This quick and easy pomodoro sauce combines ripe tomatoes, garlic, herbs, and olive oil for a simple, flavorful dish your whole family will love.
If you love pasta recipes as much as we do, be sure to try this dump-and-bake meatball casserole, dump-and-bake pesto Alfredo chicken pasta, the best stuffed pasta shells, a pan of homemade lasagna, and this pasta with sausage and spinach, too!
Craving a taste of Italy without the plane ticket? This fresh pomodoro sauce, made with ripe tomatoes and authentic olive oil, brings the flavor of the Amalfi Coast to your kitchen in just 45 minutes.
Pomodoro Sauce Perfection: Easy, Affordable, and Family-Friendly
Pomodoro means “tomato” in Italian, and that’s exactly what this is — a fresh tomato sauce. Pasta al pomodoro is a vegetarian Italian dish typically prepared with pasta, olive oil, fresh tomatoes, basil, and other fresh ingredients. It’s intended to be a quick, light dish, rather than a heavy, rich sauce.
You’ll love this simple tomato sauce because it’s easy to make with just a few ingredients, ready in under an hour, and perfect for meal prep. It’s budget-friendly — especially when tomatoes are in season — and a healthy option packed with fresh veggies and herbs that even picky eaters enjoy.
5-Star rating for sure!!…It is a wonderful dish. Very easy, tasty and healthy!! Thanks so much.
– Poundcakelady3
Ingredient Notes and Tips for Success
- I typically use plum tomatoes, but just about any variety will work. For the best flavor, find the juiciest, sweetest, ripest, in-season tomatoes available. If you can’t find good, in-season fresh tomatoes, then canned San Marzano tomatoes would be a nice alternative.
- You can prepare this sauce with two (28-ounce) cans of crushed tomatoes for a smooth texture, or with two (28-ounce) cans of whole San Marzano tomatoes (just break the tomatoes up with your hands or with a knife to reach the desired chunky texture).
- Using a good quality extra-virgin olive oil contributes the most fruity, robust, and authentic flavor to the sauce.
- I love the combination of a sweet onion with the tomatoes in the sauce, but you can use a white onion or yellow onion if you prefer. Dice it into very fine pieces so that it doesn’t make your sauce too chunky.
- Pomodoro sauce is not typically spicy. If you prefer a spicy pomodoro sauce, feel free to add crushed red pepper flakes to taste.
How to Make Pomodoro Sauce
This authentic and easy pomodoro sauce recipe comes together quickly for a light and fresh summer meal that takes advantage of the season’s best tomatoes and herbs. Kids and adults can agree on this dinner!
You’ll find detailed directions in the recipe card below, but here’s the quick version:
- Quarter the tomatoes and scoop out the seeds.
- Purée the tomatoes in a food processor until they’re a fairly smooth consistency, leaving some chunks if you like more texture in your sauce. Transfer the tomatoes to a colander to strain off the excess juice.
- Sauté the garlic and onion in the olive oil in a large pan, saucepan, Dutch oven, or other large pot. Add the tomatoes and herbs. Simmer the sauce for about 30 minutes. Since you’re simmering for a relatively short amount of time, leave the lid off of the pot to allow the sauce to thicken and the flavors to concentrate. Once the sauce is finished, adjust seasonings and spices to suit your tastes. Add salt, pepper, or additional herbs. If you like a spicy pomodoro, add crushed red pepper flakes. Depending on the sweetness of your tomatoes, you may need to add a little bit of sugar. Sugar balances the acidity of the tomatoes and gives the sauce greater depth of flavor.
- Serve the sauce over cooked pasta (like spaghetti!), and garnish with grated Parmesan cheese and additional fresh basil leaves or other herbs.
Serving Suggestions
If you prefer something other than pasta, try pairing this Italian tomato sauce with sautéed zucchini noodles, cooked potato gnocchi, or cauliflower gnocchi. It’s a perfectly satisfying vegetarian entrée, but it’s also delicious served as a side dish with a piece of grilled salmon, garlic and rosemary broiled shrimp, or grilled chicken.
On the side, offer pasta pomodoro with garlic bread, homemade focaccia, or a crusty loaf of no-knead Dutch oven bread. It’s also delicious with crisp greens dressed in red wine vinegar salad dressing, Dijon vinaigrette, lemon vinaigrette, or balsamic vinaigrette. Try it with sauteed zucchini, southern style green beans, 3-ingredient roasted yellow squash, roasted broccoli or asparagus, too!
More Uses for Pomodoro Sauce
While it’s delicious when served over a big bowl of pasta, you can also use the sauce in a variety of other ways. For instance, try it on homemade pizza, in chicken Parmesan, stuffed shells, lasagna, soup, casseroles like baked rigatoni or baked ziti, and in pizza quesadillas.
Did you make this recipe?
If you enjoyed this recipe, please leave a comment with a 5-star review at the bottom of the post. Thank you!
Pomodoro Sauce
Ingredients
- 3 lbs. fresh tomatoes (I typically use plum tomatoes)
- 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
- ½ cup finely diced onion
- 4 cloves garlic, minced (about 4 teaspoons total)
- 6 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs (such as a combination of basil, oregano, and parsley)
- Kosher salt and ground black pepper, to taste
- For serving: cooked pasta; grated Parmesan cheese; additional fresh herbs
Instructions
- Quarter the tomatoes and use your fingers to quickly scoop out most of the seeds. It helps to run the tomato under cold water to get any extra seeds out, and don’t worry – you don’t have to be meticulous about it.
