This delicious tomato sauce is made with canned San Marzano tomatoes for a simple, yet flavorful sauce that can be paired with your favorite pasta. This tasty sauce is ready in just 30 minutes.

San Marzano Tomato Sauce
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With grocery costs rising, I wanted to share a simple, yet delicious tomato sauce recipe that can be made with canned tomatoes. My favorite store-bought tomato sauce is delicious but at nearly $8 a jar, it’s not exactly a budget-friendly pick. I wanted to see if I could create a similar tasting sauce for a fraction of the cost and it turned out to be easier than I expected!

Ingredients and Substitutions

  • San Marzano tomatoes– The type of tomato is important for this recipe, so be sure you have real canned San Marzano tomatoes.
  • Olive oil- A high quality extra virgin olive oil is important. With just a few ingredients in this recipe, you want to make sure each one is adding great flavor. I like the O Olive oil brand or California Olive Ranch.
  • Garlic– Don’t skimp on the garlic! I recommend mincing whole garlic cloves rather than buying pre-minced garlic.
  • Oregano– You can use fresh or dried oregano. If using fresh, you’ll want to use 1-2 teaspoons of fresh leaves, chopped. I used dried oregano to keep this pantry-friendly.
  • Basil– This is optional but I love adding fresh basil for a little color.
  • Crushed red pepper flakes- I like adding a little heat, but you can leave them out if you dislike spicy things.

What are San Marzano Tomatoes?

San Marzano tomatoes are a type of plum tomato known as one of the best varieties of tomato for making sauces. These tomatoes are grown in the San Marzano region near Naples, Italy, and are loved for their sweet, mild flavor, low acidity, and meaty texture.

Due to their quality and popularity, San Marzano tomatoes have been granted a protected designation of origin (PDO) by the European Union, meaning that only tomatoes grown in the designated region of Italy can legally be labeled as San Marzano tomatoes. Be sure to check your can to be sure they are certified San Marzano tomatoes. The quality of the ingredients is important in a recipe like this.

Sauce Variations

If you want to add salty, umami flavor to this sauce, add a Parmesan rind to the skillet when simmering the tomatoes. This is a great way to use up the end of the cheese and add flavor to the sauce.

If you want to add more flavor to this hearty tomato sauce, add one teaspoon of Italian seasoning instead of the oregano.

I like my San Marzano sauce slightly chunky so I gently broke up the tomatoes using the back of a spoon. But if you want a smooth sauce, you can use an immersion blender to blend the sauce until you get your desired consistency. Alternatively, you can transfer to a blender and blend until smooth.

How to Make San Marzano Tomato Sauce

onions in a skillet
Heat the oil over medium heat for 30 seconds. Add the onion and cook for 5 min. Add the garlic and cook for 1 min.
whole tomatoes in a pan
Add the tomatoes and oregano and simmer for 20-25 minutes.
San Marzano Sauce
Once the tomatoes are soft, break them up with the back of a spoon until the sauce is just slightly chunky.
San Marzano Sauce
Stir in fresh basil at the end of cooking.

Can I Double the Recipe?

Absolutely! This recipe makes about 1 1/4 cups, which was enough sauce for about 8oz of pasta, but if you wanted to make enough for a full pound of pasta, be sure to double the recipe.

Recipes that Use San Marzano Tomato Sauce

This quick tomato sauce can be used in almost any recipe for marinara sauce or pasta sauce. Try this as a pizza sauce with this homemade pizza dough or use it to make this no-boil baked ziti recipe. It would also be a great base for my vegan vodka sauce. You can also freeze this sauce to use later, so go ahead and make a double batch!

San Marzano Pasta sauce

If you liked this San Marzano sauce, be sure to try my meatless spaghetti sauce recipe which is filled with mushrooms and tomatoes!

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san marzano sauce

San Marzano Tomato Sauce

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 16 reviews
  • Author: Liz Thomson
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 25 minutes
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 1 1/4 cups 1x
  • Category: Sauce
  • Method: Stovetop
  • Cuisine: Italian Inspired
  • Diet: Vegan
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Description

This delicious tomato sauce is made with canned San Marzano tomatoes for a simple, yet flavorful sauce that can be paired with your favorite pasta. This tasty sauce is ready in just 30 minutes.

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 1/4 cup diced yellow onion
  • 1 28oz can San Marzano tomatoes
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 2 tablespoons fresh basil leaves, finely chopped

Instructions

  1. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat for 30 seconds.
  2. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  3. Add the garlic and continue to cook for 1 minute.
  4. Add the tomatoes and oregano and simmer for 20-25 minutes.
  5. Break up the tomatoes using the back of a spoon until the sauce is just slightly chunky. If you want a smooth sauce, you can use an immersion blender to blend the sauce until you get your desired consistency.
  6. Stir in fresh basil at the end of cooking.

Notes

This recipe makes about 1 1/4 cups of sauce which is enough sauce for about 8oz of pasta. If you wanted to make enough for 1lb of pasta, you can double the recipe. You can tap the “2x” at the top of the recipe to double the measurements.