Homemade Tomato Sauce

Never buy jarred tomato sauce again! This easy recipe comes together quickly thanks to a base of canned tomatoes. It’s perfect tossed with pasta and sprinkled with a little parmesan cheese, spread onto pizza, or as a dipping sauce to arancini or mozzarella sticks. 

Recipe & Photo by Maren Ellingboe

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp olive oil*
• 1 yellow onion, chopped*
• 5 garlic cloves, minced*
• 2 28-oz cans crushed tomatoes* (or 3 lbs fresh tomatoes)
• ½ c chopped packed fresh basil*
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh oregano or 1 tsp dried oregano*
• 1 Tbsp kosher salt*
• 2 Tbsp butter*
• 1 tsp ground pepper*

Instructions

1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet or Dutch oven over low heat. Add onion and cook until translucent and beginning to brown, 5 to 8 minutes. Then, add garlic and cook 2 minutes more. 
2. Add tomatoes, basil, oregano, and salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook over low heat until flavors have blended about 30 minutes. Stir in butter. 
3. If you prefer a smooth tomato sauce, puree using an immersion blender, or in batches with a blender. For a chunkier tomato sauce, serve as-is.  

Tomato Sauce Notes and Variations

• If you’ve got fresh tomatoes from your garden, the farmers market, or Imperfect, you can absolutely use those instead of canned tomatoes. This recipe calls for about 3 pounds of tomatoes, as a reference.
• This tomato sauce freezes beautifully, so make a big batch and freeze for future weeknight meals like this Impossible Spaghetti and Meatballs.