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Recipes

Tomato Sauce the Homemade Way

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.

Want to make your groceries last longer?

Use our storage guide to waste less food and enjoy cooking more.
See the guide

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Mikki
Mikki
3 years ago

It would have been so nice to be able to print this without the large picture that forced the actual recipe to two separate pages!

Reply
Imperfect Foods
Imperfect Foods
3 years ago
Reply to  Mikki

We’ll pass this suggestion along to our team!

Reply
Julie Westbrook
Julie Westbrook
3 years ago

Seriously, who is weighing the tomatoes they pick in their garden?!!! I make a sauce similar to this in the crockpot (6 qt.) and I use 6 quarts of cut up Marzano tomatoes. Much easier, and I don’t have to peel them since the skins help to thicken the sauce, and the crockpot means I don’t have to watch it and I don’t heat up the entire house.

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Imperfect Foods
Imperfect Foods
3 years ago
Reply to  Julie Westbrook

This is a great tip!

Reply
Terry Bledsoe
Terry Bledsoe
3 years ago

How long will this keep in the freezer? Also, any tips on storage containers. Thanks

Reply
Imperfect
Imperfect
3 years ago
Reply to  Terry Bledsoe

Most homemade sauces will last about 4-6 months at it’s best!

Reply
Tagged Sauces and dressingsSideVegetarian

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