Hearty Tomato Sauce
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This Homemade Tomato Sauce is made with simple ingredients that are fresh and hearty. This sauce is perfect for pasta night, lasagna, and pizza. It’s also a delicious dipping sauce for homemade garlic bread or calzones. It’s easy to make, fresh, and delicious, and we think you all will love this easy homemade sauce for your favorite Italian dishes.
What are the spices in Italian Seasoning?
The traditional herbs in Italian seasoning are basil, thyme, oregano, parsley, garlic, rosemary, salt, and pepper. For our tomato sauce, we skipped dried basil and added fresh, and all other spices were dried.
🍅 Ingredients
This homemade hearty tomato sauce is made with fresh and simple ingredients, which you can find at any grocery store. We recommend finding heirloom tomatoes if they are in season.
- Fresh Tomatoes. We used to prefer heirloom tomatoes because of the juicy and flavorful centers, but a mixture of whole tomatoes like beef steak, plum tomatoes, and Roma tomatoes works. Of course, if you don’t have time to prep the tomatoes, you can always use canned tomatoes like San Marzano Tomatoes and a tablespoon of tomato paste.
- Garlic. We use about 4-6 fresh garlic cloves, depending on the size. You want at least 4 large cloves or 6 small to medium sizes. When minced, it’s about 2 tablespoons.
- Sweet Onion. Or substitute with a yellow onion.
- Poblano Pepper. We love the mild flavor a poblano pepper adds to this homemade sauce.
- Spices. We use dried thyme, oregano, parsley, and rosemary for this sauce.
- Fresh Basil. We prefer the fresh herb here when making sauce for spaghetti or pizza sauce.
- Salt and Black Pepper. We use more black pepper in our homemade sauce than most ingredients. We like the peppery flavor it gives the sauce.
- Sugar. We always add sugar to our homemade tomato sauce to help balance out the acidity of the tomatoes.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
- Red Pepper Flakes. If you like a touch of heat to your tomato sauces, always start with a pinch and taste before adding more.
🍝 Instructions
This homemade spaghetti sauce is easy to make. The longest part is waiting for the tomatoes to break down when they are simmering. Then, the easiest part is skinning the tomatoes. It may seem intimidating, but after you do it for the first time, you will find it’s easy and quick.
- Prepare the Tomatoes. Bring a pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add the whole tomatoes, and cook for 35 to 60 seconds until the skins start to wrinkle and split. Remove the tomatoes from the water using a large slotted spoon and put them into a bowl with cold water and ice or in a bowl with cold water, running continuously over them in the sink. Remove the skins from the tomatoes and put the tomatoes on a cutting board to cool. Roughly chop the tomatoes and set aside.
- Saute Onion, Pepper, and Garlic. Add 3 Tablespoons of olive oil to a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onions and poblano pepper, season with salt and pepper, and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add the minced garlic and sauté for an additional 2 minutes.
- Make the Tomato Sauce. Add the chopped tomatoes and the dried seasoning. Reduce to medium-low and simmer for about 45 minutes to 1 hour and a half or until reduced in size. Add in the chopped basil, sugar, and red chili flakes (optional) and cook for an additional 5 minutes. If needed, add salt and pepper to taste.
- Use as is or blend. Use the sauce as is (chunky texture) with your favorite pasta, or add it to an immersion blender or food processor to make a smooth sauce.
FAQs
This sauce will last 3-4 days in the fridge when stored in an airtight container. If you don’t use all the sauce for a recipe, freeze it in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.
Because you are using fresh tomatoes in this recipe, you will need to simmer the tomatoes until the sauce reduces in half. If your sauce seems too watery, continue simmering it over low-medium heat until it reaches the desired consistency.
The color of your sauce will depend on the variety of tomatoes you use, especially if you add yellow tomatoes to your sauce. We love the variety of heirloom tomatoes because of their juicy flavor. But if you prefer red sauce, use only red tomatoes.
This Hearty Tomato Sauce is made with fresh ingredients and is easy to make. It’s the perfect Italian sauce to add to pasta, lasagna, and pizza and we hope you all love our recipe. Enjoy! ♡
Hearty Tomato Sauce
- 4-6 heirloom tomatoes peeled and diced (about 4 cups)
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 sweet onion diced (about 1 cup), or substitute with yellow onion
- 1 poblano pepper diced (about 1/3 cup)
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- ½ tsp black pepper plus more to taste
- ½ tsp salt plus more to taste
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- ¼ tsp dried rosemary
- ½ tsp dried parsley
- ¼ tsp dried thyme
- pinch of red chili flakes optional
- ¼ cup basil chopped
- 2 tsp granulated sugar
- Prepare the Tomatoes. Bring a pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add the whole tomatoes, and cook for 35 to 60 seconds until the skins start to wrinkle and split. Remove the tomatoes from the water using a large slotted spoon and put them into a bowl with cold water and ice or in a bowl with cold water, running continuously over them in the sink. Remove the skins from the tomatoes and put the tomatoes on a cutting board to cool. Roughly chop the tomatoes and set aside.
- Saute Onion, Pepper, and Garlic. Add 3 Tablespoons of olive oil to a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onions and poblano pepper, season with salt and pepper, and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add the minced garlic and sauté for an additional 2 minutes.4 garlic cloves, 1 sweet onion, 1 poblano pepper, 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp salt
- Make the Tomato Sauce. Add the chopped tomatoes and the dried seasoning. Reduce to medium-low and simmer for about 45 minutes to 1 hour and a half or until reduced in size. Add in the chopped basil, sugar, and red chili flakes (optional) and cook for an additional 5 minutes. If needed, add salt and pepper to taste.4-6 heirloom tomatoes, 1/2 tsp dried oregano, 1/4 tsp dried rosemary, 1/2 tsp dried parsley, 1/4 tsp dried thyme, pinch of red chili flakes, 1/4 cup basil, 2 tsp granulated sugar
- Use as is or blend. Use the sauce as is (chunky texture) with your favorite pasta, or add it to an immersion blender or food processor to make a smooth sauce.
Tomato Sauce Uses
- Classic Lasagna
- Pizza, like Margherita Pizza
- Spaghetti
- Homemade Calzones
- Chicken Dishes, like our Pizza Stuffed Chicken
This sauce is soooo good. Best homemade sauce ever
Aww, thanks, Brenda! Glad you liked it! 🙂
Love it
Yay! glad you loved it, Rita! 🙂
How long would this last once prepared?
Hi Krista – the sauce will last about a week in the fridge, or up to 4 months in the freezer! Enjoy! 🙂
Thanks!