Everyone needs a back pocket recipe right? Well, this is mine. I certainly won’t deny that I use jar pasta sauce, but this homemade pasta sauce is so easy and so quick, there’s really no reason not to have sauce that only tastes like it’s been simmering all day.

This recipe evokes quite a bit of nostalgia for me. There are a handful of things you will never see in my mother’s kitchen. There may be kitchen gadgets galore, but you will be hard pressed to find a.) canned soup and b.) jarred sauce. We always had homemade pasta sauce growing up. Not like steam and peel the tomatoes homemade, but more than opening a jar – not that there is anything wrong with that!

This recipe does use canned tomato sauce in order to save the hassle of peeling and hand crushing tomatoes. So I suppose this is still a ‘jarred’ sauce of sorts. Either way, the result is highly satisfying.

Simple Tomato Sauce

Name: Simple Tomato Sauce
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 8 cups
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil; 1 large yellow onion, finely diced; 4 cloves garlic, minced; 1 teaspoon kosher salt; 3/4 cup white wine; 5 15-ounce cans tomato sauce; 3 ounces tomato paste; 1 tablespoon italian seasoning; 1/2 teaspoon pure ground black pepper

My favorite thing to do with this recipe is to make big batches of it, can or freeze it, and store it in my pantry. Using the 3 1/2 cup mason jars is perfect – it’s just enough to add to bolognese, amatriciana, or just a plain pound of pasta.

So perfect for hot or late nights when you don’t want take out but want minimal effort (and mess) in regard to cooking dinner. The application of this sauce goes beyond pasta as well – zucchini noodles, sautéed peppers, onions and sausage, spaghetti squash. Yum!

If going the traditional route, you could definitely replace the italian seasoning with fresh herbs like basil and oregano. It’s a personal preference of convenience and taste for me. For the canned tomato sauce, the choices can be a bit daunting. My Mom prefers Contadina, I like the Stop & Shop brand organic tomato sauce – tomato, tomahto – whichever work for you! (see what I did there??) Though I may have bad jokes, this recipe is certainly not.

You’re just a few simple steps to stocking up your pantry with an easy, go-to meal!