Instead of buying premade and processed pasta sauce, serve your family something healthier and more delicious in under 30 minutes.
Jump to RecipeThere 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.
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.
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.
Recipe
Originally Published On: September 12, 2018
Last Updated On: December 26, 2019
Pasta Sauce
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
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.
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!
I like to make things like this where I can hide the veggies, too. It tricks my kids, and me, into eating them!
SIMMERING LONGER IS THE KEY TO THICKER SAUCE? THATS IT????? daaang!! I’ve been failing for years!!
Well, it depends on what is in the sauce, but in general, yes. Simmering longer allows more of the liquid to evaporate.
I always buy the store brand. I never once thought about making my own pasta sauce. I must try now. Thanks for sharing.
ive always wanted to make my own pasta sauce but i find it a bit intimidating. i lve how thick this looks!
I still haven’t tried completely homemade with fresh tomatoes, but if you used the canned tomatoes like I did it’s pretty simple.
I’m start learning cooking this Pasta Sauce homemade looks easy to made and very quick! I’ll try make mine 🙂
It’s a great way to have homemade, but still make it in an easy way for beginner cooks. I hope you enjoy it!
Mhmmmm, I love chunky sauce with onions! It’s a shame my husband doesn’t so I have to puree everything 🙁 Thank you for sharing the recipe!
You could always make the sauce like this, then save some out for yourself and puree some for your husband! That way you both get the sauce you want.
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…
I hope you enjoy the sauce! I agree, the jarred sauce is not as appetizing as one made from fresh ingredients.
Mmmm I love making pasta sauce! I think it’s so much easier than people think! This looks like such a delicious recipe, I will definitely be trying it out!
It can be easy, especially if you use a few canned things such as the whole peeled tomatoes. Making it completely from scratch would be a lot more work.
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.
I love making our own food for exactly those reasons! I have control over how much we make as well as everything that goes into the recipe.
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!
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.
This recipe looks so good! I love sauces where you can see, feel, and taste every ingredient. I’d definitely be interested in making this at some point.
Having a chunky sauce like this really tastes good on pasta especially!
Oh yummy. I love homemade pasta sauce. This looks super easy too. I’ll give it a go!
This was my first time making a homemade sauce, and it was so good. And if you use the canned tomatoes, it can be done quickly and easily.
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!
Oh my gosh, that sounds amazing! We’ve tried growing a few tomato plants in our backyard but we only seem to get a few tomatoes from it each year.
This looks so delicious! I am going to try this out for Sunday dinner this week!
It’s such a good sauce, and easy enough to make for a quick dinner.
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!
I haven’t made pasta sauce in the slow cooker, but that sounds like it would make a great sauce, too!
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!!!
Sounds like a great meal when you have guests over! I hope you all enjoy the recipe 🙂
Such an easy & convenient recipe! You’re so right… we need healthier alternatives to processed foods.
Processed foods are getting a bit out of control. It isn’t always easy to make homemade, but I try when I can!
Growing up, my mom made home made sauce all of the time. I have never made it because I do not share the passion for cooking that she has. This looks super easy and I am going to give it a try!
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.
I love homemade pasta sauce! I make mine over 24 hours, but I need to try this quick version for when time is limited!!
There are so many ways to make it. I know someone who does a day-long sauce too. While it’s delicious, that’s a lot of work and time!
Basically, I like all your recipes but can’t manage to test all of them. I’ll bookmark and hopefully, I’ll try if I get time to make it happen.
I know what you mean. These are recipes and photos that we’ve built up over the years.