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Keep this Quick Tomato Sauce in your back pocket for lazy days and last-minute dinners. The recipe is simple to prepare and tastes great after a short simmer time (just 15 minutes). Spoon it over pasta, meatballs, or your favorite Italian recipes.
There are plenty of reasons to make your tomato sauce at home: You want to consume fewer processed foods, the “healthy” options at the store are too expensive, or you just genuinely enjoy cooking.
This quick tomato sauce recipe came from a mix of all of those reasons, but the main goal was to increase my flexibility in the kitchen. I don’t necessarily buy spaghetti sauce regularly, but I always have canned tomatoes on hand.
I wanted to be able to convert those pantry staples into a sauce for pasta, pizza, or a casserole without having to commit in advance.
This quick tomato sauce is a great recipe to keep in your back pocket for busy nights when you are just “winging it.” But it’s also great to plan for it too, because the flavors are top-notch and you’ll just love it.
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
Ingredient notes
- Sugar: This is an optional sauce ingredient; I prefer just 1 teaspoon to balance out the acidity in the canned tomatoes. Sweeten to taste or feel free to omit.
Step-by-step instructions
- In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, heat oil until shimmering. Add garlic cloves and sauté until browned, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching, about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove garlic and discard.
- Stir in crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, sugar (if using), basil, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste (I like ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper).
- Reduce heat to medium and simmer uncovered until flavors have blended, about 10 minutes. Keep warm over low-heat until serving time, or cool completely and store covered in the refrigerator.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This recipe makes 4 cups (1 quart) sauce.
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Make ahead: The sauce can be made, cooled, covered, and refrigerated up to 3 days in advance.
- Freezer: Cool the finished sauce, then pack into freezer-safe containers (I like to use glass Mason jars; leave a half-inch of head space for expansion), and freeze for up to 3 months.
- Blender: For a smooth sauce, process in batches in a blender (or use an immersion blender). Ideal for dipping appetizers like mozzarella sticks or pizza bites.
- Creamy: Add heavy cream to taste (start with ¼ cup and see if you want more).
- Spicy: Stir in red chili flakes to taste with the other spices.
- Buttery: Add 1 or 2 tablespoons butter to the sauce for a rich, buttery taste.
Recipe FAQs
This recipe is quick and easy because of the canned tomato products, but you can substitute 16 to 20 Roma tomatoes for the crushed and diced tomatoes. You’ll want to peel the tomatoes and seed the tomatoes for this recipe, and you’ll need to cook the sauce longer.
Spaghetti and Meatballs
This classic Spaghetti and Meatballs recipe is a hearty and comforting family dinner idea. One bite of this Italian-American dinner recipe will transport you to a Midwestern red sauce restaurant.
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Quick Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic peeled and smashed
- 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes undrained
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar (see note 1)
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, heat oil until shimmering. Add garlic cloves and sauté until browned, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching, about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove garlic and discard.
- Stir in crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, sugar (if using), basil, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste (I like ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper). Reduce heat to medium and simmer uncovered until flavors have blended, about 10 minutes.
- Keep warm over low-heat until serving time, or cool completely and store covered in the refrigerator.
Notes
- Sugar: This is an optional sauce ingredient; I prefer just 1 teaspoon to balance out the acidity in the canned tomatoes. Sweeten to taste or feel free to omit.
- Yield: This recipe makes 4 cups (1 quart) sauce.
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Make ahead: The sauce can be made, cooled, covered, and refrigerated up to 3 days in advance.
- Freezer: Cool the finished sauce, then pack into freezer-safe containers (I like to use glass Mason jars; leave a half-inch of head space for expansion), and freeze for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
Looks like a good recipe, do I really throw the garlic away ?
Hi Nora, the garlic is there to flavor the oil. If you desire you can mince the garlic and leave it in, being careful to not burn it. I hope you love it! – Meggan
Meggan, I have been on the hunt for the “perfect marinara sauce” for years. Had to be made with ingredients I can get and have on hand. This is absolutely the best, easiest marinara sauce I have ever had. I used the 1 tsp of sugar and added the 2 tbsp of butter at the end. Tomato can sizes are what I can get at Costco. This is better than our best Italian restaurant’s sauce. I am over the moon. I wake up every day to your email of recipes and absolutely could not be more thrilled to have found you. Thank you!
Recipes all look good & easy, I’m so over cooking since COVID STARTED, frozen dinner s are awful
So looking for easy!
Thank you
Happy to help Lennie, hope you enjoy! – Meggan
This is everything I hoped and more! Quick, easy and tasty!