 months.
The Italian Starter Pantry
Some ingredients to keep on hand for Italian recipes include:
- 28 oz cans of Italian whole plum tomatoes
- 6 oz cans of tomato paste
- Good olive oil
- Tubes of triple concentrated tomato paste (for times when a tablespoon or two is needed)
- Garlic
- Onions
- Fresh or frozen cubes of parsley
- Fresh or frozen cubes of basil
- Red wine (both for cooking and drinking while cooking!)
- Dried spices like crushed red pepper, oregano, thyme, garlic powder
This recipe is absolutely fantastic. Best sauce I have ever made. I doubled it, and reduced it by simmering for 2 hours, because I wanted a thick sauce for meatball subs. I let it cook while preparing the meatballs. It was perfect.
I did two things slightly different, added a pat of butter to the olive oil and onions while they were cooking, because I love that extra flavor. And I used sugar in the raw (stevia) instead of sugar. My husband is diabetic. I was not sure if that would work, and it came out perfect. Exact measurements you had for sugar.
I saw someone asked about carrots. One time I was making sauce and didn’t realize I was out of sugar. I had a jar of baby food carrots in my cabinet. I threw that in the pot, and it came out great! It’s a good substitute too if you dont want pure sugar. Super easy too, it’s already pureed.
Thank you so much for this recipe, I will definitely be trying more from you! ❤️
So so glad that the stevia worked for you, Shannon. It’s my favorite alternative sweetener too but the baby food carrots is another great idea especially in sauce! Thank you so much for making the sauce and even happier you joined me here😊
When do you add the basil?
Hi Mike! Great question…the basil is optional and you can add a “bunch” of basil to the sauce while it sauce simmers and then remove it before serving. Hope that helps!
This was delicious!!! had everything I needed in my pantry and was able to make a last minute pasta sauce. Think this will be our go to from now on.
Katie I am so glad you loved the red sauce! Thank you for trying it and adding it to your back pocket recipes as I like to call them 😊
I have heard that sometimes carrots can be used in place of sugar. Have you tried this?
Hi Bob! Great question. I use carrots in my traditional bolognese sauce recipe and they do add the perfect amount of sweetness. I don’t use carrots in a regular tomato sauce more so because that wasn’t how I was taught, but if you try it, I’d love to hear how you like it! You also can leave the sugar out all together, especially if you taste the tomatoes and are happy with the acidity. Hope that helps!
Sorry the best tomatoes no longer come from Italy. American canned tomatoes have a better taste according to “America’s Test Kitchen”
I agree.
Also, paste comes last to avoid scorching the sauce while it cooks.
Thanks Arty! One of my favorite things about cooking and blogging is hearing everyone’s perspectives because food is such a personal thing to each of us and there are so many techniques to explore. As far as the tomatoes go, I’m a big America’s Test Kitchen fan and love hearing they endorse American tomatoes. I just happen to prefer authentic San Marzano tomatoes.
I’ve been making “sauce” since I learned from my Grandma Rose when I was a kid, going to Grandma’s every Sunday. Everyone who’s tried it loves it. The secret, I use, is Sprite, preferably Sugar free for me. Try it, it gives the sauce a nice sweet flavor.
Hey there Sean! I love a twist on a classic – I will totally give that a try and can totally see that making a great sauce! Your Grandma Rose sounds like one smart lady 😊 I have a new recipe coming out next month for Easter that uses soda for a sweetener so we have something in common. So appreciate your taking the time to reach out!
Did a 2 day spaghetti sauce & meatballs taste test. The ole Betty Crocker one let us down. Absolutely no depth of flavor. Yours reigned supreme. Love the hint of nutmeg in the meatballs. Brought a batch to a friend in need and got rave reviews too. Thanks!
Martha – seeing your message amidst the packing for our move brought a huge smile to my face! Thank you!! And so love that you paid it forward with meatballs -comfort for sure! Thank you!!☺️
So true! Nothing like coming in the door after a long day to a pot of simmering sauce!
Thoughts about using fresh tomatoes? Have quite a few coming in now, both Roma and round ones.
Hi Denise! Thank you for your question. I do mention garden tomatoes in the post briefly but will add it to the recipe card. Absolutely use them! Actually that’s what my grandma Nina did from her dad’s garden. I’m not a vegetable gardener (lots of shade here sadly!) but I’d definitely peel them and use a food mill to separate the pulp from the seeds and proceed with the recipe from there. Let me know if you have any more questions and if you make the recipe!🤗
Hi Lori, I was wondering if your going to (or maybe already have shown) another red sauce recipe from Aunt Nina, your other grandmother. I have always wondered how her recipe compared to the way I make my sauce. I’d be interested to try hers.
Georgia Bartolomucci
Hi Georgia!! I love that you commented! Hope you are well! I so wish I had my grandma’s recipe. I do need to talk more to my mom about it and will definitely get one up here. Her sauce was very smooth comparatively and I know she’d use garden tomatoes once in a while. I can taste her gnocchi as I write this…such a great memory!! Happy Sunday to you!😊
the paste came last because you never knew how thick the first tomatoes would be….so It’s an add as needed type of ingredient to enhance flavors and get to desired thickness.
with all the additional multiple flavors and sizes of paste it is much easier to get the sauce to your families taste profile. In the 50’s there were basically two brands….so whichever one was “on sale” went in the buggy.
Ps we carried our daytime shopping groceries up the 5 block hill and over 5 blocks….no wimps need apply !
🤣 of course not – but you forgot you did it all in the snow! Thanks Uncle Tony!
I would change the order and add the raw tomatoes first and the tomato paste later. The paste has concentrated flavors already but the raw tomatoes don’t. This is a place for that EVO,
you know the expensive one you bought for special foods. Splurge on some, you won’t regret it here.
Other familial choices could be peppers, mushrooms, red wine, and larger chopped tomatoes or onions. Using meats to flavor the sauce is popular, some say essential. Josie used scraps of pork. Some use beef and/or cook the meatballs with the sauce too. The peppers and/or mushrooms would be added after the onions and garlic flavor the oil. Josie also used two cheeses in her sauce, romano and parmesan. Both cheeses are added in middle of cooking. Asiago cheese could be used also.
Brown sugar, Josies’ choice, is better than white sugar giving a more complex rounded flavor profile to the sauce. Most recipes with garlic use the sugar to take the edginess off the taste. White sugar can be used to cancel any extra hotness you may want to take out of you added too much hot pepper.
There is is no one correct way to cook red sauce, so experiment and use your familial biases to take it where you want it to be.
Slow and easy is the order of the day with homemade sauces…..let all those layers of flavor come together using lots of love, low to medium temperatures, and lots of stirring.
Hey there Uncle Tony!😃 I didn’t know Gram used brown sugar – totally trying that! I love caramelizing the paste with the spices but you are exactly right when you say that there are so many different ways to make sauce. So blessed to have had two wonderful role models in both my Grams! And family to help carry on the traditions and relay the memories!🥰 Thank you so much for sharing all of this – love it!