Learn how to make the best tomato sauce, by learning how NOT to make bad tomato sauce!
I’m sorry, but I just can’t take it anymore. I truly and honestly, CAN’T.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
If I don’t write what I have been wanting to write, and hit PUBLISH, I feel like my head is going to explode, and that is not a good look for me.
If you want to skip my rant and just get the recipe for a PROPER and AUTHENTIC , QUICK ITALIAN SAUCE or a 6 INGREDIENT, REAL ITALIAN PASTA SAUCE, you’re most welcome to skip the rest of my post.
I ask that you humor me. Read my rant. Understand my frustration. My (Italian) blood pressure has been rising and I have to do something about it. You’ve heard of catharsis, right? Well, I’m in desperate need of it, so here goes.
Deep breath, yes, you too. Actually, you may want to lie down on the couch, and pour yourself a glass of wine because this is going to take some time.
Why am I so upset?
Part of the territory that goes along with food blogging is looking at other recipes, food photography, articles, food sections in newspapers, and magazines—you get the picture. Here’s how I end up feeling:
1. Often, it makes me realize how far I have to go in the world of food photography and styling, recipe creation and writing. Basically, it depresses the hell out of me.
2. Sometimes, it makes me feel as if I’m the best damn food photographer/stylist, recipe creator and food writer this side of the Atlantic ocean. You know those recipes and food photos that I’m talking about? The ones you should be looking at when you’re desperately determined to make your latest diet actually work?
3. And sometimes, reading some recipes or articles just gets my blood boiling, even before my pasta water has barely made it to a simmer.
“Why?” you ask? Well, I’ll tell you—it’s because so many recipes have been butchered even more than the rump roast and pork chops that are in them; made to sound like an Opera Cake when the outcome is more like a discordant Dump Cake.
I know what many of you are already thinking, “to each his own” and all those other quips which are thrown about when playing devil’s advocate. Allow me to clarify my point: anyone is free to post, publish, recite or otherwise create any recipe for anything they like. By the same token, I am also free to give my opinion of those recipes and that is exactly what I intend to do.
My tomato sauce background.
My mother was born in Italy; her parents were born in Italy, and their parents were born in Italy, and so on and so on, just like the ad for Breck shampoo. (Now I’ve totally dated myself.)
Seafood pasta? I have a recipe for that.
Types of tomato sauces are incredibly varied throughout Italy, but they are all made with quality ingredients, just like the typical Neapolitan pizza sauce. I grew up with a more southern-style Italian tomato sauce being made at home, and have continued to make it the way my family has always made sauce. Is there only one way? Absolutely not; in fact, we probably have over a dozen ways to make tomato sauce, and I rarely make it the same way twice in a row.
I’m also not claiming that I make the best sauce, or that I always make great sauce. (I once threw a ramekin of salsa into a simmering pot of tomato sauce thinking it was tomatoes—blechh.) However, it’s usually pretty darn good and it is an authentic Italian way of making sauce. Taste is subjective, so I’m not going to argue the point. However, the quality of ingredients, especially the canned tomatoes that are used, is key.
Having said that, here is what burns my cookies every single time: recipes which claim to be authentic Italian or Italian-style, yet are the furthest from anything an actual Italian would ever put in a pot. I have seen so many completely inauthentic tomato sauce recipes recently, claiming to be authentic, classic or “the best” which are just chock full of misinformation. Case in point: BuzzFeed’s “How to make the Best Tomato Sauce”. I’m going to give a detailed explanation why this is the biggest “how to” failure for making sauce that I’ve ever seen.
Fighting a losing battle.
One of the biggest reasons that I spend countless hours on my blog is to encourage people of all ages to get into the kitchen and cook healthy, unprocessed meals. I also want them to realize that many healthy, delicious meals and basic recipes do not take a lot of time and effort, expensive ingredients or specialized equipment. (Pasta with a creamy hidden zucchini sauce.)
This BuzzFeed article has probably managed to scare off scores of potential cooks from ever wanting to attempt to make homemade sauce, and that upsets me. A lot. Facebook commenter Dan Holley says it best,
“I’m okay with store-bought tasting a bit inferior if it means I can bypass the 10 steps, 486 hours and dozen-or-so culinary devices required to make this sauce. :/ ”
I love to cook, even lengthy and labor-intensive recipes at times, and there’s no chance in hell that I would ever make tomato sauce again if this was the only recipe I could use.
