This authentic and homemade Italian Red Sauce is the perfect easy gluten-free tomato sauce recipe for any pasta meal on your menu.

There is no need to ever buy jarred Italian Sauce again!

Everyone needs their "go to" red sauce recipe. Here is a super easy and wonderfully delicious sauce that you can prepare and add to any pasta meal.

Try it with this Braciole that we learned to make in Nonna Anna's kitchen!

Or if you haven't yet tried Nonna Anna's Meatballs and Sauce, now is the time! It is truly the best and wonderfully delicious!

Now you can add one more pasta sauce to your recipe file! This sauce adds a few more ingredients to a basic red sauce. Adding onion, carrot, and celery combines to give this sauce a super delicious savory flavor.

I felt like a true Italian cook when Nonna Anna asked me to break apart the canned tomatoes with my hands.

Later after the ingredients have simmered together for about an hour, I use my immersion blender to make the sauce smoother.

At our Italian cooking day, Nonna Anna wanted us to make two simple red sauces. Both were to complement the fresh pasta we were also learning to make that day. I was really surprised at how much I loved this Italian red sauce as much as the sauce we made for the meatballs.

Mangia!

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5 from 1 vote

Simple Italian Red Sauce

This authentic and homemade Italian Red Sauce is the perfect gluten-free tomato sauce recipe for any pasta meal on your menu. 

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time1 hr 6 mins

Total Time1 hr 21 mins

Course: Sauce

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: Italian Tomato Red Sauce, Pasta Sauce

Servings: 6 cups

Author: Kyle

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 2 28-ounce cans whole tomatoes , *see Gr8 Note
• 6-8 basil leaves
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, optional

Instructions

• In a large casserole pot, heat oil over medium-high heat.
• Add onion, garlic, celery and carrot and saute until all vegetables are soft, about 6 minutes.
• While the vegetables are cooking, pour the tomatoes into a bowl and crush with your hands. Discard any hard cores or yellow portions.
• Add the hand crushed tomatoes to the vegetable mixture, then tear the basil leaves into the sauce.
• Bring to a low boil then reduce the heat to low. Cover the pot and simmer for 1 hour or until thick.
• Taste for seasoning, add salt and pepper to your taste.
• If sauce is too acidic, add unsalted butter, 1 Tablespoon at a time, to round out the flavor.
• Using an immersion blender, blend the tomato sauce until smooth.  (To blend the sauce, a food processor or blender can also be used blending only 1/2 of the sauce at a time.)

Notes

Gr8 Note:

• Feel free to use cans of crushed tomatoes (easier!), but please know that the consistency of the sauce may be different.

Gr8 Do-Ahead Tips:

• Sauce can be made up to 3 days ahead of time. It will keep well if refrigerated in a sealed container.
• If not using all the sauce, allow it to cool completely and then pour 1 to 2 cup portions into plastic freezer bags. Freeze for up to 6 months and have fresh homemade sauce whenever you like!

Tried this recipe?Mention @Great8Friends or tag #gr8food!