I hate to sound hyperbolic, but this 5 Ingredient Butter Tomato Sauce is probably the last red sauce recipe I’ll ever need. It’s ridiculously easy and still “lick the spoon” good. No, more like “scoop spoonfuls into your mouth sans pasta” good. Or, “I might have to make this into a soup” good.
It’s All About the Butter
How is it so good? If you’re a fan of plain buttered pasta with salt and pepper, you already know that it’s all about the butter. Butter gives this sauce a delicate creaminess, compliments the sweetness of the tomatoes, and provides a little bit of body to keep the sauce from feeling too thin or light. It’s just perfect, really. So yes, real butter is mandatory for this recipe.
The Secret is in the Salting
Also, I’m a huge advocate of salting food properly. Salt doesn’t just make food salty, it pronounces individual flavors and helps your tongue differentiate subtleties in flavors that would otherwise be lost.
Too much salt is bad, obviously, for both flavor and health. But, if you salt your food at the very end you’ll get that much needed punch of flavor and still a lot less salt than you’d be getting from pre-packaged or restaurant foods.
This sauce is the perfect example of this concept. When I added the final salt to this sauce after it had simmered for a half hour, the flavor went from “Yeah, that’s tomato sauce.” to “WHOA. Super rich, slightly sweet, and utterly divine.” So don’t judge the sauce until you add your final salt. It changes everything.
Add Toasted Breadcrumbs
What about those deliciously toasty breadcrumbs? They’re an easy, inexpensive, and vegetarian alternative to Parmesan. It’s best to make them out of old stale bread because A) you get better texture and B) you’re saving that bread from being thrown out. See my tutorial on How to Make Breadcrumbs.
Unfortunately I didn’t have any old bread today so I used the store bought bread crumbs that I had in my pantry. They’re still pleasantly flavorful and give the pasta a wonderful texture. The next time you’re about to chuck a piece of stale bread, toss it into the freezer instead (properly wrapped and sealed, of course) and save it for the next time you want to make some super awesome toasted bread crumbs! :)
Recipe adapted from Marcella Hazan’s Tomato Sauce.
Pasta with 5 Ingredient Butter Tomato Sauce
Servings 4Ingredients
TOASTED BREAD CRUMBS (optional)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.32)
- 1/2 cup breadcrumbs ($0.24)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano ($0.05)
- Freshly cracked Pepper ($0.05)
PASTA WITH BUTTER TOMATO SAUCE
- 8 oz. pasta ($0.50)
- 4 Tbsp salted butter ($0.31)
- 3 cloves garlic ($0.24)
- 28 oz. can whole peeled tomatoes* ($2.43)
- 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste) ($0.02)
- Freshly cracked pepper ($0.05)
Instructions
- To make the toasted bread crumbs, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add the bread crumbs, salt, oregano, and some freshly cracked pepper. Cook and stir the bread crumbs continuously until they achieve a deep golden color. Remove them from the skillet and let cool until ready to use.
- To make the sauce, mince the garlic and add it to a large deep skillet with the butter. Sauté the garlic in the butter over medium heat for about a minute, or just until it becomes fragrant. Add the can of tomatoes, along with all the juices, and some freshly cracked pepper. Break the tomatoes up into a few chunks with your spoon (they should be soft and easily crushed).
- Stir the ingredients in the skillet, then let it come up to a simmer. Once it reaches a simmer, reduce the heat to medium-low and let it continue to simmer, without a lid, for about 30 minutes. Stir the sauce occasionally as it simmers, breaking the tomatoes into smaller pieces as you stir.
- While the sauce simmers, cook the pasta according to the package directions. Save about 1/2 cup of the starchy cooking water before draining the pasta in a colander.
- After simmering for 30 minutes, the sauce should have thickened and become slightly less acidic and slightly more sweet. Season the sauce with a final 1/2 tsp of salt (or to your liking). Add the cooked and drained pasta to the sauce and toss to coat. Use some of the reserved starchy cooking water to loosen the pasta if it becomes too dry. Top the pasta and sauce with a generous sprinkle of toasted bread crumbs, then serve.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Want a version of this 5 Ingredient Butter Tomato Sauce, but with meat? Check out The Best Weeknight Pasta Sauce.
