Open your pantry, pull out some staples, cook some pasta and make this easy Basic Tomato Sauce for dinner tonight!
Basic Tomato Sauce
Nothing beats a home made tomato sauce. It’s easy to buy a pre-made sauce but once you have made your own using good quality tomatoes, you will never go back to a jarred sauce again.
One day my kids are going to leave the nest and I will become an empty nester. My hope for them, and the reason behind this blog has always been so they will know how to cook and always have access to their favourite childhood recipes.
With that said I have so many simple recipes in my head I have never written down. I simply just make them. Like a basic tomato sauce.
Pantry Items
Since I am not getting any younger, it really is time to start sharing these basic recipes here on the blog so my kids will always know how Mom did it. If they start with the basics and make it their own, then I’ve taught them right.
Making a basic tomato sauce is very easy and uses items you most likely have in your pantry. Using canned tomato puree keeps it quick and easy. I’ve never encountered a tinny taste from canned tomatoes and if you ever do it’s possibly a reason to toss the can of tomatoes out as it’s not that common. If you do end up with a metallic taste add sugar to your sauce to balance it out. It’s an Alton Brown trick that apparently works well.
The sauce starts with sweating the onions or cooking them slowly until translucent but not brown. Add your garlic and remaining ingredients to build on the flavour as it simmers away.
Now that you’ve made the sauce, what do you do with it
Pasta, spaghetti, lasagna, spaghetti squash, ratatouille, soups, rice, dips, stews, casseroles, meatloaves, meatballs, add to make other sauces, sloppy joes, ground beef chili, with eggs or fish and finally cabbage rolls. Although my mom used to use tomato soup when she made hers.
Do you make your own tomato sauce?!

Ingredients
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 small Onion chopped
- 3 cloves Garlic
- 1 tsp Oregano
- 1 tsp Thyme
- 2 x 28oz cans Tomato Puree
- 1 tsp Sea Salt
- 1 tsp Pepper
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.
- Add the and cook, stirring often, until the onions are soft and translucent, about 10 minutes.
- Add garlic, oregano and thyme and couple for 2-3 minutes more. Do not let the garlic brown.
- Next in the pot goes the tomatoes. Stir and gently bring to a boil.
- Add 1/2 tsp of salt and 1 tsp of pepper, lower the heat and simmer for 30-60 minutes.
- Taste and season with additional salt, if desired.
- Serve with your favourite dish. Or cool down completely, pour into freezable containers and freeze.
Nutrition
I made this sauce and added meatballs. Very yummy with pasta!
I don’t usually put thyme in my tomato sauce but this was excellent!
This was so easy to make!