Big batch homemade tomato Spaghetti sauce

tomato spaghetti sauce in serving dish with spoon, on a wooden board.

5 from 2 votes

Big batch homemade tomato Spaghetti sauce

This homemade spaghetti sauce uses just a handful of simple ingredients and is so easy to make! Learn how to make a big batch of this flavourful tomato sauce... to tantalise your taste buds and simplify meal time planning!

Prep Time10

Cook Time35

Total Time45

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: people

Calories: 38kcal

Author: Sonia

Ingredients

4 tablespoon Extra virgin olive oil
2 Dried red chillies
1 cup Garlic cloves (chopped) 160g (adjust according to taste)
¾ cup Brown/yellow onion (finely chopped) 90g
1 ½ tablespoon Fresh red chillies (chopped)
2 teaspoon Salt (plus additional ¼ teaspoon or to taste)
4 jars x 640g tomato passata or tomato puree (see notes)
½ cup Fresh basil leaves (roughly chopped)
pinch Dried oregano (optional)

Instructions

Heat oil in a large non-stick frying pan and add garlic and dried red chillies. Cook for 20-30 seconds on medium heat, until slightly golden.
Add onions and fresh red chillies and sauté and cook until golden, for approximately 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add the half of the chopped basil into the pan and stir to combine with the garlic and onions and cook for another 2 minutes.
Add the tomato passata into the pan. 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.
Add salt, stir the sauce once more and cover the pan. Allow the sauce to cook for 20-25 minutes on low-medium heat.
Add the remaining chopped basil and cook for another 2-3 minutes
Add a handful of fresh cherry/plum tomatoes cook on low heat for another 2-3 minutes.
Remove from heat, serve with spaghetti/pasta or as desired and enjoy!

Notes

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.
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.
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.
Avoid overcooking the sauce: cook the tomato sauce for the right amount of time, overcooking the tomatoes can cause the sauce to taste bitter
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