Fresh Tomato Sauce Spaghetti is made using fresh juicy tomatoes, oil, and garlic. It takes only 25 minutes and is a fantastic summer dinner idea to use up those garden or farmer's market tomatoes. This recipe makes a light and healthy tomato sauce from scratch that while delicious with spaghetti, can be used on with any pasta, too! Fresh tomato sauce spaghetti is 100% kid-friendly and delicious!
A few summers ago I had a plan: learn how to make fresh tomato sauce from scratch.
Every Sunday morning at 8, I'd pull out my daughter's little tyke's wagon, load her and her favorite stuffed animal into it, and down to the farmer's market we would walk. First we'd head to the bread tent (the source of my inspiration to make sun dried tomato basil bread) and order a decadent spinach, feta, and field greens croissant. Next we'd get a giant lemonade from the "lemonade man". Then we'd pick out fresh fruits, vegetables, and flowers. It feels great to support the local farmers!
A few sell tomatoes in huge cardboard boxes. 20 pounds of tomatoes for only $12! Those boxes were oh-so tempting. The aroma was amazing. They looked incredible. But what in the world was my little family of 3 going to do with all those tomatoes?
Why, TOMATO SAUCE, of course!
So this is what I did. ALL. SUMMER. LONG. Until I got the sauce just right and found the quickest, simplest way to do it. Pots and pots of tomato sauce later, I had found a quick and easy fresh tomato sauce spaghetti recipe that we all couldn't get enough of. Now a few year's later, the new baby has joined in our love for this recipe.
While this fresh tomato sauce spaghetti is one of our favorite summer dinner ideas for pasta night, my family can't get enough of this spaghetti and meatballs with a slow-simmered homemade tomato sauce on cold winter nights. You should also try this 20-minute butter parmesan pasta, one of the most popular recipes on my site!
I'd love to hear what you thought about this fresh tomato sauce spaghetti recipe in the comments. And follow me on Pinterest for my latest recipes! I hope that you and your family enjoy this summer dinner idea as much as my family does!
Ingredients in Fresh Tomato Sauce Spaghetti
In learning how to make a quick and easy tomato sauce from scratch, I researched lots of different methods, which tomatoes are best for tomato sauce and what not to do. The one thing I definitely learned was that everyone does it differently and there is a lot of variation in the ingredients you can use. My goal here with this fresh tomato sauce spaghetti recipe was to make it simple and quick, with little prep and little clean up, but packed with flavor.
These are the ingredients that do exactly that.
- Spaghetti
- Tomatoes. My favorite are plum tomatoes. They have little seeds and when cooked down, they have amazing flavor. I also love making tomato sauce from scratch with garden tomatoes. They smell and taste amazing too.
- Fresh basil. Aim for fresh basil, but if you don't have it on hand, dried basil will be okay. This fresh tomato sauce spaghetti recipe is written for fresh basil, but if using dried, use ⅓ of the fresh amount.
- Garlic
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Butter
- Grated Parmesan
- Salt & Pepper
I made fresh tomato sauce spaghetti many ways before deciding that using these simple ingredients was the easiest way without sacrificing the flavor. Or my time. And in the summer especially, I do not want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen cooking.
While many tomato sauce from scratch recipes call for peeling and seeding the tomatoes and then simmering them for hours, my method here does not do any of these things. This method takes less than 30 minutes!
How To Make Fresh Tomato Sauce Spaghetti
Making this quick fresh tomato sauce spaghetti is incredibly simple. The hardest part is chopping the tomatoes and garlic! You'll have this fabulous fresh summer dinner recipe on the table in less than 30 minutes. Follow these steps:
First, cook the spaghetti til its al dente in generously salted water. Reserve the water to use in the sauce.
While the pasta cooks, core and chop the tomatoes. The tomatoes can be chopped into medium-sized pieces. I usually quarter mine. Mince the garlic and then saute the tomatoes and garlic in olive oil until they are steaming. This takes about 3 minutes. They will be soft enough to press down easily with a meat or potato masher.
Next, crush the tomatoes with a potato or meat masher until there are no large pieces. Add the salt and pepper. Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring often.
Add 1 cup of the reserved pasta water and al dente spaghetti to the tomatoes. Toss and simmer for 2 minutes.
If the sauce is too dry for you, add a little more reserved water.
Now remove from the heat and add butter and Parmesan. Toss well and taste. Add more salt and pepper if you'd like.
Toss the fresh tomato sauce spaghetti with torn basil leaves.
Now top with extra Parmesan cheese and enjoy!
Fresh Tomato Sauce Spaghetti
Ingredients
- 16 oz spaghetti
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 8 large tomatoes (use whatever tomatoes you prefer, but the juicier, the better)
- 6 garlic cloves
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- 2 tbsp butter
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese
- 10 fresh basil leaves, torn
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook spaghetti al dente. Reserve water to use in the sauce.
- Core tomatoes and roughly chop into quarters. Mince the garlic.
- Heat oil in a pot or large shallow pan and cook tomatoes and garlic on medium heat until they are steaming and soft enough to easily mash. This takes about 3 minutes.
- Crush tomatoes using a potato or meat masher until there are no more large pieces. Add the salt and pepper and simmer 15 minutes.
- Add 1 cup of reserved pasta water and the spaghetti to the tomatoes. Toss well and simmer 5 more minutes. If sauce is too dry, add 1 more cup of reserved water.
- Remove from heat and add the butter and Parmesan. Toss and taste sauce. Add salt and pepper if desired.
- Add basil leaves and serve topped with extra Parmesan.
Nutrition
Storing Fresh Tomato Sauce Spaghetti
Fresh tomato sauce spaghetti can be stored in the fridge for up to 1 week. Because the spaghetti is cooked in the sauce and absorbs some of the liquid and flavor, this sauce is not really freezer-friendly. There simply isn't enough liquid to remove from the pasta to freeze.
Enjoy!
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