Pasta Sauce (Made easy!)

/ Recipe

I used to think that serving up a homemade pasta sauce had to take a few hours of simmering. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes that is the best! But, during the week, you probably don’t have a few hours to sweat it out over a giant pot. Instead, this is my “go-to” easy weeknight sauce recipe when we are throwing together some pasta but want to do more than throw on a jar of sauce (and for the record, no shame in a jar!). You can also serve this with my easy homemade meatball recipe!

Highlights

⏱ Prep Time: 5 minutes

🍳 Cook Time: 20 minutes

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Serves: 4

🧊 Make Ahead? Yes

❄ Freezer Friendly? Yes

🌱 Substitutions? You can omit the garlic if preferred, just be sure to amp up the rest of the herbs

Ingredients List

  • 1 pint of grape or cherry tomatoes or ~12 oz tomatoes on the vine (e.g., FlavorBomb Cherry tomatoes), washed and halved (quartered for larger tomatoes)

  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste

  • 2 cloves garlic, minced

  • 2 teaspoons salt

  • 2 teaspoons pepper

  • 1 teaspoon oregano (other other Italian herb blend)

  • 1/4 cup heavy cream

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

  • (optional) A few spoonfuls of jarred sauce or reserved pasta water 

  • (optional) fresh basil or dried parsley

This recipe contributes 3 items and 5 pantry staples to your weekly list.

Recipe: Pasta Sauce (made easy!)

  1.  In a high-sided sauce pan or medium sized pot, heat olive oil. Once warm, add garlic, oregano, and tomato paste. Let lightly brown for about 3 minutes.
  2. Add tomatoes, stir to blend, using a wooden spoon to squish up the tomatoes a bit. Let simmer, covered, for ~15 minutes. Stir occasionally to keep breaking up the tomatoes.
  3. Add heavy cream, salt, and pepper.
  4. If you want to loosen it up a little, add a few spoonfuls of jarred sauce or reserved pasta water to make a more “saucey” texture.
  5. Toss in fresh basil or dried parsley if you have it on hand! Enjoy!

Family Tips

  • You can remove the garlic if you prefer, just make sure you add additional herbs to create some flavor!
  • If you don’t have tomato paste on hand, it will still turn out just fine! You may just need extra pasta water, a little jarred sauce, or cream to make sure you have enough juices to make it cover the pasta.
  • You can freeze this sauce but I recommend using at least some of it the same evening so you can enjoy it!
  • Serve with some fresh bread to round out the meal (plus it is supper yummy for dunking!)