I realize that writing this is not the most politically correct thing to do, but I feel so strongly about saving authentic Italian cuisine from extinction, that I’ve decided that this is something I must do. Nonno and Nonna would be proud of me, and that’s what matters the most to me.
Time for another DEEP BREATH. (Another glass of wine?)
Are you ready for BuzzFeed’s 12 steps to the “Best” Tomato Sauce? I’d rather do the other 12 step program to tell you the truth, but this has to be done. First, I’ll list BuzzFeed’s instructions in caps, then I’ll add my rebuttal, and let you form your own opinions from there.
How NOT to make tomato sauce. Read on.
- USE FRESH TOMATOES WHEN THEY’RE IN SEASON. Who can argue with that? However, Buzzfeed is completely off-base in giving advice on which fresh tomatoes are good to use for sauce and which are bad. Roma and beefsteak tomatoes are listed as being “good” for sauce, when in fact, Romas are good and beefsteak are in fact better for salads. Buzzfeed also claims heirloom and cherry tomatoes are “bad” for sauce, but what is so interesting to me, are the reasons for stating these tomatoes are bad for sauce: “heirlooms are just too expensive to use for sauce”. Well, I happen to know that many people actually grow their own heirloom tomatoes (and there are many different types) and sometimes have too many to eat fresh. The piece also advises that cherry tomatoes are bad because they “…will take forever to peel because they’re so small…” (REALLY?) And “…they don’t have much flesh anyway”. Here goes my blood pressure again: good-quality cherry tomatoes can make a fabulous sauce! Next, the instructions state, “You will need to peel and crush them.” Here we go again, I don’t recall any rule or law stating that I have to peel my tomatoes in order to make sauce. First of all, why must tomatoes be peeled? I happen to like getting extra nutrition whenever possible, and eating the tomato skin is a good thing (as long as they’re organic). I for one, refuse to peel my tomatoes. Oh, and BuzzFeed, here’s a tip: a 6 step tutorial in step one of a recipe, does not bode well if you actually want cooks to stick around until the very end of the recipe.
- WHEN THEY’RE NOT IN SEASON, USE CANNED. Okay, I’ll agree with the fact that fresh tomatoes can be pretty bad when they’re not in season, but advising people to used “canned tomatoes” without any other directive is terrible. Unless you’re going to buy Pomodoro San Marzano dell’Agro Sarnese-Nocerino D.O.P. (I discuss them in my penne arrabbiata recipe) you won’t be assured of the very best quality tomatoes. One of the canned tomatoes in the top photo of the BuzzFeed article are terribly acidic and bitter. BuzzFeed’s recipe also calls for four 28 oz cans of tomatoes; I don’t know about you, but when I make a big pot of sauce, I use about half this amount. Unless you’re cooking for a small Italian village, I’d recommend not making such a massive quantity, which will also make it easier to season.
- BUILD A MORE FLAVORFUL BASE. Now we are told to start roasting garlic. OMG. Another recipe within a recipe? And this only takes 50 minutes. While you’re at it, why don’t you start making tomorrow morning’s breakfast? Beat some eggs and throw in some stale bread for overnight French toast, and maybe unload the dishwasher while you’re waiting on that roasted garlic. Also, fresh garlic is not always used in all authentic Italian sauces, but I don’t know anyone in Italy who roasts their garlic before putting it in the pot to make sauce. Okay, so next we’re supposed to chop up onions, celery and carrots which is fine, if that’s how you want to flavor your sauce. However, there’s a couple of MASSIVE errors in this step: cooking the vegetables in two tablespoons of vegetable oil? NO! NO! NO! First of all, it must be olive oil, extra virgin olive oil to be exact, (a little lard is good, too). Secondly, for two large onions, two celery stalks, a carrot and 7 lbs of tomatoes, am I to believe that two tablespoons of oil will be enough? Now I’m starting to think that this guide is supposed to be humorous—did I miss something earlier?
- SEASON AS YOU GO. Again, this isn’t what I would call “wrong”, as one must taste and season as needed, but if you are cooking for a small army, with unsalted, fresh or canned tomatoes, “a pinch” of salt here and a “pinch” of salt there, ain’t gonna cut it. You’re going to need teaspoonfuls of salt, and several of them. The type of salt used is important (I like Diamond Kosher or a sea salt), and depending which type of salt is used, the amount, and flavor will vary greatly.
