Homemade Pasta Sauce with canned tomatoes

Homemade Pasta Sauce recipe is made with home canned tomatoes and has better flavor than a jar of store-bought sauce! This tomato-based sauce has so much flavor, is low carb, and perfect for your next pasta sauce based recipe.

Jump to:

• ❤️ Why you'll love it
• 🥘 Ingredients
• 🔪 Instructions
• 🥄 Equipment
• 🥫 Storage
• 📖 Variations
• 💭 Top Tips
• 🍲 Cooking Methods
• 📚 Related Recipes
• 🍽 Serve with...
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Reviews

❤️ Why you'll love it

Quick and Easy: ready in just 40 minutes and a great recipe for busy weeknights. If you love homemade pasta sauce recipes, and this easy homemade tomato sauce is super convenient to make with canned tomatoes

A go-to recipe: I have been making this homemade sauce for years. In my opinion, it outranks any jarred sauce sold in grocery stores.

Simple ingredients: this is the best recipe with a delicious combination of common pantry and fresh ingredients possible and this tomato sauce recipe makes 6 cups, feeding up to 12 people!

🥘 Ingredients

Canned whole tomatoes: I used home canned tomatoes give the best flavor. However, you can easily buy canned crushed tomatoes or diced tomatoes to use in this recipe. Two (28 oz) cans can be substituted.

Italian seasoning: this is a blend of dried herbs used in making homemade pasta sauce.

Jalapeno: I love to add a little bit of spicy pepper to my homemade spaghetti sauce recipe, feel free to leave it out if you don't like it.

Onion: white or yellow onion will work best.

Fresh garlic cloves and garlic powder: I use a little bit of both!

Basil and Oregano: I used dried herbs, but fresh basil and oregano can be substituted.

Extra virgin olive oil

Salt: flavor enhancer

Sweetener: a little sweetener balances out the flavors. Use monkfruit if you are keto, otherwise, granulated sugar or brown sugar will work.

Tomato paste: this is used to thicken the tomato sauce.

Red pepper flakes: adds a little bit of heat to the sauce

Black pepper: optional, added for flavor

🔪 Instructions

1. In a large stockpot over medium heat, saute the onion, garlic, and jalapeno pepper (if using) in the olive oil. Add the tomatoes, Italian seasoning, basil, oregano, garlic powder, salt, and sweetener
2. Using a wire hand whisk, incorporate the tomato paste. Bring sauce to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, until the sauce has thickened to your preference.
3. Remove sauce from the heat and use as desired
4. If desired smooth the sauce once cooled using an immersion blender or food processor.

🥄 Equipment

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Food Processor: I use a food processor to make the homemade pasta sauce smooth. The step to process the sauce can be ignored if you prefer a chunky sauce. You could also use an immersion blender if preferred.

Large stockpot: Use at least a 6-quart stockpot to make this homemade pasta sauce.

Glass jars: I like to use a glass jar to store in the fridge- use a 1 quart and 1 pint sized jar, this will hold all 6 cups of sauce. This prevents from staining any of my best plasticware!

🥫 Storage

Refrigerate: store any unused pasta sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Freeze: can be stored in the freezer in a freezer-safe containers or in quart-sized freezer bags for up to 3 months.

📖 Variations

• Add an 8 ounce can of tomato sauce and reduce the tomato paste to half.
• Brown some ground beef, Italian sausage, veal, or pork to make a meaty homemade spaghetti sauce. You can also use a combination of any of these meats.
• Use fresh tomatoes for recipes calling for canned. You will need 8 cups fresh tomatoes, or 4 pounds.
• Use red and green bell pepper in place of the jalapeno.
• Fresh herbs can be used in place of dried; for example, to substitute 1 teaspoon of dried herbs, use 1 tablespoon fresh
• Use 2 tablespoons of granulated or brown sugar in the recipe if you don't follow a low carb or keto diet.

💭 Top Tips

• Time spent simmering the sauce on the stove can vary. It will depend on your preference of thickness. We like a fairly thick sauce and 30 minutes usually will suffice. More or less time will be needed depending on what you like.
• If using ground meat, be sure to add the seasonings once it has begun to brown. This will help infuse the flavors into the meat also.
• Double this recipe and make it ahead of time to be stored in the freezer. Use quart-sized freezer for storage. When freezing the bag of sauce, be sure to lay it flat on a cookie sheet in the freezer.

🍲 Cooking Methods

Stove top: I recommend only two ways to make this sauce. First is the stove-top method as I have written below. The other way is the slow cooker. A delicious homemade pasta sauce is slow-cooked and simmered.

Slow cooker: place all of the ingredients in the crock and stir to combine. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, or until the sauce has thickened. If adding meat to the sauce, brown the meat with the onion, garlic, and pepper first. Then add it to the crockpot with the remaining ingredients.

📚 Related Recipes

Pour some sauce over this recipe for Mom's Vegetarian Meatballs for a great vegetarian meal.

I have used it in place of the tomato sauce in this recipe for Red and White Cauliflower Bake.

Use it to make goulash or substitute it for the pasta sauce in this recipe for Meatball Chili.

These Quick Dinner Rolls are perfect for dipping into the sauce at the bottom of your dinner bowl.

Cheesy Italian Bread is another winner pairing for this homemade pasta sauce. And, it is perfect for dipping these Homemade Mozzarella Cheese Sticks.

🍽 Serve with...

Serve homemade sauce over fresh pasta with a green side salad.

📖 Recipe