My family’s beloved San Marzano Tomato Sauce. This luscious red sauce is simmered for several hours to develop the richest taste. It’s filled with fresh herbs, authentic Italian flavors, and the most inviting aroma. Easily the best tomato sauce I’ve ever had! From my family to yours.
This Italian tomato sauce (also known in Italian as “Pomodoro sauce”) is unique from all my other recipes because it was the first recipe my mom ever taught me how to make. It was the very beginning of my love for food. For years, this sauce has brought my loud, bold, and very loving family together and has been a part of many memorable family dinners.
When you make this homemade pasta sauce, you will find the results are luscious, rich, and developed in flavor. It is the perfect sauce to complement your favorite Italian dishes! Although tomato sauce is quite simple, using quality ingredients matters. And letting your sauce cook low and slow for hours will give you the most beautifully rich and savory sauce you’ve ever had.
The first steps for making this sauce are to put on some Frank Sinatra, grab a glass of vino, and enjoy the sweet aroma of simmering tomatoes & garlic. ‘Cause, that’s Amore!
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Ingredients Needed
You’ll need just a handful of pantry items and fresh herbs to make this recipe happen. Here’s the full list: canned San Marzano plum tomatoes, garlic cloves, quality tomato paste, olive oil, salt & black pepper, and fresh herbs – basil and oregano.
These tomatoes are not just a staple in my family’s recipes, but are considered to be the best tomatoes in the world to use in sauces!
San Marzano tomatoes are grown in Southern Italy, between the cities of Naples and Salerno. The one key factor contributing to San Marzano tomatoes famous taste is the potassium-rich volcanic soil they’re grown in.
When it comes to the taste, these tomatoes are set apart from others because of their rich, sweet flavor and lower acidity. There is no need for adding sugar to your sauce if you use these tomatoes! They also have a thicker consistency than other canned plum tomatoes, and you’ll find they have less seeds too (making it ideal for cooking).
Pro tip: to know you are using certified San Marzano tomatoes, the can should say “Pomodoro San Marzano dell’Agro Sarnese Necorino D.O.P.” This ensures the tomatoes are grown in the authentic region.
Brands we like to use that are authentic and D.O.P. certified: Sclafani, Rega, La Fede, and Strianese. Your local grocery store also might have some other great options!
Brands we like to use that are quality but not D.O.P.-certified: If you do not care about using a D.O.P.-certified brand of tomatoes, I recommend at least using a tomato that is a product of Italy! The brands we like are Cento, Bella Terra, and Delallo (they have D.O.P and non-certified tomatoes). Just to name a few, there are many more quality tomato brands you can use!
How to Make San Marzano Tomato Sauce
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1
Sauté the garlic. In a large sauce pot, sauté the minced garlic in oil for about 30-60 seconds (stir constantly to avoid burning the garlic).
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2
Add the tomatoes and simmer low and slow. Once the garlic is fragrant, add the canned tomatoes with the paste and salt, then partially cover the pot with a lid. Let the sauce cook on the lowest setting for 4-6 hours. Stir occasionally to prevent any burning.
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3
Add the herbs last. When the sauce is finished cooking, add the chopped basil and oregano. Taste, season with any additional salt if needed, then serve!
Tips for Success
- Use quality San Marzano Peeled Tomatoes: to make a perfect tomato sauce you need San Marzano. These tomatoes give your sauce a thicker consistency and are sweeter, richer, and less acidic in flavor. I grew up with my mom always using Cento, but I also love using D.O.P-certified brands and preferably organic tomatoes. Be sure that whatever tomato you do use, is a product of Italy to ensure its top quality!
- Use Amore Sun-Dried Tomato Paste: Rather than using regular tomato paste as a thickener, my family loves to use this sun-dried tomato paste for a richer taste. If you do not have this available to you, no problem, swap it for regular tomato paste!
- The best herbs for tomato sauce – traditional Italian tomato sauce always calls for fresh basil or oregano – or a combination of both! Sometimes you’ll see thyme thrown into red sauces too. Using fresh herbs is key for authentic flavor. I do not recommend using dried herbs in a lot of my recipes, especially when it comes to homemade tomato sauce.
