Tomato Sauce – A Basic Recipe

Tomato sauce is a basic recipe used as an ingredient in many home style Italian dishes in our home. It’s both delicious and nutritious. While you can buy tomato sauce in a jar (yuck), why would you? Especially when a basic Italian tomato sauce is so easy to make. Not only does it taste so much better, but home made tomato sauce is healthier and saves you money.

Of course, if there is a jarred tomato sauce that you absolutely love, and you don’t mind all of those preservatives and unhealthy ingredients, then use that instead of this recipe if that is your preference. There are no hard rules in home style cooking. However, if you want a sauce that is healthy, delicious, and fast, then read on.

Tomato Sauce – The Basics

This tomato sauce recipe is so easy. Five ingredients, some optional water, and a half hour later you have a great basic sauce! You can use the basic sauce as is, or add ingredients to create the variation you need for a recipe. You’ll find all the information you need for this sauce in the recipe instructions below. This sauce just the way it is can be ladled over some cooked pasta and then just add grated cheese for a tasty meal. If you replace the onions with 4 to 7 (depending on how much you like garlic) cloves of garlic, whole, crushed, or chopped, you’ll have a classic marinara sauce! At least taste-wise because some purists will say you have to use San Marzano tomatoes for the true best tomato sauce.

San Marzano Tomatoes, Yes or No?

I say it’s not necessary. San Marzano tomatoes, as the story goes, are tomatoes that originated in the town of San Marzano in Italy. They are a distinctive type of plum tomatoes different from the plum tomatoes you see in your grocer. But for all intents and purposes, to make a great home style italian tomato sauce, the regular tomatoes found in the canned products I describe below are more than adequate for this recipe. In Grandma Antonia’s home the emphasis was always on quick and easy without sacrificing nutrition and taste.

Tomato Sauce – The Ingredients

Amazing isn’t it? You can make this basic Italian home style tomato sauce with only five ingredients!

However, there is a catch. In my opinion the most important ingredient in this sauce is the canned crushed tomatoes. And I must emphasize it is important the kind of canned crushed tomatoes you use. I’m not talking about the brand. What I mean is you want to use a product that has no added flavoring, artificial or otherwise. All you need is the tomato in its natural cooked state, or as close as possible. This is because you want to control the flavor profile of the sauce. And the best way to do that is to know exactly what’s going into it.

Which Canned Tomatoes?

To make tomato sauce, Grandma Antonia uses either canned crushed tomatoes, or canned whole peeled tomatoes (depending on what specific tomato sauce is needed for a recipe). Just stay away from the canned tomatoes that have the word sauce in it or that have added flavor ingredients or any spices.

This recipe calls for the canned crushed tomatoes and it’s not difficult to find in your grocer. But if you have trouble, you can order them online as well. I’m showing you the Red Gold brand of canned tomatoes in the picture below. You can substitute for any brand you prefer.

The important thing is that other than tomatoes, the only ingredients you find here is salt and citric acid, and very little of them. What you don’t want to see here is any ingredient used to add flavor (except for salt).

Citric acid is a natural preservative and is found in citrus fruits like lemons. You can read more about it here What Is Citric Acid, and Is It Bad for You?

Why Not Make The Sauce From Scratch?

If you’re wondering why we don’t just make our tomato sauce from scratch like many Italians do in Italy (and some here in the US as well); that is by starting with fresh tomatoes and home canning the tomato sauce, the answer is simple. It requires a lot of time and hard work!

There was a time when we did this and yes it results in the best tasting authentic home style italian tomato sauce. But with the demands of our personal and business lives, and as we get older, we all must make sacrifices. And the truth is, this recipe is good enough that only the most discriminating taste buds would notice the very small difference in taste.

I hope you enjoy this tasty sauce and let us know what you think in the comments. Bon appetit!