How to Make Butter Tomato Sauce – Step by Step Photos
To make the toasted bread crumbs, heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Once the oil is hot and shimmering, add 1/2 cup bread crumbs, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp oregano, and some freshly cracked pepper. Stir and cook the bread crumbs until they become a deep golden color (this happens quickly), then remove from the heat. They should look like damp sand or brown sugar. Let the bread crumbs cool until you’re ready to use them.
For reference, here is a spoonful of the untoasted bread crumbs next to the toasted bread crumbs. (sorry about the blur).
On to the amazing sauce… Start with 4 Tbsp butter and 3 cloves of minced garlic in a large, deep skillet. Sauté the garlic in the butter over medium heat for about a minute, or just until the garlic becomes really fragrant (you don’t want it to brown).
Then add one 28oz. can of whole peeled tomatoes to the skillet. I didn’t realize I bought tomatoes “in heavy juice with basil”, but I didn’t find the basil made much difference in the end flavor. The heavy juice was nice, though. It created an instant sauce that didn’t need much thickening.
Break the tomatoes up into smaller pieces as you stir the tomatoes into the butter and garlic. The tomatoes will be soft and easily crushed with a spoon. Finally, add some freshly cracked pepper. Let the sauce come up to a simmer without a lid. Once it reaches a simmer, turn the heat down to medium-low and let it gently simmer for 30 minutes.
Stir occasionally as it simmers and continue to break the tomatoes up into smaller pieces. The sauce will slowly sweeten as it simmers and become less acidic, but the real flavor comes when you add a final 1/2 tsp of salt (more or less depending on your taste buds). Taste and season accordingly.
While the sauce is simmering away, cook 8oz. pasta according to the directions. Before draining it in a colander, save some of the starchy pasta cooking water because it’s great for loosening up the sauce if it gets too dry when you add the pasta. Stir the drained pasta into the sauce.
Finally, top it with some of those delicious toasted bread crumbs! (I added some chopped parsley just to give the photos some color.)
Then DIG IN.
I usually love BudgetByte’s recipes… But this one just fell flat for us. I like a more flavorful sauce, with lots of herbs I suppose. My husband noted that someone that loves buttered noodles would love this.
So so so good and really simple to make as well! Don’t need to buy sauce (that typically disappoint) any longer. The crunch of the toasted breadcrumbs was a nice touch. Reminds me of the flavor/texture of eggplant parmesan dishes.
I’m obsessed with this! I made it the other day and it was super easy to manage even though I had three pots going on the stage at once. I didn’t do the breadcrumbs but I cooked up some diced chicken to stir through, and I finished it off with grated fresh parmesan. The buttery flavour of the sauce is to die for. Will definitely be making this again.
This sauce is absolutely pure and perfect. It needs nothing extra! Thank you for the great recipe!
Thank you Ellen!
My boyfriend loves your website, and only makes recipes that you post. We are planning an Italian night and we’re making this recipe! We also want to incorperate meatballs with this recipe, but we are not sure when to add the additional bread crumbs. What would you recommend?
You use the bread crumbs on top after the dish is plated, like you would use Parmesan cheese. :) Is that what you were asking?
The toasted breadcrumbs are genius. I’m not vegetarian but occasionally cook for kosher guests and i always keep an eye out for dairy replacements. The texture was surprisingly good and I didn’t miss the cheese at all.
So good! Had this for dinner tonight alongside some steamed veggies. Easy to make and we enjoyed it so muchthat everyone went back for more.
I was skeptical of this recipe – it seemed too simple – but it’s great! Even my 11 year old son who normally turns his nose up at tomato-based sauces liked it. Like others have commented, this is even better heated up as leftovers with a little parmesan on top.
AWESOME! If I would’ve known it was so easy I would’ve made it 20 years ago!!! I will never buy jar sauce again. It is great alone or you can play around with seasonings and add ins- literally a perfect sauce. Good canned tomatoes are key and also good butter – they make a difference. Thank you for this recipe!!
