The Best Pasta Sauce Ever Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the most famous pasta sauce? ›

Marinara Sauce

This is probably the most common form of pasta sauce, and for good reason too! Marinara sauce is typically made using tomatoes, garlic and other seasonings. You'll often see this in base lasagna dishes, spaghetti and meatballs, and other pasta staples.

Tossing in strips of basil, a sprig of thyme or some oregano can take your sauce to the next level. Although fresh herbs might pop a bit more, dried herbs and spices can work just as well. Sprinkling in some red pepper flakes, a pinch of parsley and a dash of salt and pepper can liven up your jarred pasta sauce.

Approximately three dashes or ¼ teaspoon of nutmeg is plenty for a jar of tomato sauce. If you are making a large batch, add a bit more for good measure. While the flavor should be subtle, you still want it to make the other ingredients shine, so feel free to play around with the quantity until you get it just right.

Rao's Homemade® quickly became the world's leading brand of premium pasta sauce and for good reason: Rao's sauces are simmered slowly and made in small batches with only the best ingredients, like pure Italian olive oil and hand-picked, naturally ripened tomatoes from southern Italy.

Texture-wise, fat adds a rich, mouth-coating feel to a sauce, both when it's broken out of the sauce on its own, and when it is emulsified with the sauce's liquid phase, making the whole thing creamier. Add a bit of butter in there as well.

For best flavor, use certified San Marzano tomatoes. Add Parmesan cheese into the sauce while cooking. Use no salt added tomatoes. Use ground beef to cut down on sodium content.

Pungent fresh herbs like thyme, rosemary, sage, tarragon, and marjoram can liven up tomato sauce with their bold, distinctive flavors. Add 1 to 2 sprigs of one or more of them to your favorite sauce, cover, and simmer at least 5 minutes to allow them to infuse in the sauce. Remove the sprigs before serving.

The addition of butter helps to loosen and emulsify the sauce, making it smooth and creamy.

How do you add depth to tomato sauce? ›

It is widely held that Italian immigrants began adding sugar to their sauce to make up for the overly acidic tomatoes they were forced to work with in their new home. But the history of sugar in pasta sauce actually goes back to Italy itself.

Briny ingredients like olives or capers are another way to brighten up your pasta sauce while also introducing texture and depth of flavor. Roughly chop a handful and stir them into your sauce while it's heating up on the stove.

It enhances the flavor of sauces by giving them depth, a punch in the background and complexity. Foods with complex flavors appeal to our tongues, so Worcestershire sauce makes sauces taste better.

Ragu`: Without a doubt, one of the most common and beloved Italian red sauces is a Ragu`. Ragu` is what we typically think of when we picture Mamma or Nonna in the kitchen, slow cooking a sauce for hours on end. Typically, it is a red sauce with meat, and you will see different versions all over Italy.

Salsa di Pomodoro

If there's one staple in any Italian home, it's a simple tomato sauce. Pair with almost any pasta shape, toss in a few basil leaves, and enjoy!