For years my family has made a red sauce that is rich and hearty, and we love it. Unfortunately, we don’t always have the half day or so required to make it. It’s also a bit heavy during the summer when you want something a bit lighter and refreshing. That’s where this red sauce comes in clutch! It’s easy and quick to make and is very versatile to meet a variety of dishes needs.
The first time I made this we had our neighbors over for a special pasta night. I was teaching them how to make home-made pasta and wanted to have an option on sauces to pair with the pasta. Since my traditional red sauce had already been made and cooking for 6 hours, I wanted to make a sauce that we could cook up quickly with minimal effort. This sauce delivered.
Basic Red Sauce – Cherry Tomato Based
A simple and quick recipe to create a very tasty red sauce for pasta, chicken, or whatever you want to put with red sauce. While the recipe uses cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, or just rough-cut tomatoes also works well.
Servings 4
Calories 503kcal
Equipment
- 1 Frying Pan Large
- 1 Wooden Spoon or anything to stir hot ingredients
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Olive Oil or other neutral oil
- 1 Pint Cherry Tomatoes 10oz
- 1/2 Whole Yellow Onion (finely chopped) Substitute your preferred onion
- 1 tsp Dried chopped Basil
- 1 tsp Sugar (optional)
Instructions
- Heat 1 Cup Olive Oil in a large frying pan using medium heat (Can also use a medium or large sauce pan)
- When oil is hot (flicking a drop of water on it sizzles), carefully add the 1 Pint Cherry Tomatoes to the oil. Stir every 2-3 minutes.
- When about half the tomatoes have burst, releasing their juices, add the 1/2 Whole Yellow Onion (finely chopped), 1 tsp Dried chopped Basil, and 1 tsp Sugar. Stir. Continue to stir every 2-3 minutes or as needed until most of the tomatoes have burst and released their juices and the onion is cooked through.
- After about 5-10 minutes, the sauce should be done. The majority of the tomatoes will have burst, releasing their juices and making a red pasta sauce.
OPTIONS
- Add pasta, cooked to "al dente" to the sauce and continue to cook for an additional 2-3 minutes to finish cooking the pasta. If needed, stir in some (1/4-1/2 cup) of the pasta water to the sauce which will thin it out slightly, and add some creaminess to the sauce due to the starch from the pasta.
- Add additional herbs, about 1/4-1/2 tsp at a time like oregano, rosemary, thyme, or red pepper flakes.
- Adding a fresh parmesan rind when you add the onion will add additional flavor depth.
- Try cutting the onions differently if you want the sauce more chunky or adding additional chopped vegetables like peppers (red/yellow/orange/green), roasted peppers, red chili flakes, squash, zucchini, etc.
- You can also use any type of tomato if you don’t have or have enough grape tomatoes. Simply cut the tomatoes into chunks and use them for the sauce. Combine different tomatoes and see how you like their flavor profile.
Notes
This sauce is really simple to make and has a light but flavorful taste. We love to use this red sauce in the summer as it’s not too heavy and goes well with a wide variety of dishes.
Use it with any type of pasta noodle, over chicken or beef, or anywhere else you want to have a simple red sauce.
Stores well for a week in the fridge otherwise can freeze for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
Calories: 503kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 54g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 39g | Sodium: 14mg | Potassium: 265mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 580IU | Vitamin C: 27mg | Calcium: 19mg | Iron: 1mg