- ADD SUGAR. I can barely hold it together with this one. This has to be my very biggest pet peeve with tomato sauce recipes. PEOPLE, listen to me, tomatoes are a FRUIT, and they do not need added sugar! The only reason sugar would be necessary, is if the tomatoes are not good quality, acidic, bitter or tasteless. If this is the case, then it should be a pinch and without good tomatoes, you won’t end up with good sauce, anyway. I would choose not to make sauce in the first place if I had to use tomatoes of the previous description. BuzzFeed’s instructions actually advise adding one tablespoon to the vegetables and the rest of a quarter cup (2 oz) of sugar to the tomatoes! PLEASE, NO! Keep the sugar for your desserts, because it doesn’t belong in your sauce. I know this is going to cause a major backlash of people stating, “my mother always used sugar in her sauce or “gravy” and it was the best I ever had. I can appreciate recipes which are handed down from past generations, but in this day and age, we have so much processed, over-sweetened, sugar-packed foods in our diet. Can’t we at least try to make homemade tomato sauce completely unprocessed and without adding sugar? Trust me, the flavor will not suffer if you use good quality ingredients.
- ADD WINE BEFORE TOMATOES. All I’m going to say to this is that I have never added any wine to my tomato sauce. I’d rather drink half a bottle than have it reduce in a pot of sauce that will taste frickin’ amazing without it. So for me, add the wine to my glass instead, grazie.
- ADD TOMATOES, COOK 15 MINUTES. So, here we are three days later, and we’re finally adding tomatoes. Uncork another bottle of wine to celebrate!
- PUREE WITH A STICK BLENDER. What about not blending at all? And if one must blend the tomatoes, I would do so before cooking them. In this “recipe” that means all your veggies are going to be blended too. By now you should realize this article is not going to teach you how to make the best tomato sauce.
- IF YOU WANT MEAT, NOW IS THE TIME. Oh, dear God. Are you kidding me? After all that, and now you want me to get another pot and start cooking meat? Is your head ready to explode yet? I’m kind of scared to keep reading; I might be told to go hunting for my meat next! Oh, wait, if I want meatballs, they’re included in recipe #3, and I’m told I have to sear the meatballs before adding them to the sauce or they’ll fall apart—THIS IS COMPLETELY FALSE! (You know, back in high school and college, heck, even in grad school, I remember having to have a bibliography to show where I got my information when I wrote a report. I think that this is a good idea and maybe it should apply to articles like this one). Dropping raw meatballs into simmering sauce makes awesome meatballs that do not fall apart and I know this from experience. Here’s my advice on using any kind of meat in sauce: sauté it with extra virgin olive oil and garlic, and/or onion in the beginning, so that the flavor of the meat comes through in the sauce, plus, you’ll dirty one less pan!
- LET IT SIMMER 1-2 HOURS. Depending on how thick or runny the tomatoes are, will determine how long you should simmer the sauce. Cook it to a consistency which will stick to the pasta without being too runny or too thick. I’ve never simmered my sauce for two hours as it would be much too thick (imho).
- STORE SMALLER BATCHES. If you’ve used 7lbs of tomatoes to make sauce, yes, you will need to store smaller batches in the freezer.
- EAT PASTA FOREVER. Okay, Buzzfeed, I can’t argue with this one. Let’s just work on the other 11.
Conclusion
I’m going to go out on a limb and say that it’s extremely likely that no one has ever used this “recipe” to make this sauce. (Which is a shame, as I doubt I’d be writing this if they had). I also bet if they have, they’d agree that they didn’t learn how to make the best tomato sauce, too.
As a recipe developer and food writer, I know the importance of testing recipes, not just once, but over and over, so that I end up with a quality recipe to offer to my readers. I do not have a clue as to how many times I have made pasta sauce, but I can practically do it with my eyes shut.
My next post will be a very quick and simple, completely unprocessed, sugar free, delicious tomato sauce. Coincidentally, it does not have 10 steps, take 486 hours or require a dozen culinary devices in order to make it. I hope you’ll come back and try it.
Thanks for listening.
