It’s hard to believe that the recipe for the best tomato sauce in the world has only three ingredients, but it’s true! Make it today and rock your world…tomato sauce-wise.
So, apparently I am the among the last people on the planet to find out about this incredibly amazing, incredibly easy tomato sauce. When I think of all the many years of my life that have gone by without having this sauce, it makes me want to hide under the covers. But as they say, better late than never, and now I get to make up for lost time. Silver lining!
If you, like me, haven’t heard of this great great great sauce, here are the key things to know.
First, it tastes AMAZING. I might have mentioned that. Second, it only involves three ingredients and less than an hour of cooking.
Ingredient number one: tomatoes. You can use fresh (which is how I made it) or you can use canned. Which means you can make it all year round. Which I plan to do.
Second ingredient: an onion. You peel it and cut it in half and let it simmer in the sauce…but then you take it out at the end, so you are just getting a subtle taste of it.
Third ingredient? BUTTER. Because everything is better with butter.
Not THIS much butter, but this was the picture I had of butter, so I thought what the heck. It gets the point across.
It's hard to believe that the recipe for the best tomato sauce in the world has only three ingredients, but it's true! Make it today and never go back!So there you have it – tomato, onion, butter. Simmer for 45 minutes, then take the onion out and toss it. If you like your sauce chunky you are ready to roll. If you like it a little smoother, you can do what I did and give it a whirl with the immersion blender.
Boil up some pasta and ladle it on. You can sprinkle on some parmesan cheese and fresh pepper if you want, but you don’t have to. Honestly, you almost don’t even need the pasta.
So, with thanks to the amazing Marcella Hazan, here’s the world’s best tomato sauce. Get ready to rock your pasta.
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The Best Tomato Sauce in the World!
Prep Time: 10 minutes- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
Yield: 4 servings 1x
Category: Dinner
Method: Stovetop
Cuisine: Italian
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It’s hard to believe that the recipe for the best tomato sauce in the world has only three ingredients, but it’s true! Make it today and never go back!
Ingredients
- 2 pounds fresh, ripe tomatoes, peeled and roughly chopped, or one 28 ounce can imported Italian tomatoes, cut up, with their juice
- 5 tablespoons butter
- 1 medium onion, peeled and cut in half
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Put either the prepared fresh tomatoes or the canned in a saucepan, add the butter, onion, and salt, and cook uncovered at a very slow, but steady simmer for about 45 minutes. Stir from time to time, mashing up any large pieces of tomato with the back of a wooden spoon.
- When it is done, scoop out the onion and discard (or better still, save it to eat or stir into soup!)
- If you like your sauce smoother, whirl it with an immersion blender, or pour carefully into a regular blender and blend.
- Taste and and add more salt as needed, and then toss with your favorite pasta. Throw out all other tomato sauce recipes.
Notes
You can peel fresh tomatoes by cutting a shallow X in the bottom of each tomato, plunging them into boiling water for one minute, scooping them out with a slotted spoon and then peeling with a paring knife when cool enough to handle.
Recipe by Marcella Hazan via Food 52
Hi there! I’m Kate, and I’m a recipe writer, food photographer and devoted bacon lover. I started Framed Cooks in 2009, and my mission is to create and share family-friendly recipes that make cooking both easy and fun…yes, I said FUN! My kitchen is my happy place, and I want yours to be that place too. And if you make this recipe, I would love you to tag @FramedCooks on Instagram so I can see the deliciousness!
Better than the pasta al pomodoro (aka velvet sauce) from Bon Appetit?
I'd say it's a perfect tie. But make both and see what you think!!
Oh yeah. I've heard AMAZING things about this sauce. I think it needs to happen. Especially now that I'm carb loading like an insane woman!
Wow, the best tomato sauce in the world has just 3 ingredients?! I will be trying this!
This really is the best. It's kind of velvety and has a rich flavor from the butter and the onion. I make it with the canned whole tomatoes and it's just perfect. Marcela knew what she was talking about with this one..
You're right, everything IS better with butter! I love recipes that can use either fresh or canned tomatoes. Thanks for this one! You can never have enough great tomato sauce recipes in your repertoire!
Here is how you make this sauce even bettah. Mini Powdered Donuts. Add a package of them to the sauce while simmering (mush em' up first). Do it. Do it now.
Is this for real?
Personally, I haven’t tried it. But I guess you never know. I do think this sauce is pretty dang perfect the way it is, though. :)
WOW! Easy Peasy! And 3 of my favorite ingredients in the world too!…Thanks! :-]
wow! so easy. that's fantastic. pinning this recipe. xoxo jillian:: cornflake dreams
my all time, hands down FAVORITE sauce evah!!! and i mean really, who even needs pasta??? straight outta the pan . . .
Even when I cook with olive oil .. I will throw in a dab of butter at the end , it seems to just richen everything up more .. like your recipe that I love .. Velvet Pasta.
Tonight I am making Zucchini pasta, thankyouveddymuch !
Kate — This recipe has been all over the food blogs lately! Recently, when I noticed where it originally came from, I realized I had the Marcella Hazan cookbook right on my shelf! Probably been there two or three years. I made it the same day and WOW. Tasty!
This looks amazing! How simple and easy and perfect.
I can believe that's good. I have a problem with acid foods and discovered when I was in college that a chunk of butter dropped on the spaghetti sauce on my plate really reduced that acidity. A food scientist told me that it's probably the calcium binding the acid or something like that.
I don't know that I could give up my massive amounts of garlic — rather leave out the onion and make garlic my third ingredient. ;) But it's good to see that someone as knowledgeable as Marcella Hazan supports the butter thing.
It may be all over the web, but this is the first I've seen of it.
More Cowbell, Everyday Food has basically the same directions using garlic There’s a video.
yeah! thanks God for food like this – world is a better place ;) (ps. I add garlic to this sauce)
Can you can this sauce? Approximately how much does this recipe make? It looks yummy!
Hi Jackie,
I’ve never canned anything in my life (shhh!) so I don’t know about that part. But you get about 4 servings or so from this recipe…and you MUST make it, it really IS the best sauce in the world. :)
I discovered this wonderful and easy sauce through Marcella Hazan, I do believe. It’s great!
Yes, she is the genius behind it. It’s the BEST!
This is similar to the Nick Sparks sauce and I know it is very delicious. Easy and good.
★★★★★
I’ll have to look up that sauce! This one is my all time favorite. :)
I’ll have to look up that sauce! This one is my all time favorite. ?