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This homemade tomato sauce is made with canned tomatoes, fresh garlic, basil, parsley, and seasonings. It’s homemade comfort food at it’s best.
Holly’s Recipe Highlights
- Flavor: Bright and tangy with a hint of basil, homemade tomato sauce tastes better than store-bought.
- Skill Level: Everything is simmered to perfection in a single pot. It’s beginner-friendly with minimal hands-on time.
- Serving Suggestions: Dip breadsticks or use the sauce as a base for hearty sloppy joes.
- Yield: If the pot is big enough, double or triple the recipe and freeze for future recipes.
Ingredient Tips for Homemade Tomato Sauce
- Tomatoes: Use the highest quality canned tomatoes, like San Marzano, for the best flavor. For a chunkier sauce, diced or crushed tomatoes work well. Fresh tomatoes will take a little longer to cook, but they add great flavor to the sauce.
- Seasonings: This sauce is seasoned with basil, oregano, and parsley. For more flavor, add a dash of Italian seasoning, a simple shake of rosemary, or some red pepper flakes.
- Variations: Add some heavy whipping cream to the pot once the sauce is pureed after Step 3 for a creamier sauce. Sliced mushrooms, shredded zucchini, or any leftover veggies from the fridge will stretch the sauce and add some nutrients!
Ways to Use Tomato Sauce
This homemade tomato sauce is super versatile and packed with cozy, savory flavor. It’s one of those go-to recipes you’ll find endless ways to use, like in these recipes!
This sauce makes a great dip for garlic bread or mozzarella sticks, too!
Storing Leftovers
Keep leftover homemade tomato sauce in a covered container or mason jar in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or freeze in zippered bags for up to 3 months.
More Sauces to Savor!
Did you enjoy this Tomato Sauce recipe? Leave a comment and rating below.
Tomato Sauce
Equipment
- Saucepan or Dutch oven
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 28 ounces canned whole tomatoes with juices, 1 can
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a pot, combine olive oil and onion over medium heat. Cook until onions start to soften. Add garlic and cook until fragrant.
- Gently mash the tomatoes with your hands and add to the pan with juices. Stir in basil.
- Simmer 20 minutes, adding water if needed to reach desired consistency. Optional: Once thickened, use an immersion blender to blend the sauce to desired consistency.
- Stir in parsley. Taste sauce and season with add salt & pepper.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Pasta, Sauce
Cuisine American, Italian© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
The sauce was very good. Easy to make & ingredients would be in anyone’s pantry.
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed it.
This makes an excellent pizza sauce as well. One tip if you find it too acidic… instead of adding sugar, we all have more than enough of that in our diets, just add a pinch of baking soda to your sauce. You will see it begin to fizz as soon as it goes in and that should reduce the acidity of your sauce without adding any extra sugar.
Thanks for the tip!
I rarely cook, and started a recipe when I realized I had no tomato sauce. This recipe is very simple. (Who knew you could make your own tomatoes sauce from canned tomatoes?) The sauce is lovely; it is certainly much better than canned sauce.
So glad you loved it Lee!
would this be the same as a marinara sauce?
They’re a little bit different as I use this in recipes while I use marinara as a pasta sauce itself. Marinara a touch sweeter with a bit more flavor. You can find my favorite marinara sauce here.
✋
This was exactly the recipe we needed tonight! Our taco meat recipe calls for tomato sauce, but we were out, until I made this! Thank you so much- so easy, so quick, so simple and delicious.
Great recipe! I substituted fresh tomatoes instead of canned. And for a little sweetness, I added peeled grape tomatoes into the sauce instead of any sugar. It cooked down wonderfully, and It’s delicious!
Great tip on the grape tomatoes, thanks for sharing.