- Add a Parmesan cheese rind: When you purchase a block of Parmesan cheese – save/freeze your cheese rind for recipes like this! It’s a unique ingredient that instantly adds flavor. The rind won’t melt (though it will get soft); it will just sit in your sauce or soup and infuse it with extra umami and savor. Add the rind during the simmering time of the sauce, then use a utensil to carefully remove it before serving.
- Achieve rich flavor by using lots of garlic! As a born and raised garlic lover, I encourage you not to shy away from the number of garlic cloves listed. So much flavor in red sauces comes from the aromatics (garlic, onions, etc.). We use lots of garlic in this sauce to create a complex flavor! It will not taste “garlic-y”- but wonderfully balanced and rich.
Make Your Sauce Smooth in Seconds
Our favorite hand-held blender
I love a sauce with texture – but if you prefer a smooth sauce consistency we love using this hand-held immersion blender to make this happen in seconds! It's much safer than transferring hot sauce to a blender and is the easiest tool to use. The blender is one of my moms favorite kitchen tools! It's great for creaming sauces, soups, and hot drinks.
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How to Avoid an Acidic Sauce
Add a carrot to simmer in the sauce: my mom always did this when she made sauce, and it’s a little-known secret many Italians use to balance the acidity of sauces. The sweetness of the carrot releases its flavor and naturally absorbs any acidic flavors from the tomatoes. How to: Remove the stem, peel the carrot skin off, and place the whole carrot into the sauce to simmer. Then, remove and discard the carrot once the sauce is finished.
Use a stainless steel pot: When making tomato sauce, choosing the right pot is essential. My top recommendation for sauce is stainless steel. Other pots, such as non-stick or cast iron can cause the acid in the tomatoes to mix with the metal and result in an unpleasant metallic taste.
Can I add meatballs to cook with the sauce? Of course! We love cooking our Italian meatballs with this sauce. If the meatballs are about 2 inches in size, after being browned in a pan or baked, you can add them to the sauce to cook for the last 60-30 minutes. If they’re much bigger, let them simmer in the sauce for 2 hours. Stir the sauce gently to prevent breaking the meatballs, and ensure you use a large enough pot!
Can this sauce be made with fresh tomatoes? Yes! We love to make tomato sauce with fresh garden tomatoes. Use our fresh tomato sauce recipe for this process! This recipe will take less time, but the flavor is equally as delicious.
Can I make this in a slow cooker? Of course! I recommend first sauteing the garlic in a pan. Then add the garlic to a slow cooker with the rest of the sauce ingredients, and set it on LOW for 5 hours. Stir a few times throughout the cooking process. Add the herbs at the end.
Why does this recipe call for no onions? This was the way my mom taught me how to make tomato sauce, just with garlic as the aromatic. Many traditional tomato sauce recipes only call for garlic, so it’s common to see onions not included. But we have tried it with onion, and it’s delicious too! If you want to add onion, dice it small and saute the onion (before the garlic) for about 3 minutes. Then add the garlic!
Do I need to chop the tomatoes before adding them to the sauce? Only if you want the sauce to be very smooth, with no texture/chunks of tomatoes. San Marzano tomatoes are so tender that they will naturally break down as they cook, especially in this recipe since it calls for a longer simmering time. So no, they do not need to be chopped before cooking!
Can this sauce be canned? Yes, homemade sauce like this recipe can definitely be canned. Although I’ve never canned this recipe, we’ve had many readers have great success with it!
Tips for Storing Leftovers & Freezing
Store & keep fresh: Let sauce cool to room temperature, then store in an airtight container or glass jars. Chill in the refrigerator for up to 5-7 days.
How to freeze: First, let the sauce cool to room temperature – then store it in an airtight container or freezer-friendly ziplock bag. Freeze for up to 3 months.
Our Favorite Ways to Serve it Up
The best way to serve this tomato sauce is with your favorite Italian dishes! Some of our favorites are…
Lasagna. We love layering this sauce in our vegetable lasagna, spinach lasagna roll-ups, and Italian sausage lasagna! For a healthier take on lasagna, we also love making our zucchini lasagna or eggplant lasagna too.
Baked pasta. This sauce is always the perfect addition to our baked ziti or baked rigatoni! And we can’t forget our baked cauliflower ziti too.
Meatballs. Make my family’s Italian meatballs with this sauce, or try it with our vegetarian zucchini meatballs or eggplant meatballs – so yummy!