I love this sauce! I use Cento San Marzano tomatoes. It tastes even better as leftovers.
Have you ever bulk prepared and frozen this sauce for future use? I’d like to make a whole bunch all at once but I’m not sure exactly how to change the recipe other than extending the simmering time to allow for more liquid to heat off
I haven’t bulk prepped this one, since it’s so easy to whip up fresh, but I don’t think you’d need to do anything differently to bulk prep it. Just make sure to divide and cool completely in the fridge before transferring it to the freezer. :)
I would like to try this, but with fresh tomatoes. Can you offer any advice? I’m trying to help come up with some recipes to share with food pantry recipients. They have access to lots of fresh tomatoes and this recipe might work!
You might need to blanch and peel the tomatoes first, or else the peels may affect the texture of the sauce quite a bit. Other than that, I’m not sure exactly what changes would need to be made without testing it out and experiencing the flavor difference between the canned and fresh tomatoes. That would guide me on what changes need to be made.
Thank you for the reply. I just now saw your message. I had a feeling that there were going to need to be peeled first.
I made this a couple of days ago with a large can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes and Cavatappi noodles. I skipped the bread crumb topping. A bit ago I reheated the leftovers in a bowl with some wilted baby spinach. My daughter was nearby and asked if I’d save a few bites for her. Ugghh. After she ate the rest she said “this is quite possibly the best thing I have ever eaten”. I would agree. For such simple ingredients, this is so INCREDIBLY WONDERFUL!
Incredible!! So glad I tried this and it will definitely become a regular.
Thank you for sharing this awesome and easy pantry recipe!
Hi Sandra, for fresh tomatoes, you might want to try cutting them in half, removing as much tomato gel and seeds from each half into a strainer over a bowl to catch that yummy goodness. You can then place these cut side down on a baking tray with at least 1″ or more of a lip to catch the additional juices. Bake at about 350 or 375 depending on the size of your tomatoes for about 45 minutes or until you see the skins starting to turn dark. You will easily be able to remove the skins while hot and you have a more concentrated tomato product. I do this for my canning now. I would cover the baking tray with parchment paper, especially if there is a question about an acid reaction. I’ve used stainless steel trays and then I found an enamel coated one which was huge. Saved me a lot of roasting time…lol! Anyway, I add fresh garlic, onion, and red bell pepper to the skinned tomatoes, along with the strained and roasting juices, and cook it on the stovetop. You can add anything else you want spicewise and then I use a stick blender to make a smooth sauce (my preference). If all you have are fresh cherry tomatoes, look up the recipes for roasting them. It’s like eating candy! They come out fantastic! I use a little oil when I roast cherry tomatoes in a Pyrex dish because I don’t can those but roasting cherry tomatoes is a very versatile recipe and you can make add Mexican spices, Italian spices, etc. I find myself eating the roasted cherry tomatoes by the spoonful. Hope this helps you with the fresh tomato issue!
great recipe, simple, quick and tasty. I am a huge fan of San Marzano tomatoes and I use them whenever a recipe calls for canned tomatoes. In my area we have Shoprite stores. Their San Marzano tomatoes are the best on the market and I have tried them all! When they have their “can-can” sales I stock up. Just passing this along. Love your recipes, you are very on point!
This is such a great, simple spaghetti recipe! It tastes so much better than store-bought sauce and pasta; it’s filling and delicious! I added some cooked kale from another one of the recipes on this site, just to add some greens to the dish, and it was so tasty (I imagine some cooked spinach would do the trick as well!). The breadcrumbs are such a nice added flavour and texture to an otherwise plain meal.
Definitely late to the party…has anyone tried using 1 can of diced tomatoes and 1 can of tomato sauce? I always seem to have these two things because I buy them at Costco and I have whole tomatoes less often. I did see the comment that diced tomatoes are usually made from the lower quality ones. Maybe I’ll give this a try and post my results (or even do a taste test?).