I started making my own pasta sauce after realizing how easy and inexpensive and delicious it is.
I’ve been experimenting with different recipes, and I found the one I LOVE the most (so far).
It’s also the simplest… Two ingredients: crushed tomatoes and onions. (Olive oil and salt don’t count as ingredients in my book).
Everyone around here knows how much I love Costco, and that’s where I get my two ingredients.
Two big ass cans of crushed tomatoes and a big bag of sweet onions.
The onions cost $6.99 and the tomatoes cost $2.99 each.
So that’s a total of $12.97.
I only use two of the onions and 1 1/2 cans of the tomatoes for the sauce.
I process a couple onions in the food processor and then sautée them in a tablespoon or so of olive oil in a large pot.
I let the onions brown a little bit. The carmelization of the onions really does something to the sauce that makes me want to just eat it like soup.
While the onions are sautéeing, I process about 8 of the other onions, put them into quart freezer bags, and throw them in the freezer.
That way I make good use of all the onions and the next time I want to make sauce (or anything else requiring chopped onion), I just grab a bag or two out of the freezer and throw them in a pot.
I process the tomato in the food processor just so there aren’t pieces of skin in the sauce before I add them to the tomatoes.
Once the onions are nice and cooked, I add the tomatoes into the pot with them, add salt to taste, and simmer for anywhere between and thirty minutes and four hours. The longer it simmer, the better it tastes.
That’s it!
I use the other half of the can of tomatoes to make super easy and delicious turkey chili, which I usually make at the same time I’m making the sauce.
This recipe makes five 28-ounce jars of sauce.
I put them into jars so you could see how much it makes, but I don’t do the whole canning thing. It’s a goal one day, but right now I’m not a canner.
I put four jars into one quart freezer bags and I lay them flat and freeze them, and I keep one jar in the fridge to use right away.
The total cost of 5 jars of sauce is $5.74, which works out to about $1.15/28 oz jar, or $.04/ounce!
(Jarred Classico sauce at Costco costs $.10/ounce, so it’s less than half the cost. And it’s way better!)
If you are looking to cut back on salt, sugar, preservatives, and your grocery bill, this is an easy and delicious way to start!
Here is the recipe adjusted for using one 105 ounce can (will make approximately three 28-ounce jars).
Easy Homemade Pasta Sauce
This pasta sauce is so easy and so good. It's much less expensive than jarred sauce, only has two ingredients, and is very simple to make. You'll never buy the jarred stuff again!
Ingredients
- 1 - 105 ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 1/2 - 1 onion diced
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 1/2 - 1 tsp salt to taste
Instructions
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Heat olive oil in large pot and saute onions until slightly browned.
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While onions are cooking, puree tomatoes in food processor.
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Add pureed tomatoes into the pot with the onions in large pot. Bring to a low boil, then reduce heat and simmer for one to four hours.
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This is a great base sauce. Add in your favorite herbs/seasonings/extras like basil, oregano, garlic, parmesan cheese, sausage, ground turkey or whatever!
Sounds delicious! We make the same here but add garlic with the onions and of course some Italian seasoning…. Sometimes some red wine!! But I can’t for the life of me figure out how you get all of those jars with only a can and a half of tomatoes? Did i read it wrong?
She uses 2-105 ounce cans of tomatoes