Simple Italian Tomato Sauce

This simple Italian tomato sauce recipe is so quick and easy to make – and so versatile! This fresh homemade sauce can be used for pasta and pizza dishes as well as any recipe requiring a burst of delicious, flavourful saucy tomato base!

Simple Italian Tomato Sauce with Plum Tomatoes 

This flavourful and versatile Italian sauce is one of my go-to recipes for tomato-based sauce (as well as my big batch spaghetti sauce recipe)! This simple Italian tomato sauce is bursting with incredible rich flavours and perfectly pairs with a number of dishes!

This sauce can be used as a base for pasta dishes including spaghetti as well as pizzas, bakes and layered dishes. The freshness from ripe plum (or cherry tomatoes) brings a wonderful addition to take this sauce to the next level!

You just need a few simple ingredients to make this sauce – and you can also make in advance and freeze batches to make meal times easier! 

Ingredients you'll need

• Olive oil: use extra virgin olive oil. Extra virgin olive oil works well in Italian cooking and contains vitamins and minerals.
• Garlic: use fresh cloves of garlic for this dish, these are chopped and sautéed to bring flavour to the sauce.
• Red chillies: for heat and flavour.
• Tomato passata: (this is also labelled Tomato Puree in the US), I am referring to pureed and strained tomatoes which comes in a jar (or carton). This is the base of the sauce. 
• Fresh basil: for a refreshing taste in this sauce.
• Salt: to season the spaghetti sauce.
• Plum or cherry tomatoes: fresh plum or cherry tomatoes are added in the sauce, these bring a rich and fresh tomato taste and subtle sweetness to the sauce.

Equipment

To make this sauce, you will need a large pan (non-stick) with a lid and a silicone or wooden spatula to mix the sauce.

How to Make Simple Italian Tomato Sauce

1. Heat oil in a large non-stick frying pan, add garlic and red chillies. Cook for 2 minutes on medium heat, until slightly golden. 
2. Add the half of the chopped basil into the pan. Stir and cook for 10-15 seconds.  
3. Add the tomato passata into the pan. Stir, cover and cook on medium heat for 8 minutes, stirring the sauce every few minutes. Tip: To remove all the sauce from the jar - add a little water into the bottle, put the lid back on and give the jar a shake and pour into the pan. 
4. Season sauce, cover and cook. Season with salt, add the plum tomatoes and the remaining half of the chopped basil and stir once more. Cover and cook on high heat for another 3-5 minutes, stirring every few minutes. Remove from heat, serve in desired dish and enjoy!

Tips for making the Best Italian Sauce

• Flavour the sauce: garlic, salt and fresh red chillies are cooked in the olive oil to add flavour the sauce. You can adjust quantities of garlic and chillies if you prefer a milder sauce.  
• Use fresh basil: I prefer using fresh basil over dried basil in this dish for its refreshing taste and flavour, cooking the basil with the onions gives this sauce a distinctive taste, more fresh basil is also added towards the end of cooking. Adding basil before and after adding tomato passata gives this sauce more depth of flavour.
• Avoid overcooking the sauce: cook the tomato sauce for the right amount of time, overcooking the tomatoes can cause the sauce to taste bitter

Serving and Storing Tips

• If you wish to prepare in advance you can make the sauce and store in the fridge. Reheat before serving with desired dishes.
• This sauce can be served with spaghetti topped with grated/shredded cheddar cheese and fresh basil! Or use this sauce for pizzas and vegetable pasta bakes!
• Serve with sides including crispy jalapeño poppers, garlic breaded mushrooms and garlic bread!

Related

Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:

Pairing

These are my favorite dishes to serve with [this recipe]:

Simple Italian Tomato Sauce

Sonia

This simple tomato sauce recipe is so quick and easy to make – and so versatile! This sauce can be used for pasta and pizza dishes as well as any recipe requiring a burst of delicious, flavourful saucy tomato base!

5 from 2 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 20 minutes mins

Course Main Course, Sauce

Cuisine Italian

Servings 4 servings (or approx. 3 ½ cups of sauce)

Calories 115 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1 tablespoon Olive oil
• ▢ 8 Garlic cloves (6 cloves for milder flavour)
• ▢ 1 Red chilli chopped
• ▢ 2 tablespoon fresh basil leaves (chopped) (2 tablespoon = ½ cup fresh basil leaves)
• ▢ 680 g Tomato passata
• ▢ 1 cup Plum tomatoes or cherry tomatoes
• ▢ ¾ teaspoon Salt or to taste

Instructions

 

• Heat oil in a large non-stick frying pan, add garlic and red chillies. Cook for 2 minutes on medium heat, until slightly golden.
• Add half of the chopped basil into the pan. Stir and cook for 10-15 seconds.
• Add the tomato passata into the pan. Stir, cover and cook on medium heat for 8 minutes, stirring the sauce every few minutes.
• Season with salt, add the plum tomatoes and the remaining half of the chopped basil and stir once more. Cover and cook on high heat for another 3-5 minutes, stirring every few minutes. Remove from heat, serve in desired dish and enjoy!

Notes

1. Tomato passata: this is also labelled Tomato Puree in the US, I am referring to pureed and strained tomatoes which comes in a jar (or carton). This is the base of the sauce.
2. Flavour the sauce: garlic, onion, salt, dried and fresh red chillies are used to add flavour the sauce and I recommend including all for a flavourful dish. You can adjust quantities of garlic and onion if you prefer a milder sauce.
3. Use fresh basil: I prefer using fresh basil over dried basil in this dish for its refreshing taste and flavour, cooking the basil with the onions gives this sauce a distinctive taste, more fresh basil is also added towards the end of cooking. Adding basil before and after adding tomato passata gives this sauce more depth of flavour. Chop basil just before adding to pan to keep the basil fresh. 
4. Avoid overcooking the sauce: cook the tomato sauce for the right amount of time, overcooking the tomatoes can cause the sauce to taste bitter
5. Storage: This sauce can be stored in the fridge for 2 days, store in an airtight container once cooled. You can also freeze this sauce for up to 3 months – store in a freezer-friendly container and label before transferring into the freezer.

 

 

 

 

Nutrition

Calories: 115kcalCarbohydrates: 20gProtein: 4gFat: 4gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gSodium: 488mgPotassium: 914mgFiber: 4gSugar: 10gVitamin A: 1420IUVitamin C: 28mgCalcium: 50mgFolate: 28µgIron: 3mgZinc: 1mg

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