- Puree the tomatoes in a food processor until mostly smooth, leaving some good chunks for texture in your sauce. Transfer the tomatoes to a colander and set them aside to strain off the excess liquid (you do not need to squeeze the tomatoes totally dry).
- Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sauté until soft, about 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, for about 1 more minute. Add the strained tomatoes and the fresh herbs; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low; simmer uncovered for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Depending on the sweetness of your tomatoes, you may need to add a dash of sugar as well. Serve over pasta and garnish with cheese and additional fresh herbs.
Notes
Nutrition
Preparation and Storage Tips
- How to Store: Leftover sauce will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
- How to Freeze: Keep the leftover sauce in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. Tip: a Ziploc freezer bag can be frozen flat and then stacked to maximize freezer storage space.
- How to Reheat: Thaw frozen sauce in the refrigerator overnight. Reheat the sauce in a saucepan on the stovetop over low heat, just until warmed through. If it’s too thick, you can thin the sauce with a splash of warm water.
Recipe Variations
- Fresh, simple pomodoro sauce ingredients are all naturally vegetarian and vegan. Traditionally the pasta sauce does not contain meat or dairy products, although you can certainly add ground Italian sausage, ground beef, ground pork, or ground turkey for a heartier meat sauce.
- Use a variety of fresh herbs, such as basil, thyme, oregano, and parsley. Whatever your family loves will work!
- If fresh herbs aren’t available, substitute with about 2 tablespoons of dried herbs (such as dried basil or dried Italian seasoning blend).
- This kid-friendly sauce is made without wine. If you like a richer, bolder flavor, add 1 cup of red wine or white wine to the sauce. You’ll likely need to simmer the sauce a bit longer so that it can reduce and thicken.
- For a briny addition, stir in some capers or olives (it will be like a puttanesca sauce)!
More Recipes with Fresh Tomatoes
Tomato Salad with Basil and Balsamic
40 minutes mins
Roasted Tomato Soup
1 hour hr 35 minutes mins
Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes {5 Ingredients!}
20 minutes mins
Originally published in July, 2018, this post was updated in June, 2025.
5-Star rating for sure!!
Blair – I tried your recipe yesterday. A friend on Facebook had posted it and I am so glad she did!! It is a wonderful dish. Very easy, tasty and healthy!! Thanks so much.
Thank you! I’m so glad to know that you enjoyed it! 🙂
How about canning this sauce. Is is possible to do?
Hi, Rolando! Yes, it probably would work well, but I haven’t tried it myself. I would look into specific canning instructions for a tomato sauce recipe to check out the safety requirements for doing so.
You may want to consider Spanish Virgin Olive Oil. It is much superior and more flavoursome to most commercial Italian brands and also a lot cheaper.
Thanks for that tip, William!
Hi Blair, would you recommend altering the recipe if trying to make a pomodoro style dip?
Hi, Nikki! That’s a great question. I’ve never thought to turn it into a dip, but it’s a lot like bruschetta, so I think it would work well. I wouldn’t change anything — just serve it in a bowl with crusty baguette or crackers for dipping!
Made this tonight and used Mediterranean Olive oil from Aldi. It was really good, but I do think I’ll be looking into a more flavorful oil next time. My favorite is from Strappagio. Expensive, but it’s delicious!
Perfect! Thanks, Chelsea! The more expensive oil is usually worth it! 🙂
Where do you buy your oil? I haven’t found anything great in the grocery store.
Hi, Janice! I get it at a big local grocery store (Martin’s around here), but you can also order it online. 🙂
Do you take the skins from the fresh tomatoes?
Nope! The skins can stay on. 🙂
Hi, Sheila! Thanks for catching that typo! You can add the 3 T of herbs when you add the strained tomatoes in step 4. I’ll fix that mistake. Thanks again!
Yes indeed the best sauce I ever cook. Thank you so much to get this recipe posted for us to enjoy.
Thank you! 🙂
The first time I had this sauce was at Olive Gardens. Now of course they don’t make it anymore. But Oh my gosh I love this sauce. I could stuff my face with this spaghetti and sauce till I can’t breath.
Well I’m glad that you can now make it at home! 🙂 I agree — you can never go wrong with a bowl of pasta!
I serve it over spaghetti squash and a a little crushed red pepper to kick it up a notch but it is excellent without the red pepper too
Thank you! Great tip to serve it over spaghetti squash to lighten it up. 🙂
Hi, Mary! Yes — in Step 2 it says to strain off liquid from the tomatoes. I would definitely do that next time. Glad you liked it anyway, though! 🙂
I would try 1 (28-ounce) can of San Marzano tomatoes. The seeds are just a matter of preference. If you don’t mind them in there, then go ahead and leave them! 🙂
I use 1 28 oz can of San Marzano tomatoes, just break them up with my hands and pour them and their juice in the pot.
Add a pinch or 2 of sugar.
Delicious
Sounds great, Missy! Thank you for sharing.
I’m thinking the Campari tomatoes would be better than plum tomatoes. What do you think? The Campari’s are less meatier than plum tomatoes but they are always bright red on the inside and have the closest flavor to homegrown tomatoes than any other grocery store tomatoes I’ve ever tasted. I buy the Campari’s all year long.
Hi, Debbie! Yes, I think Campari tomatoes will work well here. Hope you enjoy!