Canned crushed tomatoes, fresh basil, and sun-dried tomatoes help make this homemade tomato sauce taste like it almost came straight out of the garden.
Last week, I talked about how much our garden sucks this year, and how because of this increasingly annoying little predicament, we are seriously lacking in the garden fresh tomato department. Instead of getting all “Debbie Downer” about it though, or spending an exorbitant amount of money on tomatoes from the farmer’s market, I decided to pull up my big-girl panties and make “Cheater Sauce” instead.
To me, “Cheater Sauce” is simply homemade tomato sauce made from canned tomatoes instead of ones straight out of my garden. In actuality, the sauce is still homemade, requires way less work, and tastes almost as good. Hell, some years it even tastes better. It all depends on the quality of the tomatoes coming out of the garden. And as far as this year, it goes pretty much without saying, that canned tomatoes are of much better quality than my fairly non-existent garden fresh ones.
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Basically, what I’m trying to say to ya’ll, is that there really is no valid reason not to make your own homemade tomato sauce. The only real cheating when it comes to tomato sauce is buying a pre-made generic name-brand jar of sauce from the market instead of making your own. Once you’ve tasted the real thing, you’ll never go back to sauce out of a jar. Sure, you may have to use canned tomatoes to make it, however, I promise you that it will still turn out to be amazing after just a few hours of simmering and you’ll have more than enough sauce to freeze for later use. You see, sometimes cheating can be a good thing.
Ingredients:
- 1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 Large Sweet Yellow Onion, Peeled & Finely Chopped
- 1/2 Pound Carrots, Peeled & Grated
- 1/2 Cup Sun-Dried Tomatoes in Olive Oil with Italian Seasoning, Drained & Finely Chopped
- 1 1/2 Teaspoons Ground Sea Salt
- 3 (28-oz.) Cans of Crushed Tomatoes
- 1 (29-oz.) Can Tomato Sauce
- 3 Garlic Cloves, Minced
- 2 Tablespoons Light Brown Sugar, Packed
- 1/2 Teaspoon Finely Ground Black Pepper
- 1 Cup Basil, Finely Chopped
Directions:
- Place the olive oil, onion, carrots, sun-dried tomatoes, and salt in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat.
- Cook for 8 minutes, stirring often, or until the onions are translucent.
- Add the crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, garlic, brown sugar, and black pepper to the Dutch oven.
- Stir to combine and allow to come to a boil.
- Lower the heat to low and allow to simmer for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
- Add the basil, stir to combine, and then allow the sauce to simmer for another hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
- Allow the sauce to cool slightly before storing it in several refrigerator or freezer-safe containers.
Suggestions:
- The carrots in this recipe help to cut the acidity of the tomatoes. If you wish to leave the brown sugar out of this recipe, add an additional 1/2 pound of grated carrots.
- You can use a food processor to grate the carrots for this recipe if you choose, however, do not attempt to chop the onions in the food processor or they will become too watery.
- Make sure to stir the sauce at least every 15 minutes to prevent it from burning. Taste the sauce after the first hour of simmering and adjust the seasoning if you so desire.
Improvements:
- Add browned sweet Italian sausage to the tomato sauce.
- I love to store my tomato sauce in 1 1/2-pint glass canning jars because they usually hold just the right amount of sauce for one meal. If you are freezing this sauce for later use, make sure to leave at least an inch empty at the top of each jar for expansion. You can also freeze this sauce in plastic resealable bags. Fill the bags two-thirds full with sauce and then freeze the bags standing up unsealed. Once the sauce has frozen, press all of the air out of the bags, and then seal them tightly before storing them in the freezer.
- Add fresh oregano or crushed red pepper flakes to this sauce for even more flavor.
Ingredients:
- 1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 Large Sweet Yellow Onion, Peeled & Finely Chopped
- 1/2 Pound Carrots, Peeled & Grated
- 1/2 Cup Sun-Dried Tomatoes in Olive Oil with Italian Seasoning, Drained & Finely Chopped
- 1 1/2 Teaspoons Ground Sea Salt
- 3 (28-oz.) Cans of Crushed Tomatoes
- 1 (29-oz.) Can Tomato Sauce
- 3 Garlic Cloves, Minced
- 2 Tablespoons Light Brown Sugar, Packed
- 1/2 Teaspoon Finely Ground Black Pepper
- 1 Cup Basil, Finely Chopped
Directions:
- Place the olive oil, onion, carrots, sun-dried tomatoes, and salt in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat.
- Cook for 8 minutes, stirring often, or until the onions are translucent.
- Add the crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, garlic, brown sugar, and black pepper to the Dutch oven.
- Stir to combine and allow to come to a boil.
- Lower the heat to low and allow to simmer for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
- Add the basil, stir to combine, and then allow the sauce to simmer for another hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
- Allow the sauce to cool slightly before storing it in several refrigerator or freezer-safe containers.
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