Homemade San Marzano Tomato Sauce

This San Marzano tomato sauce is a rich, and luscious sauce that you are going to love. It is an easy homemade pasta sauce full of authentic Italian flavors that develop nicely once it is simmered and cooked to perfection. 

This incredible San Marzano tomato sauce is different from other homemade pasta sauce recipes since it uses San Marzano tomatoes. It is seasoned simply with garlic and Italian seasoning then simmered to allow all of the incredible flavors to build and develop into a rich and delicious sauce. 

Once you make this tomato sauce recipe you will love the results! It tastes like the most amazing richly flavored sauce that you get at an Italian restaurant and makes the perfect addition to any pasta dish or pizza.

You may want to jump ahead and skip the slow simmering step in this recipe but trust me it is worth the wait!

Some other great ways to use tomatoes are in tomato salsa, and tomato soup.

Why you’ll love this recipe

• Simple and easy. This a 2-step sauce recipe anyone can make.
• Loaded with Italian flavors. Rich and full of delicious Italian flavors.
• Versatile. Goes perfectly on pizza, pasta, or even chicken parmesan.
• Stores great. You can make it and store it for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator, or freeze it for up to 2 months.
• Healthy. Much better than store-bought sauce since you made it so you get to control the ingredients.

What is so great about San Marzano Tomatoes?

San Marzano tomatoes are the very best low-acid, flavor-packed tomatoes to use in any tomato sauce recipe, especially this one. They are basically the caviar of tomatoes.

These tomatoes are popular due to their incredible balance of freshness, sweetness, tomato flavors, and level of acidity, which makes any tomato sauce taste spectacular. They are also fairly inexpensive and you can find them in almost any grocery store.

Ingredients you will need

• San Marzano Tomatoes – make sure they are “REAL” San Marzano tomatoes since some versions will say “flavored like San Marzano tomatoes”. You also want to make sure they are authentic from Italy and not somewhere like New Jersey. Don’t worry, you can find them at almost any grocery store, so they are pretty accessible. 
• Garlic – fresh garlic for that nice garlicky flavor in the sauce. 
• Onion – for a nice aromatic touch.
• Olive oil – to give the sauce a nice rich flavor. 
• Italian seasoning – for that authentic Italian flavor we all love in a good tomato sauce. 
• Maple syrup – to bring out the sweetness of the tomatoes and remove any acidic taste.
• Tomato paste – to enhance the tomato flavors.
• Salt and pepper

How to make San Marzano tomato sauce

1. Prep the aromatics. Chop up the onion and garlic, which will help add amazing flavor to the sauce.
2. Combine ingredients and blend. Add all of the sauce ingredients to a food processor and blend on high for 20 seconds.
3. Simmer. Pour the sauce into a saucepan on the stovetop and bring it to a low boil. Then cover and simmer it for 1-2 hours, for the best flavor. Stir in some chopped basil once it is done cooking.
4. Serve. You can enjoy this amazing tomato sauce over pasta, on pizza, or with meatballs.

Tips For Success

• Use fresh, authentic San Marzano Peeled Tomatoes. For the best results, you want to use San Mazano’s for that rich, sweet tomato flavor. They are also less acidic and contain fewer seeds which makes them perfect for a sauce like this. 
• Blend the ingredients then cook the sauce. This step makes this recipe very easy and allows the flavors to blend together nicely before you simmer them for a wonderfully bold, rich, and luscious sauce. 
• Use real garlic. For that authentic, rich Italian flavor, real garlic must be used. Garlic powder can be used in a pinch but the sauce will not be as flavorful. 
• Tomato paste adds some really incredible tomato flavor. You can use any tomato paste you have but sun-dried tomato paste is best in this recipe if you can find it. 
• Simmer the sauce. You may think you do not need to simmer this sauce for at least one hour but YOU MUST! It really brings out all of the Italian flavors that make this recipe AMAZING!

How do I make sure my sauce is not acidic?

This San Marzano Tomato Sauce is less acidic than other spaghetti sauces since we are using San Marzano tomatoes that already contain less acid than other tomatoes. The addition of maple syrup in this recipe also removes some of the acidic notes you will notice in some other tomato sauce recipes.

To reduce the acid even more, you can add a peeled carrot to the sauce as it simmers then remove it at the end. The sugars from the carrot will release into the sauce, making it less acidic. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Why blend the ingredients before you cook the sauce?

This really creates a nice, smooth sauce that is perfect for pasta and pizza.

Can I cook the onions and garlic before I blend the sauce?

Of course, you can. I didn’t feel that this step was necessary but it is up to you.

Can you cook meatballs in this sauce?

Absolutely, you can. I love the add precooked meatballs and let them simmer in the sauce while it cooks. 

How to store homemade tomato sauce

One of the best qualities of this San Marzano tomato sauce is that you can store it and have it ready to go anytime you need it, which makes it a great make-ahead recipe.

• Store it in the refrigerator: Let it cool completely and then transfer it to a few mason jars. Top the jars tightly with the lids, label and store them for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator.
• Freeze it: To freeze this sauce, let it cool completely then transfer it to a few freezer-friendly ziplock bags. I like to measure it out into 3-4 cup (24-32oz) portions since that is the typical size of a jar of store-bought sauce. This recipe makes about 8-10 cups of tomato sauce. Finally, lightly press down on the bag to remove any excess air bubbles. Close it up tightly, label it, and store it in the freezer for up to 2 months.

Serving suggestions

This homemade tomato sauce goes great with so many things. Here are some of my favorite ways to use it.

• Serve it on top of this Healthy Air Fryer Chicken Parmesan.
• Use it as a dipping sauce with these amazing Air Fryer Zucchini Fries or Eggplant fries.
• Use it as the sauce in this Easy Veggie Chicken Pizza Bake.
• Add it as a topping on this Healthy Eggplant Parmesan or this delicious Portobello Mushroom Parmesan.
• Use it as a topping on pizza.
• Serve it with these incredible Eggplant Meatballs.
• Use it in lasagna.

More easy sauce recipes to try

• Easy 5 Minutes Romesco Sauce
• Simple Roasted Beet Pesto
• Easy Homemade Basil Lemon Pesto
• 10 Minute Homemade Cranberry Sauce
• Healthy Tzatziki Sauce
• Healthy Buffalo Sauce

Did you make this San Marzano Tomato Sauce recipe? If you did, then please leave a rating and comment below. I would love to hear how yours turned out.

Print