Easy 5 ingredient tomato basil sauce. Ready in 1 hour 15 minutes, this tomato basil sauce is perfect for pasta or any dish calling for tomato sauce.
Jump to RecipeI was at a friends house the other night having a drink (or a few as we’re known to do in my neighborhood) and she mentioned how much she liked the blog and what we’re doing here. I love hearing that, but I also love hearing honest feedback and what problems people face when cooking at home and following recipes. So, I asked a few questions about what her biggest problem was when trying to put a healthy dinner on the table. She got right to the point ( I love that) and said her two biggest problems were basic sauces and knife skills. Knife skills might be tough to teach through text, but sauces… I can do that!
So, in honor of Kate, I am going to include some staple vegan sauces over the next few weeks. These sauces can be used as is or can be used as a base to create variations of them to suit the dish or your taste. This easy 5 ingredient tomato basil sauce is a perfect example of a staple sauce that is amazingly delicious as is- tossed with some pasta or as a base to add ingredients to. I’ll be including a vegan vodka sauce in the next week that starts with this tomato basil sauce. The Chinese Garlic Sauce recipe from yesterday is another great example of a versatile staple sauce that can be adjusted to make a number of different dishes.
For this tomato basil sauce, I used canned Muir Glen whole peeled tomatoes. I love the taste of this brand, but you can use whatever you like. If you want to splurge and buy D.O.P. San Marzano tomatoes, you won’t be disappointed. The rest of the recipe is pretty straightforward. If you don’t want the onion flavor, leave it out. If you want a smooth sauce- pass the tomatoes through a food mill or hit the sauce with a stick blender right before adding the basil. Here it is- your new go-to tomato basil sauce for all your needs. You no longer need to buy the terrible sugar and sodium filled jarred sauce at the grocery store now. Mangia!
Easy 5 Ingredient Tomato Basil Sauce
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 5 garlic cloves peeled
- 1/2 large or 1 small yellow onion diced
- 2 28 ounce cans whole peeled tomatoes
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 20 basil leaves
Instructions
- Smash the garlic cloves a bit with the side of your knife or the bottom of a frying pan.
- In a medium-sized soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 3-5 minutes being careful not to burn the garlic or onions.
- With your hands, break up and crush the tomatoes as you add them to the pot. Add the tomato juice left in the cans, scraping the sides with a rubber spatula.
- Bring to a simmer and then reduce to low heat. Cook for an hour, stirring every so often.
- Turn off the heat, add that salt and tear up (or chiffonade) the basil leaves into the sauce.