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An authentic and delicious Italian Tomato Sauce that has been passed down through generations.
This recipe for Italian Tomato Sauce is a recipe that my husband Jack spent years perfecting. For Jack, knowing how to make a great Italian Tomato Sauce is a very personal thing – and it brings back fond memories of his childhood.
To this day, Jack clearly remembers the amazing smells coming from a pot of tomato sauce that was always simmering away on the stove anytime he visited his Italian grandparents. He worked hard to recreate that wonderful recipe in our own kitchen – and this is it!
In fact, ever since posting this Italian Tomato Sauce recipe here on A Family Feast back in 2013, we’ve had so many readers write to us to tell us how much they love this sauce. And, many of our readers have told us that they now consider this their ‘go-to’ Italian tomato sauce recipe. (Note: We haven’t made any changes to the recipe over the years, we just included some updated photos today!)
There are so many different ways to make an Italian Tomato Sauce and depending on whom you ask – and where their family originally came from – you will find many different family recipes. Some use different types of tomatoes, some with or without meat, some cooked for a long time giving the sauce a deep, rich taste and others cooked for just a short time for a light fresh taste. Some families even refer to their Italian tomato sauce as Sunday Gravy or Marinara. (Click on those links – we have our own version of those recipes too!)
What’s the difference between Italian Tomato Sauce, Sunday Gravy, Marinara Sauce and other kinds of sauces?
- For Jack, an Italian Tomato Sauce is a tomato-based sauce that simmers for a long time on the stove so that the flavors really deepen and develop. (This recipe is a delicious example!)
- A Sunday Gravy recipe is a tomato sauce cooked along with a variety of meats including meatballs, spare ribs, sausage, and pork chops, so the sauce picks up additional flavor from the meat.
- Finally, Marinara is also a tomato-based sauce, but it’s a quickly-cooked sauce, yielding a bright, fresh tomato flavor.
- And – since we’re talking about all types of tomato sauces – we also have a Roasted Tomato Pizza Sauce recipe AND an Easy No-Cook Pizza Sauce recipe you might be interested in checking out too. Pizza sauces typically have a bold flavor that is meant to both complement and shine through the flavors of the dough, cheese and toppings on a pizza.
- We also have recipes for Bolognese (a meat sauce that is cooked low and slow with milk), a more traditional Italian Meat Sauce (made with ground beef and Italian sausage), and finally an Italian Meat Ragu (made with shredded beef and other ingredients).
Today’s recipe is originally inspired by a version of Italian Tomato Sauce that Jack grew up with, and he credits his Aunt Mary for this recipe, plus some additional influences from the sauce that Jack’s father (aka Grampa) used to make. If you happen to be growing San Marzano Pomodoro tomatoes in your garden – definitely use those! However, if fresh tomatoes aren’t available, we think some of the best San Marzano Pomodoro canned tomatoes are made by Cento and Pastene – and both brands are readily available at most local grocery stores.
Mangia!
P.S. We freeze our Italian Tomato Sauce in gallon zipper seal bags for long-term storage, laying the bags flat after filling and squeezing out any excess air. Freeze the bags flat on a sheet pan, then once frozen you can fit them more easily in your freezer. For information on how to can a high-acid food like tomato sauce, we suggest that you visit the Ball Canning website here. Here is another interesting link about canning tomato sauce which suggests that the pressure method should be used to ensure safe canning of any homemade tomato sauce.
You may also like these other Italian family classics:
- Marinara Sauce
- Nanny’s Italian Stuffed Peppers
- Classic Lasagna
- Sunday Gravy
- Grandma Gennaco’s Beef Braciole
We love seeing what you made! Tag us on Instagram at @afamilyfeast or hashtag #afamilyfeast so we can see your creations!
Italian Tomato Sauce
An authentic and delicious Italian Tomato Sauce that has been passed down through generations.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
- 4 crushed garlic cloves
- 3/4 cup chopped onion (optional)
- 1 teaspoon fresh chopped oregano, divided, or 1/2 teaspoon dried
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil, divided, or 1/2 tablespoon dried
- 1 teaspoon fresh chopped mint, divided
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 28–ounce cans of whole tomatoes or two quarts of freshly canned garden tomatoes
- 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesano Reggiano cheese
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Instructions
- Before you begin, pour your two cans of tomatoes into a bowl and crush with your hand. Don’t break them up too small, you want large chunks.
- In a large heavy bottomed pot with a lid, on a burner with no flame, pour in olive oil and add red pepper flakes, garlic, onion, most of the oregano, basil and mint (save a little bit of each for the end), sugar salt and pepper. Turn on the burner and slowly bring up to hot. (See Notes below.) When the onions and garlic start to cook, stir and heat for five minutes.
- Remove the pot from the burner and place a heat diffuser over the burner. Place the pot over the heat diffuser and add the tomatoes. Turn burner to medium high and stir until they start to boil. Then reduce to simmer, partially cover and simmer 90 minutes.
- After 90 minutes, remove from heat and add the reserved herbs and Parmesan cheese. Add the butter to round out the flavors. Stir again and serve.