Eggplant & Chicken Parmesan. My mom has always made this sauce with her famous chicken parmesan. And I love to serve it with this classic eggplant parmesan!
Rollatini. We love making zucchini rollatini or eggplant rollatini with this sauce as well.
Pasta noodles. You can also keep it simple, and serve this red sauce with your favorite Italian noodles such as penne, rigatoni, fusilli, spaghetti, or shells! And whatever you serve this sauce with, don’t forget to add crusty rosemary garlic bread on the side for dipping.
I hope you love this homemade tomato sauce as much as we do! It’s a staple for complimenting my favorite Italian recipes – especially around the holidays.
More Tomato Sauce Recipes
If you love this sauce, you might also like our fresh tomato sauce, Italian meat sauce, authentic Italian Bolognese Sauce, or spicy arrabbiata sauce!
Got Pinterest? Pin this recipe to your Pinterest boards!
San Marzano Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
- 8 garlic cloves, minced
- 3-4 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 4-5 28oz cans San Marzano Peeled Tomatoes (with juices)
- 2-3 Tablespoon amore sun-dried tomato paste (or use regular tomato paste)
- 1/2 teaspoons (each) salt & black pepper
- 3 Tablespoons fresh basil (for dried basil – 1 Tbsp)
- 2 teaspoons fresh oregano (for dried oregano – 1 tsp)
Instructions
- Cook garlic: In a large stainless steel pot on LOW-MEDIUM heat sauté garlic in olive oil for 30-60 seconds. Stir constantly to keep garlic from burning.
- Add tomatoes and simmer: pour canned tomatoes with juices in with the garlic. Add tomato paste, salt, and black pepper. Mix ingredients together, partially cover with lid – but not completely, and simmer on LOW heat for 3+ hours. Stir every so often to avoid burning. Note: if using a parmesan rind, add it in this step and let it simmer with sauce until finished. Remove and discard rind when ready to serve.
- For smooth sauce: when sauce is finished cooking, use a hand immersion-blender to puree. Note: If you prefer a chunkier/thicker sauce (like I do), you can skip this step as the San Marzanos naturally break down while cooking.
- Add herbs: when sauce is finished, mix in chopped fresh herbs. Season with additional salt & black pepper if needed and serve!
Video
Thank you very much for sharing your family recipe. Made it for dinner last night to make turkey breast parmigiana & hubby said it’s michelin star worthy. He is a very critical perfectionist German so I take it as it is. Took a long time simmering, I followed exact recipe & measurements. Used crushed tomato bought in jar from our fave italian resto & that made the sauce so fresh & fruity. It’s a lot of work. It was worth all the effort. Will def make again. Thank you for generously sharing recipes & tips. Wish I can show pic to brag. Haha :-))
Thank you so much for sharing!! Such kind words. I’m so happy the sauce worked out for you:)
I’m cooking this sauce now. LOVE the suggestion to use the cheese rind and sun dried tomato paste. Never done either of these so I’m super excited to try this. You mentioned above in the frequently asked questions about adding meatballs. I’m curious if it’s the same for Italian sausage links. I also have added either one to simmer in my sauce or both. Would you place them in for an hour as well or longer? Or do you suggest the flavor from the sausage links could mess with the sauce and not do it? Curious on your thoughts.
Hi Kimberly! So happy to hear you are cooking the sauce now 🙂 Sausage can definitely be added. That would make it like a sunday gravy with meat. I would do 2 maybe 3 hours with full sausage links in the sauce. The meatballs don’t need long because they are almost fully cooked when added. The sausage might need a little bit more time. It will of course change the sauce flavor a little, but sausage only adds delicious flavor! So It’s a nice change. I love that idea:) I hope you enjoy the sauce!
Great post. It’s very well thought out and quite informative. Keep it up.
Hi! I love authentic Italian sauces. While I’m not Italian, it is my favorite meal to cook and I love making sauces from scratch! I make a very similar one to this one but I do have a question. Are onions typically not added to the sauce? I usually dice the onions then sauté them and add garlic. What is your opinion on that? Thanks for the recipe! 😊
Hi Melissa! Most Italian tomato sauces do include onion, and some just include garlic. My mom taught me just garlic, but we add onion from time to time. As stated in this recipe, if you would like to add onion to this recipe you can! I just recommend it being finely diced so it blends nicely when cooked:)
I have been making this for almost 50 years. It’s divine! To the question about onions; if using, grate them on a grater. This will eliminate “chunks”, & impart the best flavor. Grating generates juice as well as small pieces of onion.