I feel better now.
* How to make the best tomato sauce? One of the ways is this quick, easy and delicious tomato sauce recipe.
Don’t miss another recipe or travel post; sign up for my free subscription!
Christina’s Cucina is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
I don’t think I have ever used a recipe for tomato sauce, but I am delighted to see that what I do is correct. I really only make it when the heirloom tomatoes are available, then I make lots, and freeze in 2 or 3 serving sizes. Never any wine, I use a mouli to crush – do NOT use canned anything. This year for the first time in a long time, as we have just moved house, I will have my own home-grown tomatoes, can’t wait. On the subject of acidic tomatoes, when we are out of the heirloom ones and are forced to use supermarket tomatoes, my husband uses just a tad of baking soda, it fizzes up in the sauce, and then disappears, but there is no acid taste in the end. I have no idea where he got this from, and I have never seen it in a recipe, but it does work. I read your whole “rant” (as well as all the comments!) and couldn’t agree more. I do love your site, Christina, and am finding that your recipes are so much alike to those my Mother taught me all those years ago in Scotland. Now, when I need a specific recipe I go to Christina’s Cucina first! Keep up the good work – I understand how hard you work to delight us with your wisdom and beautiful photographs, but trust me, you are really valued for every word you type!
Oh, you are so kind, Lee, to leave me such a wonderful message! Thank you so much! You have no idea how much your words and sentiment mean to me. :) That was a LOOONNNGG post, so the fact that you read it all (and all the comments) is very nice to hear! I was (and still am) so upset that such misinformation is being spread on a large scale. I’m trying to do my part, but it’s definitely frustrating as I’m going against the tide.
Thanks again for your lovely comments! :) CC
Ciao Christina,
I have just discovered your blog. Your hilarious rant on the buzz feed recipe had me in stitches! I too make a plain tomato sauce that does not take 3 days of prep…. it is very similar to yours. By the way, we an Italo-Canadian family from the maritime region. My husband’s family is from the Veneto and my all-time favourite food is the lasagne that my mother-in-law and sister-in-law make. It has a rich besciamella as well as the meat sauce. As far as our family is concerned, it should be a food group. With the accompanying glass of wine of course!
Hi Adrienne! Welcome to Christina’s Cucina! :) You’ll read one of these rants every few months or so. I can’t contain myself sometimes. If I could rant about everything I want to, I’d fill up my site with them! Glad you enjoyed this post.
Lovely to hear that your family’s priorities are in the right place! haha! Please keep in touch!
This is by far the best article I’ve read related to making tomato sauce !!!! I would love to hear what you think about all the dos and don’ts out there regarding home canning processes. They have been giving me nightmares. Wonder why more people are not poisoned by “doing it wrong”. Love the simplicity of your recipe.
Goodness, can you imagine how ridiculous it would be to make that “recipe”? Silly people, making super simple and deliciously healthy recipes into a Frankenstein of a concoction that doesn’t even taste good!
I used to help my mother can quarts and quarts of tomato sauce when I was younger (I think I got put off by all that work) and so I haven’t canned anything as an adult! What is it that people are doing when canning? Thanks so much for stopping by, Peggy! :)
I was processing jars of really easy sauce the way my friend taught me … in the oven. Found out this method would kill me even though I had been eating this sauce for 2 years. This year I caved in bought the canner so I could do it right. Took 33# of tomatoes and got 6 pints of sauce. After reading your article I’m wondering why not just make it as I go !!! Know anybody that needs a few cases of canning jars ???
In the oven? I’ve never heard of that! Wow. Well, you still need jars of tomatoes to make the sauce as you go, but I buy Mutti in glass jars which are from Italy (Cost Plus World Market sells them at a good price). Much easier! I made my vodka sauce tonight which is almost the same as the quick sauce, but tastes different, for a bit of a change when you want ;)
I have found out since why oven processing is not safe. I see there is a Cost Plus World Market near me. I see several Mutti products. Which do you use for your sauces?
