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Birds Eye view of homemade simple Italian tomato sauce with plum tomatoes, served in large dark green pan.
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5 from 2 votes

Simple Italian Tomato Sauce

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!
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Total Time20 minutes
Course: Main Course, Sauce
Cuisine: Italian
Servings: 4 servings (or approx. 3 ½ cups of sauce)
Calories: 115kcal
Author: Sonia

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon Olive oil
  • 8 Garlic cloves (6 cloves for milder flavor)
  • 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: 115kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 488mg | Potassium: 914mg | Fiber: 4g | Vitamin A: 1420IU | Vitamin C: 28mg | Calcium: 50mg | Folate: 28µg | Iron: 3mg | Zinc: 1mg