How much of each ingredient would be helpful……
Hi Pete, the ingredient measurements are in the recipe card.
Ciao!
I have made this recipe about a 1/2 dozen times now, and it is the absolute best
As a kid, I grew up going to Italian family gatherings with a very particular sauce and whenever I have it as an adult, the taste takes me right back there. Your recipe is the right on the money with that.
A couple of things I have done along the way to experiment and some comments:
1). As you mention, don’t shy away from the garlic and herbs. I have started using more garlic and we really love it—although my family tends to like things spicy and flavorful as is. We use fresh basil and oregano every time but sometimes add a few dashes of dried basil or oregano at the end if more spice is needed.
2) With the Amore sundried tomato paste, I experimented with blending both the regular Amore and the sun dried tomato Amore together. It still gives it that excellent rich taste, but for those who prefer the blend of the two, it’s been enjoyable. I also tend to use a bit more tomato paste than the recipe calls for because we really enjoy the tangy flavor and richness.
3). The carrot and parmesan rind really do make a difference. Thank you for that that.
4) Your tip to season to taste at the end is also very helpful since each time the final product has varied. The last time I made it, it came out perfect to our palates and nothing extra was needed. 🙂
5). Can’t emphasize your recommendation for highest quality and authentic ingredients enough. Especially with the tomatoes, tomato paste and olive oil. We also use authentic Italian parmesan for the rind and then shred the cheese for use as a topper for the pasta if desired.
We have had many friends over for pasta dinner and they all have loved it.
Thank you!
Apologies. This is reposted comment in order reflect chronological order of post. Mi dispiace.
Antonio, thank you so much for these kind words! They brought a smile to my face as I read them. It means a lot that all those little details in the recipe made a difference for you, I’m so glad to hear it! I hope this sauce is a part of many more memorable meals with your friends and family. Thank you again for sharing! 🙂
Why isn’t the fresh basil and oregano added while the sauce is simmering? I am making the sauce prior to a dinner party and will freeze it. Your recipe indicates to add herbs after the sauce is done simmering so do you recommend if the sauce is to be frozen not to add the herbs until it is thawed and reheated? Also, what size parmesan rind do you use? Thank you!
Hi Sue, you can add the herbs at the end when you’re finished and then freeze it. I typically use a smaller rind for sauce, because you want the flavor to be subtle. Hope that helps!!
I was wondering if there type of olive oil used makes a difference. What brands of olive oil do you use?
Hi Diane, the olive oil brands I always have in my pantry are Frankies 457 Spuntino and Bono. These are typically what I’m using in any of my recipes that call for olive oil 🙂 Hope this helps!
Hi! Thank you for the wonderful recipe 🙂
If I scaled this down to a serving for 2 people (it’s only me 😅) would I adjust the time to simmer?
Hi Tiffany, most likely because there isn’t that many tomatoes. Depending on how many cans you use, you could do about 2-3.5 hours? Just my rough estimate:) Hope it works out!
I can’t wait to make this recipe tomorrow for my birthday. It looks amazing and simple! Thanks for sharing!
I hope you love it! And happy birthday 🙂
I am so excited. I have to tell you I was never able to eat tomato sauce because of all the undesirable stuff they put in can tomatoes. I would break out with a rash that took weeks to get rid of. I have been making this recipe and believe me I am so excited to eat anything pasta. Truly I can eat it for breakfast lunch and dinner.. I plan on making a large batch for my Christmas dinner.. All my in laws are Italian and know I can’t eat red sauce.. Will they be surprised seeing me eating red sauce. Thank you Thank you Thank you.. For sharing your family recipe.. You made me the most happiest 75 year old woman who hasn’t had red sauce in 65 years.
Roseanne, your words warm my heart! Marinara (especially homemade) is so special, so I’m thrilled it can be apart of your diet again now because of this recipe. Seriously, thank you for sharing! So so happy to hear it. 🙂
It was very nicely balanced, Delicious!
So happy to hear it, Ash! Thank you for sharing!