Best Italian Sunday Red Gravy Recipe (Tomato Sauce)

If you’re looking for Italian red gravy recipes, this delicious AUTHENTIC Italian Sunday gravy recipe will wow your whole family with just 5 ingredients! It’s just want your pasta needs to be spectacular. This slow-cooked tomato sauce recipe makes a big batch  perfect for freezing leftover sauce.  

You’ll get excited when you smell the tomato sauce cooking on your stove! Make sure you have some crusty Italian bread for dipping!

Coming from a big Italian family and the daughter of Italian immigrants, I grew up with Sunday dinner being a time to enjoy a good, unrushed meal with our entire family. It’s such a wonderful family tradition that still continue doing when we can.

I have fond memories of my mother standing at the stove on a Sunday afternoon stirring her Italian tomato sauce that she called “gravy.” In the summers, I’d help my mom and aunt make the best tomato sauce from fresh tomatoes.

She made the best tomato sauce and now you can too!

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon affiliate links which means, if you make a purchase, I’ll receive a small commission but, the price you pay is the same.

This Italian tomato sauce is made with only five ingredients- canned tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, onions, garlic and parsley. No tomato paste is necessary but, add a little bit (about a tablespoon) if you wish.

Because it tastes so incredibly good and is so easy-to-make, it’s worthwhile doing to have a delicious rich red sauce for your pasta dishes that you can just pull out from your freezer.

Learn How to Make Tomato Pasta Sauce Less Acidic with Simple Ways.

Italian Red Gravy Recipes

Using homemade tomato sauce makes any dish so much better! When you see how easy it is to make, you’ll never buy jarred again.

This tomato sauce recipe makes about 4 1/2 quarts of sauce! Because it freezes well, you  can freeze what you don’t use or halve the recipe if you think it’s too much.

As a matter of fact, I NEVER buy jarred spaghetti sauce… ever! Why would I when I can make fresh, delicious homemade sauce easily at home that tastes ten times better without additives and preservatives?

This recipe is similar to my Italian Tomato Sauce with Fresh Tomatoes except it’s EASIER! 

Before I get to the recipe, I want to explain a few things.

Fresh Herbs

Using fresh herbs to make the best Italian gravy recipe is essential. You’ll want to use fresh parsley. You may be wondering why basil isn’t listed here.

I like to add it at the end for some aroma of basil as the tomatoes have already been seasoned with it during the canning process.

Types of Meat

If you want to add meat to this recipe, do it after you’ve cooked the onions and garlic for a few minutes. Below, are the types of meat you can use.

Sausage Links

 Add Italian sausage after the garlic and onions have cooked a bit and let them brown on each side before adding the canned tomato sauce or puree. See my Easy Italian Sausage Tomato Sauce Recipe

Pork Ribs

Sometimes, I’ll add some pork ribs to this recipe. Again, I add it after the garlic and onions have cooked a bit. Pork gives tomato sauce a wonderful flavor. Don’t be alarmed if your sauce turns a bit orange. Pork will do this when it works it’s magic.

Ground Beef

You can add a pound of ground beef to this recipe (after the garlic and onions but, if you choose to do that, go to my meat sauce recipe.

Can I add wine to this sauce?

Yes! If you choose to add wine to this tomato sauce, do so after you’ve added the onions and garlic to saute in the olive oil. If you’re adding raw meat, add the wine as it’s browning. 

I add about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of dry white wine. You can use a dry red wine if that’s all you have one hand but, dry white is what I use.

Ingredients

• extra virgin olive oil
• chopped onions
• chopped garlic
• canned tomato puree
• fresh parsley
• black pepper
• salt to taste

Instructions

1. First, in a large Dutch oven or pot on med/high, add oil, minced garlic.

   

2. Then, add the chopped onions. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until the onions are translucent. If you choose to add meat, do it at this point. Then add 1/2 cup of dry white wine if you wish and let it cook out about five minutes.

   

3. Next, slowly and carefully add the tomato puree. If you add it to fast, it’ll splatter and make a mess of your stove.
4. Then, add the parsley (fresh or dried.)

   

5. Next, stir the sauce. You will see a puddle of oil and that’s o.k. because it’ll cook into the sauce and give it great flavor.

   

6. Then, bring it to a boil, cover reduce heat to low and cook for 2.5 hours stirring it with a wooden spoon every 15 minutes. Be sure to stir the bottom to avoid sticking. Using a heat diffuser helps the sauce not to stick to the bottom of the pot. No more scraping the bottom of the pot to clean it!

Also, if the sauce sticks and you scrape it when stirring, that burnt black pieces will get in your sauce and trust me, you don’t want that!

