12 Essential Tomato Sauces, From Slow-Cooked to No-Cook
Everyone needs a go-to tomato sauce recipe, whether it’s to use up the fragrant bumper crop of late summer or a few good cans from the back of the pantry. But why have just one recipe? From pure, concentrated tomato to spiced and meaty, tomato sauce can take on myriad flavor-texture combinations uniquely suited to a variety of dishes, from pastas and pizzas to poached fish and grilled chicken.
Regardless of what you’re looking to slather in tomato sauce, we’ve gathered some of our favorite slow-cooked, sheet-pan, and no-cook recipes to cover the bases.
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1 - Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter
“This is the simplest of all sauces to make, and none has a purer, more irresistibly sweet tomato taste,” said late cookbook author Marcella Hazan of her iconic sauce that’s also extremely light on prep. Place canned tomatoes, peeled onion cut in half, and butter in a saucepan and cook on low heat for an hour. Remove the onion and use the sauce however you see fit — it’s the perfect amount for a pound of pasta.
2 - Sheet Pan Tomato Sauce
If stirring and splattering is discouraging you from making the perfect tomato sauce, start with this sheet pan version. Plum tomatoes, carrots, onions, and garlic are roasted, then blended with optional anchovies, sugar, and basil for bold, concentrated flavor. Use it on pasta or pizza, and be sure to tuck some in the freezer for later.
3 - Creamy Tomato-Basil Sauce
Longtime test kitchen editor and cookbook author Grace Parisi’s sumptuous sauce takes just 15 minutes, but feels special enough for guests. Mascarpone provides richness, while a splash of sherry vinegar balances things out. Serve it over pasta, polenta, or grilled chicken.
4 - Puttanesca Sauce
This famous Neapolitan sauce has a bold and briny flavor, thanks to garlic, olives, capers, and tinned anchovies — all balanced by the sweetness of long-simmered canned tomatoes. Don’t skip the anchovies: they dissolve into nothing over 40 minutes, but the umami they impart makes the sauce.
5 - Sunday Sauce
In this Italian American classic, beef short ribs are seared and simmered with tomatoes, onion, garlic, carrots, and oregano for nearly five hours. The meat is then shredded and returned to the pot for a hearty pasta sauce that feeds a crowd.
6 - Vodka Sauce
While the high-ABV spirit gets its name in the title, equally important to the flavors of this Italian American sauce is the base of garlic and pancetta. The double-whammy of tomato paste and canned tomatoes, along with a bit of heavy cream, is emulsified into a smooth sauce by the alcohol molecules.
7 - Best-Ever Marinara
Of all the sauces in this collection, marinara has perhaps the most uses — pastas, pizzas, eggplant Parmigiana, dipping sauce for fritters — and the shortest simmer time. It’s also easy to scale, so you can make a big batch, portion it out, and freeze it. The key to a robust marinara is to gently fry the garlic until golden to concentrate its flavors — and, as with all sauces, to use the best tomatoes you can find.
08 - Arrabbiata Sauce
Though this “angry sauce” typically gets its fiery edge from crushed red pepper, we like using jarred Calabrian chiles for their fruity heat. The zippy staple comes together in just 15 minutes.
9 - Pomodoro Sauce
You’ll need just a handful of ingredients to make this easy sauce: canned San Marzano tomatoes, fresh basil, chopped garlic, unsalted butter, a bit of sugar for balance, and salt. If you don’t plan to serve it with the homemade gnocchi here, just skip to Step 3 — the sauce will be ready in under an hour.
10 - Amatriciana Sauce
A favorite of Roman trattorias, our Amatriciana recipe calls for pancetta rather than guanciale for easier sourcing. Simmer it with onion, crushed tomatoes, and red pepper flakes for a swift, savory sauce.
11 - Summer Tomato Sauce
If a pure and classic Italian tomato flavor is what you’re after, try this no-cook alternative. The focus on perfectly ripe, peak-season tomatoes remains, but the additions are raw garlic, fresh basil, and good olive oil. Be sure the tomatoes are at room temperature, not cold.
12 - Tomato and Caper Sauce
Ina Garten’s chunky tomato sauce gets depth from sautéed onion and fennel, while capers, white wine, basil, and butter give it a bright, savory finish. It’s served with halibut here, but the versatile sauce would also pair beautifully with other fish and seafood, chicken, or pasta.
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