Since everyone has his or her version of this sauce, we spenta lotof time getting this one right. No surprise, the best results came from using the best ingredients. When it comes to tomato sauce, using poor quality canned tomatoes can leave an acidic or tinny taste in your mouth. So while it is a bit more expensive, we like to use Pomi brand chopped tomatoes (you know, the ones that come in a box). The sauce starts with a careful "sweating" of onions (cooking them slowly, until translucent but not brown, to extract as much flavor as possible), and the flavor continues to build from a nice, long, low-heat simmering after the tomatoes are added.
Ingredients
Makes 7 cups
Step 1
Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions, bay leaf, oregano, garlic, and salt and cook, stirring often, until the onions are soft and translucent, about 10 minutes.
Step 2
Add the tomato paste and continue cooking for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and stir constantly until the sauce begins to boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 1 hour, stirring every 5 minutes or so to prevent the sauce on the bottom of the pot from burning. Taste and season with additional salt, if desired. Remove the bay leaf before serving.
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Reviews (22)
Back to TopI’ve made this sauce several times and it is always delicious. Once I doubled the recipe and froze some of it. The flavor didn’t change at all after thawing it out and using it to make Baked Ziti. It’s a simple recipe combined with good quality ingredients produces a delicious sauce.
Ladymontauk
New York, NY.
11/6/2021
This is my go-to recipe for a good tomato sauce (the other is Marcella Hazan's simple tomato sauce). I've tried a number of variations of this recipe, most recently using fire roasted tomatoes - an awesome flavor! Give it a try but, as always, add some red wine and butter to the sauce for a rich, smooth flavor.
abinotwo
Buffalo, NY
3/11/2021
This is my go to tomato sauce base. I usually will add a few things like wine and pepper flakes but I never disappoints.
mellon641
Philadelphia
3/27/2020
I’m a beginner so I just wanted a basic recipe to try and then perfect on my own.. This was a poor recipe to start with. Waaaay too much oil - I had to use paper towels to absorb some of the oil that floated to the top. The end result was more like an oily, bland salsa. Next time I’ll add more seasonings and use tomato purée instead of chunky tomatoes.
LauraChrist92
Woodbury, NJ
10/17/2019
Loved this sauce, easy and delicious.
connie1943
Kingston, Ontario, Canada
11/20/2017
Only been cooking for about a year now, so I'm still learning. This is by far the best tomato sauce I've made yet!
c_m_mcgin
St Paul, MN
5/30/2017
I would like to know why Epicurious doesn't permit reference to Sclafani tomatoes. I've written two reviews of this recipe (one of my favorites) yet when I write another with reference to my much preferred tomato variety, it's rejected because of "inappropriate" words. I'm only trying to share my oersonal experience.
abinotwo
Buffalo, NY
5/13/2017
Make the sauce again using Cento San Marzanos tomatoes - not as good as with Pomi, too acidic and not enough sweetness or flavor. Next time will try using Sclafani whole tomatoes, which have gotten great reviews elsewhere.
abinotwo
Buffalo, NY
4/28/2017
I liked this sauce very much but it wasn't as sweet as I had expected. Like some other reviewers I added a little butter to the oil, and some red wine at the tomato paste stage. Didn't want to add sugar for enhanced sweetness so may try using another brand of tomato next time (Sclafani tomatoes have gotten great reviews). As far as I can tell, Pomi brand aren't even San Marzanos.
abinotwo
Buffalo, NY
4/21/2017
Lovely sauce! I plan on using 4 cups to make a Slow Cooker Lasagna. Some changes I made: I used 2 cans diced tomatoes ...3 large garlic ...couple shakes of hot sauce ...parsley. The sauce was chunky, so I pureed 3/4 of it. I didn't get 7 cups of this ...but that was OK. As for the comment about not being enough sauce for a recipe: add more garlic and onion ...add 14 oz can of tomatoes (or fresh, chopped) and adjust on the seasonings. Freezing leftover sauce can always go into something else (spaghetti sauce, chili, soups, etc)
abbygirl2423
Vancouver, Brtiish Columbia
8/8/2016
This recipe was so perfect. I used the Pomi tomatoes. And added some red wine. I slow simmered for 3 hours. It was fabulous. I am embarrassed to have served Ragu. Never again, Ragu.
swimrmom
Clearwater, FL
3/20/2016
这个酱料与经典牛肉Meatba打算去lls, which calls for eight cups of the sauce. Yet this recipe yields seven cups. Why do you do this to us, Epicurious?
Anonymous
nowhere in particular
1/30/2016
This sauce was fantastic!! Every ingredient was from my garden (oregano from a friend's garden) and we used moose mince as our meat served over spaghetti squash - of course, from the garden as well! It was so delicious!! I made my sauce earlier in the day and allowed it to simmer for 2-3 hrs (because that's just how I roll) and it was by far the best tomato sauce I've ever had!!
islandbun
1/26/2016
Easy & quick and tastes pretty good. Like most of the other reviewers, I added some wine - probably about a quarter bottle at the tomato pasted stage. I also added a half stick of butter to work with the acid. More calories...but such yummy calories. I will definitely make again!
la_carr
Tampa, FL
11/11/2015
这是最好的酱油!我的孩子们喜欢它;certainly better than most 'jar sauces' out there. The other great thing is that I had to forego any pasta dish with commercial sauce because it always gave me heartburn. For some reason this one doesn't! Bring on the pasta!!
txtart42
Houston, TX
11/4/2014