Long Cooking Time

As I mentioned above, you’ll want to cook this sauce for about 2 1/2 hours. This gives the sauce time to absorb the olive oil, onions and garlic and spices. 

One time, I didn’t let it cook the entire time and it came out a bit raw so, just let it cook and don’t forget to stir it.

Below is a picture of what the sauce looks like after cooking for 2 1/2 hours! It’s DELICIOUS! The first time my friend made this recipe she said her family almost licked their plates clean.

It looks rich in color and tastes so flavorful from the garlic, onions and olive oil. Slow cooking it for a long time makes all the difference. You can’t rush greatness!

Tips for Making the BEST Italian Spaghetti Sauce Recipe

1. Do NOT add sugar! None… not even a spoonful. If you find the acidity to be high in the tomatoes, add 1/4 cup of minced carrots.
2. Do NOT add water to the pot. No, no, no! Do not rinse out the tin containers and add that to the sauce. It will water down your sauce and dilute the flavor.
3. Use a heat diffuser. If your sauce burns, it will burn right on top of the heat source. Put a heat diffuser on the burner and set the pot on top of it to lessen the chance of burning. You will still need to stir it but, if you forget, it won’t burn as much or not at all. Sadly, I’ve burned sauce before and you will taste it. If you do burn the sauce, don’t stir it into the rest of the pot.
4. If you don’t have fresh or dried parsley, feel free to use Italian seasoning instead.
5. Do not use plain olive oil or any other kind of oil. You need a good quality EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL! It adds great flavor to this recipe. I’ve never used anything but EVOO.
6. If you taste test it at the end of the cooking time and feel it needs more garlic, add a sprinkle of garlic powder.
7. If you fancy, add 1/2-3/4 cup of dry white wine at the point of cooking the onions and garlic, cover and continue with instructions.
8. You may add meat (Italian sausage, ground beef or pork spare ribs,) add 1 lb- 1.5lb about 3 minutes after adding the onions and garlic.
9. I like to use a large pot when making this recipe because it gives me plenty of room to stir. Plus, when it begins to splatter, the edges of a large pot will catch the splats instead of going all over my stove and back splash. Trust me, the last thing you want to do is use a pot that’s barely big enough and get burned with hot sauce splatters or a messy stove to clean up. It gets everywhere, even the floor!

Serving Suggestions

Put this Italian tomato sauce recipe on any plain pasta to make it taste so much better than using storebought jarred sauce.

Here are some other great ways to use this recipe:

Easy San Giorgio Baked Ziti Pasta Recipes

Easy Homemade Crispy Chicken Parmesan with Sauce

Easy Authentic Southern Italian Lasagna Recipe

Additionally, I use this recipe to make my Authentic Italian Meatballs and Tomato Sauce + VIDEO.

Italian Red Sauce 

Italian red sauce is an American favorite. How many times have your heard people asking for extra sauce for their pasta, stromboli, or cheesesteak?

This authentic Italian homemade spaghetti sauce recipe is naturally Vegan and gluten-free. It tastes great on any pasta.

It’s nice to have a Vegan recipe to offer your friends who are Vegan. So, keep this recipe in mind for those occasions.

You don’t have to use meat to make spaghetti sauce. I often don’t and this delicious recipe is proof.

San Marzano Tomatoes

You can use San Marzano tomatoes to make this recipe. They’re imported from Italy and are really good although, they’re pricy.

I mostly see them in whole form so, you will need to puree them first before adding them. Or, make my simple San Marzano tomato sauce recipe. 

Storage

Store leftover sauce made without meat in an airtight container in the refrigerator for several days. If you’ve added meat, it will last about three days before it starts to lose flavor.

How to Freeze Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

It’s very simple to freeze homemade sauce. I always have tomato sauce in my freezer!

1. First, let the sauce get to room temperature.
2. Then, using a ladle, add the sauce to plastic containers that have tight-fitting lids.
3. Then, label the containers with “Spaghetti Sauce” and the date.
4. Next, put the containers in your freezer.

How long does homemade tomato sauce last in the freezer?

I keep my tomato sauce in the freezer for months. It will retain its best quality up to six months but, is safe to store in your freezer longer without jeopardizing much of the quality. I like to date my sauce so I can remove the older sauce first.

You’re going to love this easy authentic Italian Sunday gravy recipe with your favorite pasta and a glass of wine. My friend told me the first time she made this recipe she licked the plate clean and said she’d never use store-bought jarred sauce again.

Make this spaghetti sauce recipe and freeze the leftovers so you can pull out of the freezer anytime you to treat your family to a great meal. It’s perfect for special occasions.

You may also like

Italian Tomato Sauce with Fresh Tomatoes

Simple Homemade San Marzano Tomato Sauce Recipe

How to Make Tomato Pasta Sauce Less Acidic with Simple Ways