Easy Simmered Marinara Tomato Sauce

The perfect accompaniment to meatballs, this red tomato sauce is super easy to pull together and just requires some patience to cook on the stove. The time allows the flavors to really develop and add depth to the sauce. I promise you, it’s worth the wait.

You’ll notice that this sauce isn’t a hearty sauce chock full of ingredients; instead, it builds the flavors by letting the ingredients steep with the tomatoes. By removing the ingredients from the pot at the end, you have all of the taste but none of the texture that is characteristic of a Bolognese sauce. You can also play around with the seasoning a bit—I tend to add in a bit of sugar to balance out the acidity, and sometimes even a dash of fish sauce for a surprising umami flavor (sounds scary, I know, but you won’t even be able to taste that it’s there, but it enhances the sauce in a unique and delicious way).

But the real key to a good tomato sauce is to start with good tomatoes. For all of my tomato-based recipes, I’ll typically splurge for good quality canned tomatoes—San Marzano is my go-to brand of choice, and I truly believe it makes a difference. And I recommend sticking to whole peeled tomatoes and then blending them yourself because the quality tends to be better than the diced or crushed versions. (You can see in the photo below that I blended the tomatoes and placed back into the can before using.)

Step-by-step instructions for the tomato sauce

To get started, heat olive oil and butter in a dutch oven. Add in the garlic and cook for about a minute, followed by the oregano and red pepper flakes.

Add tomato paste and cook for about 3 minutes. The paste will help the tomato sauce develop a stronger flavor in a shorter amount of time. Puree the tomatoes and then add them to the Dutch oven, followed by the onion halves, carrot, parmesan rind and basil to the pot. Season with salt and pepper. Stir to combine.

Reduce heat to low and simmer for at least 40 minutes until the sauce reduces slightly and the flavors develop. Using tongs, fish out the onion, carrot, basil, garlic and Parmesan rind, and discard. Add in fish sauce and sugar, if using. Stir in the minced basil and/or parsley. Season with additional salt and pepper, to taste.

All this sauce requires is about 40 minutes on the stove, but I’ve cooked it down for up to an hour and a half to really build more flavor. Once its ready, you can add cooked meatballs to your sauce and simmer for 5-10 minutes, and then serve on top of spaghetti or this cheesy polenta. I love this sauce with my juicy and tender baked meatballs, for a perfect Italian dinner. Buon appetito!

Easy Simmered Marinara Tomato Sauce

Print Recipe

Serves: 4.5 cups Cooking Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients

2 (28-ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes, preferably imported San Marzano tomatoes
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons dried oregano
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 large sprig basil
1 large onion, cut in halves
1 carrot cut in large chunks
1 parmesan rind
1 tablespoon Kosher salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup fresh parsley or basil (or a mix of the two), minced
2 tsp sugar (optional)
1 tsp fish sauce (optional)

Instructions

In a large Dutch oven, heat olive oil and butter over medium heat until butter melts. Add garlic and cook until garlic begins to sizzle but does not brown, about 2 minutes. Add red pepper flakes and oregano and stir until fragrant for about 1 minute.

Add tomato paste to the pot and stir until paste cooks down and blends with the oil, about 3 minutes.

Add canned tomatoes and their juices directly to the pot and blend with an immersion blender until smooth. (Alternatively, you can first place canned tomatoes and their juices into a blender, and blend until there are no chunks. Then add the pureed tomatoes to the Dutch oven.)

Add the onion, carrot, parmesan rind and basil to the pot. Season with salt and pepper. Stir to combine.

Reduce heat to low and simmer for at least 40 minutes until the sauce reduces slightly and the flavors develop.

Using tongs, fish out the onion, carrot, basil, garlic and Parmesan rind, and discard. Add in fish sauce and sugar, if using. Stir in the minced basil and/or parsley. Season with additional salt and pepper, to taste.

If you are planning to serve the sauce with meatballs, add the cooked meatballs to the sauce to simmer for at least 5-10 minutes.

Notes

Sauce can last up to 1 week in the refrigerator, or 5-6 months in the freezer.
If serving with pasta, it’s best to heat the cooked pasta in a sauce pan with some olive oil, then add the sauce directly to the pasta with a bit of reserved pasta water, and toss. You can serve the sauced noodles with additional sauce on top.