Hi Peggy, not sure if the link below will work, but I use the tomato puree in glass jars. It’s a bit thick so I rinse the jar with water and add it to the sauce, and it’s perfect. I also buy the Mutti tomato paste for use in soups, etc. if I don’t want to open a jar of sauce for a little tomato flavor. Sign up for the World Market Explorer program and they’ll send you $10 off $30 coupons AND they keep track of your food purchases and give you a $10 reward after every $200 purchase.
http://www.mutti-parma.com/us/#!/our-tomato-fields-and-your-kitchen/from-field-to-fork
Link works … could not find Vodka sauce recipe on your site
Just put “vodka” or whatever you’re looking for in the search bar :) Here it is: https://christinascucina.com/2013/06/zia-francescas-penne-alla-vodka.html
Great read!! My biggest pet peeve is when dried Italian seasoning is called for in an ‘authentic’ tomato sauce recipe. My mom was from Calabria and she taught me to always use fresh ingredients. The only time I use dried oregano is in pizzaiola with veal. My aunt in Italy taught me this dish when I was ten years old.
Thanks for sharing this post!!
Me too! Oregano should definitely be in pizzaiola! :) You are welcome, Rosa. :)
Always interesting to hear different takes on sauces. My in-laws are Italian so for a while I got obsessed with finding the “authentic” Italian tomato sauce and then I realized that it was a ridiculous quest as everyone and their grandmother has a different definition of authentic!
My favourite tomato sauce is the simplest. I make a lot of it in the summer and freeze it for winter consumption. Local Roma tomatoes, boiled and then chopped up and left in some salt to draw out the water. Then through the mill (it’s more work, but I do like my sauce w/o seeds and bits of skin). Saute some onion till nice and soft, a bit of garlic, lots of basil and then simmer the strained tomatoes for about an hour. Season with more salt as needed. If I am feeling ambitious, I’ll add some finely chopped carrot, celery, onion, zucchini etc. I usually add wine only with meat sauces.
My mother-in-law cans strained tomatoes as well (we just did it last weekend), so I use that during the winter. If those are used up, I used the jarred passata. But, if I am making a straight tomato sauce out of store bought passata, I find I need to add a tad bit of sugar. I always find canned/jarred tomatoes really acidic – and I think I’ve tried every brand out there. I can eat my MIL’s tomatoes straight from the jar, but I hate store bought straight from the jar.
[…] Christina at Christina’s Cucina had me grinning and nodding (kind of excessively) while reading her post about how Buzzfeed got it all wrong with tomato sauce. […]
I plant three Roma tomato plants. That gives me enough for fresh sauce in the summer and to freeze them (just cut to fit in the bags) for sauce in the winter. The only oil in my kitchen is good olive oil – several kinds, actually. Why do people make some things soooo hard!
I don’t know why people make simple things so difficult sometimes, but it’s also giving them a worse outcome! My tomato plants are just setting fruit now and I’m so anxious for them to be ripe!! Fresh tomatoes are the best!
Please excuse me for commenting so late. I came hear after reading Katie’s (Thyme for Cooking) rant about mason jars, bacon cookies, bottled cooking sauces etc.
Hahahahahaha! It’s as if I’m looking in a mirror reading your post! Fabulous! We’re constantly screaming at the cooks on TV or exclaiming as we read various internet recipes: “What are you doing?!” “No!!! You don’t have to do that!” “That’s insane! You’re ruining it!” etc. etc.
I’m not of Italian descent at all but we make tomato sauce all the time. And we think that it’s really good. It’s not exactly rocket science the way we do it and it certainly isn’t a 12 step method. The resulting sauce is delicious! And easy. We do use fresh tomatoes, preferring Romas but choosing whichever tomatoes at the vegetable store seem the ripest. And you’re right, cherry tomatoes are great for sauce!
Peeling?? Deseeding??? Nope, we’re too lazy. We usually use the equivalent of 6 medium sized beefsteak tomatoes to make too much sauce for two for dinner. Generally, our tomato sauce is olive oil, onions, garlic, tomatoes, salt, pepper and oregano. We sometimes throw in a bay leaf. We sometimes add crushed dried cayenne pepper. We sometimes add mushrooms. We very occasionally throw in a splash of red wine. We never add anything more than a pinch of sugar. Ever. Ewwwww. (Any added sugar is only because here in the frozen north, the tomatoes we get are not the best tomatoes, having been picked green and travelled thousands of miles before arriving in our vegetable store.)
It always makes too much sauce for the two of us. Whatever we don’t use goes into the freezer to be used for pizza and/or other dinners requiring tomato sauce.