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Notes
An important first step to note when making this sauce is to bring the olive oil up to temperature very slowly with the garlic, herbs, and spices, and cook for about five minutes to brown the garlic. This is a step that Jack has seen referenced in a number of great Italian cookbooks and although not clearly stated why, we believe this slow heat-up process allows the oil to be infused with the seasonings providing a really delicious base to your sauce.
The old saying about the sauce tasting better the next day reheated is true. It gives the flavors a chance to blend and mellow out.
Hi I made the tomato jam. It was good, but now people are burned out on it. What do I do with the jars that are canned and no one is eating it? I don’t want to throw it away, but I don’t want to store it anymore either. Any recipes that could be made with it like tomato sauce, ketsup or salsa? Please advise. Thanks so much.
Hi Barbara – We sometimes use tomato jam in meatloaf – either mixed in with the beef or as a glaze on top. We also spoon it over softened cream cheese and eat it as an appetizer with crackers. And we use it pretty much the same was as we use ketchup – on burgers, sandwiches, etc. We haven’t tried making a sauce or salsa with it ourselves, but maybe you could do so. Properly canned jam will keep for at least a year but if you don’t want to keep the jars, perhaps you can donate them or offer them to a broader group of friends/family? Hope that helps.
This recipe looks fantastic! I plan on canning about 12 quarts tomorrow, however, I have a question…is it safe for me to can this sauce with fresh parmigiana, butter, & fresh herbs? I’ve read articles that state not to can with cheese or butter. Just need a little advice on this. Thank you!
Hi George – We speak to this in the paragraph at the end of the post…we typically freeze this sauce ourselves. You are correct in needing to make sure that the acidity level of the sauce (or any food you to cook) is safe for canning including recipes with additional ingredients such as cheese, butter and fresh herbs. Since we aren’t canning experts, I’d like to point you to the Ball Canning website here: https://www.freshpreserving.com/home Hope that helps – and we hope you enjoy the sauce!
Hello this is my 1st time making this sauce and it won’t be this sauce s alll Above DELICIOUS … so easy to make ,that being noted , I did not have a diffuser and I have a gas stove so what I did is , I made a ring out of tinfoil big enough to hold the pot and then set a metal cake pan over top making sure that there is a gap between the stove and flame So the flame doesn’t go out, it WORKED OUT PERFECTLY , but since I didn’t have a diffuser I will be ordering a diffuser from Amazon For next time
DELICIOUS
Great idea Sean! Glad you enjoyed the sauce!
Hope this comes up in the right place, if not may e tge owner of the page can help direct my response to the rigbt person. (I clicked reply but nothing happened so I scrolled back here.. regarding Elissa on July 13, 2013
I realize im saying this 6 years after tbe question was asked, and while sauce can of course be made with fresh organic tomatoes-and its delicious-it is a whole lot more work!
If you can find an italian specialty store, they often have imported jars of whole peeled tomatoes! They save you tons of time and energy, and are tastier and healthier than canned ones.
Im sure by now youve foubd a good way to make sauce with fresh tomatoes but Im hopeful youll be able to see my response and save yourself a bit of elbow grease and a few hours every now and again!
Thanks Jaclyn – I don’t know if Elysse subscribed to follow-up comments but hopefully she will see your response!
A lovely sauce! I used a blend of heirloom tomatoes from our garden and quadrupled the recipe. I preserved with a water bath canner (5 full quarts and a little left for immediate use). I added organic sunflower lethicin to keep the oil from separating. Delicious spice blend. Thank you for sharing!
So glad you enjoyed the sauce Susan!
Can this be canned
Kristin – We freeze it ourselves. If you want to can, you’ll need to take extra precautions since it is a high acid food – please visit the link in the post (Ball Fresh Preserving’s website) for information.
This recipe was perfect, SO delicious and even better the next day. I did not have mint so I brewed some mint tea and used that as a water dilution when the sauce thickened too much as it reduced over 90 minutes. The cheese at the end really added an x-factor and the butter really mellowed the acidity. I think about 1/2 a tablespoon of butter may have been a little better since I used it for a recipe that also included a lot of cheese as a layer above.below the sauce. 5 stars!! My boyfriend whose birthday it was had tears in his eyes when he told me it was a perfect dinner and reminded him of his childhood. <3
Oh wow – now you’re bringing tears to our eyes Laura! 🙂 So glad you both enjoyed the recipe!
Thanks for sharing this recipe! I made it for my family tonight and they all loved it. My pickiest eater actually had thirds. This will definitely be a staple in our home, no more store bought jar sauce for us. I love knowing exactly what went into the sauce. As a side note, I also added 1 tsp fresh thyme. Yummy!
So glad the recipe was a hit Nikole! (I agree – it’s nice knowing exactly what is inside…)
I make this all the time, but I use it for my lasagna. I have tried marinara sauces but nothing is better than using this. My family loves it and we will never use anything else for our lasagna!! Thanks for sharing this recipe.
You’re welcome Amelia – so glad you are enjoying the sauce!
Sounds delicious. Will be trying shortly.
We hope you enjoy the sauce as much as we do Cheryl!