Homemade Tomato Sauce is made from canned tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, onions, garlic, and lots of herbs! Add meatballs to your simmering sauce, then serve over your favorite pasta for an easy family-friendly traditional Italian dinner.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 ½ cups onions diced
- 10 garlic cloves minced
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 28 oz cans tomato sauce
- 2 28 oz cans crushed tomatoes
- 2 ½ tsp salt
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- pinch of baking soda or sugar if needed to fix acidity
Instructions
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Set the Instant Pot to saute on high for 5 minutes. Add the olive oil and onions. Stir frequently, until the onions are soft and translucent. Add the minced garlic and saute for 1 minute more.
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Turn off saute. Pour the water into the pot and deglaze. Add the tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, salt, garlic powder, basil, Italian seasoning, dried parsley black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Do not stir.
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Close and lock the lid. Set to pressure cook/manual on LOW for 15 minutes. When complete, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes. Complete a controlled quick release of remaining pressure.
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Open the lid and stir the sauce. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired. If sauce is too acidic, add baking powder or sugar in pinches until sauce is balanced.
Notes
TIP 1: Tomatoes are naturally acidic and thus, tomato based sauces can taste too acidic and sometimes even bitter. The two most common ways to fix this are adding a pinch of baking soda or a little sugar to the sauce once it’s done cooking. Baking soda is an alkaline that will help balance the excess acid. Sugar also cuts down the acidity and creates a more balanced sauce. A pinch of either should do the trick.
TIP 2: Always use low pressure: tomatoes, especially tomato-based sauces, are notorious for giving the burn notice while pressure cooking. One of the simplest ways to make sure your tomatoes and sauces don’t burn is to use low pressure rather than the default of high pressure that most recipes use. Pressure cooking this marinara sauce on low for a little more time than you would on high pressure ensures that you won’t get the burn notice.
Storing: marinara sauce that’s been pressure cooked will keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container. It will keep in the freezer when stored in airtight freezer safe storage bags for up to 6 months (for optimal quality) to 1 year.
With Fresh Tomatoes: You’ll need about 10-20 large tomatoes. Plum or paste tomatoes are the best tomatoes for making sauces and you can choose to peel them or not. Since plum tomatoes are generally small, use 20. If using a large tomato like a beefsteak, you may only need 10. Follow the recipe as written, replacing the canned tomato sauce and crushed tomatoes with roughly chopped fresh tomatoes. When pressure cooking is finished, use an immersion blender to puree the tomatoes into a smooth sauce. *Do not add the full ½ cup of water when deglazing. Add only a few tablespoons, as the tomatoes will give off water while cooking and you don’t want the sauce to end up being too watery.
Want to can this sauce? Consult with a canning expert to determine how to safely prepare this recipe for canning.
