Spaghetti with homemade pasta sauce on a round white plate with a glass jar of pasta sauce behind next to a white and brown towel all on a wooden surface (with logo overlay)

Pasta Sauce: Homemade in under 30 minutes

Instead of buying premade and processed pasta sauce, serve your family something healthier and more delicious in under 30 minutes.

Jump to Recipe

There are so many delicious meals that have pasta sauce in the ingredients list. If you’re like me, that means grabbing a jar at the grocery store and continuing on with your shopping.

Well, that was me, until we started trying to minimize the amount of waste we produce in our home and especially in the kitchen. We are also working on cutting out all unnecessary ingredients such as the extra preservatives in processed food.

To start, I made sure to buy the sauce in glass rather than plastic. That’s better for the environment and our health. My next step in the journey was to find a way to make my own pasta sauce that I can cook in batches and freeze for later. I stumbled across this recipe and decided to give it a try.

If you look at her blog, there are two recipes there. The first is for truly homemade pasta sauce with fresh tomatoes, and the second uses canned tomatoes. I started with the canned option. 

Now, I know that means trading one container for another. But the aluminum cans are easier to recycle and accepted at almost any recycling station. Plus, those have a lot less preservatives in them than the jar of completed pasta sauce. 

That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it!

One day, when I have plenty of time in the kitchen, I want to try the other recipe using whole tomatoes. But I haven’t gotten that adventurous just yet. 

When I made this pasta sauce, I ended up with about 5 cups of sauce. That’s way more than I need for one recipe, so I gave some to my in-laws who used it in baked ziti, I used some to make stuffed shells for our family, and still have some leftover to freeze for later. 

If you are going to freeze the sauce, make sure to leave enough room at the top so the jar doesn’t break. I like to use large glass mason jars for this to avoid the plastic and because they seal well.

Step by Step

In a large saucepan, over medium heat, saute the diced onions in oil until they are soft. This takes about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and heat for another 1-2 minutes. 

Diced onions cooked in oil in a saucepan on a wooden surface

Pour in the tomatoes, tomato paste, and all of the seasonings. Bring this to a boil by increasing the heat to high, then reduce to medium-high and let the mixture simmer for about 10-15 minutes minimum.

Tomato sauce covered with seasonings with a wooden spoon in a saucepan on a wooden surface

If you want a stronger flavor or thicker sauce, simmer longer. If you want a thinner sauce, then use an immersion blender until it’s smooth and to the desired consistency. 

Spaghetti with homemade pasta sauce on a round white plate with a glass jar of pasta sauce behind next to a white and brown towel all on a wooden surface (vertical)

Recipe

Originally Published On: September 12, 2018

Last Updated On: December 26, 2019

Spaghetti with homemade pasta sauce on a round white plate with a glass jar of pasta sauce behind next to a white and brown towel all on a wooden surface

Pasta Sauce

Instead of buying premade and processed pasta sauce, serve your family something healthier and more delicious in under 30 minutes.
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Course:
Side Dish
Cuisine:
Italian
Keyword:
basil
|
sauce
|
tomato
Servings: 5 cups
4.89 from 9 votes

Ingredients

  • 2 onions (chopped)
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 8 cloves garlic (minced)
  • 56 oz crushed tomatoes
  • 6 oz tomato paste
  • 1/2 tbsp oregano
  • 1 tbsp basil
  • 1/2 tsp thyme
  • salt and pepper (to taste)

Recommended Equipment

Instructions

  • In a large saucepan, over medium heat, saute the onions in olive oil for 5 minutes or until soft
  • Add the garlic and saute for another 2 minutes
  • Mix in the rest of the ingredients and turn heat to high
  • Bring to a boil, then reduce to medium-high and simmer for 15 minutes

Notes

For a thicker sauce, simmer longer. For a thinner sauce, use an immersion blender until at desired consistency.
Click the buttons below to share and print this recipe
Pin Recipe Print Recipe
Nutrition Facts
Pasta Sauce
Amount Per Serving (0.5 cups)
Calories 103 Calories from Fat 27
% Daily Value*
Fat 3g5%
Saturated Fat 1g5%
Sodium 345mg14%
Potassium 679mg19%
Carbohydrates 18g6%
Fiber 4g16%
Sugar 10g11%
Protein 4g8%
Vitamin A 611IU12%
Vitamin C 21mg25%
Calcium 73mg7%
Iron 3mg17%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutrition content will vary based on brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes, and more.

39 thoughts on “Pasta Sauce: Homemade in under 30 minutes”

  1. I love a fresh, homemade pasta sauce because you know exactly what is in it! Also, you can add whatever you love to it! I like to add veggies to get my kids to eat them!

    1. 5 stars
      I always buy the store brand. I never once thought about making my own pasta sauce. I must try now. Thanks for sharing.

  2. 4 stars
    This is scrumptious. My husband loves pasta and I am going to try this weekend. Thanks for sharing this recipe since I was tired of using readymade pasta sauces which don’t give a freshness to my taste buds…

  3. We too love to make our own pasta sauce. This looks quite neat. The advantage of creating your own is the size to freeze or not and also whether you want to add some spice, salsa or garlic. This topic is up our ally.

  4. Freezing your sauce in glass jars? You are one brave mama! (our freezer is usually so packed that I would be afraid a jar might fall out and shatter) – that said, YUM! we totally make our own sauce, usually several batches to freeze each summer, but our tomatoes were not up to it this year – my mama is visiting next week and her plants are going nuts, though, so maybe she can bring me a box!

    1. I have had a jar or two shatter before. Mostly from being over-filled though, not from falling. We usually don’t have a lot in the freezer, so it isn’t a concern. I wish our tomatoes would have grown here, but they never do for some reason.

  5. This recipe is great! I will keep it in mind, as we only eat homemade sauce at home. In fact we a re very lucky because my husband’s aunt and uncle have a Farm in Italy and they produce their own organic tomatoes and then the auntie makes home-pressed tomato purée (known as “passata di pomodoro”) and she bottles it herself with a traditional way. This year they got 200 bottles, 50 of which were for us! So I guess we have plenty of tomatoes base for different kinds of sauces!

  6. 5 stars
    I can almost smell it, looks so good! Funny to read this, though, because I just did this myself last week, using fresh veggies from our garden. I also added mushrooms, sausage, and a little dash of brown sugar. Let it simmer all day in the slow cooker. Came out so scrumptious!

  7. 5 stars
    We will definitely be going to the store to make this for our guests this weekend!! It looks soo delicious!! We’re super excited to have a new recipe for this weekend! It sounds very delicious!!!

    1. I totally understand, that’s why I like making my recipes as quick and easy as possible, so even those who don’t have a knack for cooking can hopefully follow along.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating