This authentic, homemade tomato sauce with sausage is not only delicious it’s very simple to make and can be used for any pasta dish in which you want tomato sauce. With little prep, simple ingredients and some time, you can make this tasty tomato sauce and freeze the leftovers for another time. It’s gluten free.
On this here Italian food blog, two of my tomato sauces are in my top ten recipes year after year. That’s good to know if you’re a reader choosing from the many recipes you find online available to you. My Italian recipes are either authentic, Italian-American or Italian influenced.
What’s great about tomato sauce made with sausage is that the pork sausage, specifically pork fat, seasons the sauce in a different way than ground beef. It adds incredible flavors and is a delicious and easy dinner to make on weekends.
You can freeze the leftover sauce in an airtight container for easy weeknight meals.
Also, I don’t add sugar to my tomato sauce. If you find that your tomatoes are too acidic, read my article about simple ways to lessen the acid in your tomato sauce.
Italian Tomato Sauce Recipes
Being the daughter of Italian immigrants, I grew up on homemade tomato sauce. My mother would never dare buy a jar of tomato sauce. She made her “gravy,” as she called it, on Sunday mornings so we’d have fresh tomato sauce for our pasta for Sunday “pranzo,” which is when we used the good china.
I just didn’t know how good I had it until I went to my friend’s house and had a doctored up version of jarred Ragu and overcooked pasta. What my mom taught me was golden! She was an amazing home cook and I’m so lucky to have inherited her talent.
What’s even better is the fresh tomato sauce my late mother and aunt made in August with Jersey tomatoes! I still remember turning the crank to get the juice out while the seeds and peels fell out the other side. I was the kind of kid that wanted to help, hence I learned a lot and have the nostalic memories 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.
I’ve been making this tomato sauce recipe for decades and it never fails, with the exception of a tasteless batch of canned tomatoes which can happen but, it’s infrequent.For as many times as I’ve made tomato sauce, it’s only happened 2-3 times ever. Sometimes, there’s just a bad crop of tasteless tomatoes.
Italian sausage seasons tomato sauce very well and the reason being pork fat. Emeril Lagasse is right about pork fat. It’s a great flavoring for lots of various foods and tomato sauce is one of them.
Use a Heat Diffuser
When I make tomato sauce (or gravy if you will,) I use a heat diffuser. It’s a round metal cooking tool you place on your stove burner. It distributes the heat at the bottom of the pot so you sauce doesn’t stick and burn in the middle of the bottom of the pot!
It aleviates the problem. You still have to stir it at the bottom with a wooden spoon but, not as frequently which would be every 15 minutes during a 2 1/2 hour cooking time. You know you have better things to do and a heat diffuser is an inexpensive, useful cooking tool.
Easy Italian Sausage Tomato Sauce Recipe
This recipe makes a batch of sauce with ten sausage links. You may cut them in half or leave them in tact. The cooking time is not affected because it will cook for 2 1/2 hours.
This type of sauce is often called Sunday gravy. It’s common in Italian households and can be made with other meats such as steak braciola, pork ribs, or ground beef (for a meat sauce.) If you know of any others, please comment below.
What’s great about this versatile recipe is that you can use the cooked sausage to put into baked ziti with ricotta cheese, which I highly recommend, or any pasta bake you choose.
Use the cooked sausage from the sauce to make sandwiches or serve it as a meat side dish on your dinner table.
Canned Tomatoes
Often when making tomato sauce, I use Hunt’s Tomato Sauce or puree but I do use different brands. Sometimes, I’ll use San Marzano tomatoes, although pricy because they’re imported from Italy where they’re grown, they render a rich tomato sauce. You can smell the freshness when you open the can.
If I use canned plum whole tomatoes, I’ll use a handheld blender to puree them. They come peeled but, the seeds are still there.
You can use canned crushed tomatoes if you prefer a chunkier sauce that looks more like a marinara sauce.
Some canned tomatoes don’t have has much salt as others, add the salt at the end of cooking so you don’t oversalt your sauce.
I usually don’t put tomato paste in my sauce but, sometimes it may need it if the tomatoes are lacking in flavor. Don’t put a lot in it or it can turn out bitter.
Also, do NOT add a cup of water to the tomatoes or any amount of water for that matter. I’ve seen Americans do this and that’s a no-no!! You don’t need to drain the water from the tomatoes either as it will steam out when cooking.
Sausage Meat
You can find Italian sausage links at the grocery store in two varieties: sweet Italian sausage (which is mild Italian sausage) or hot Italian sausage, which is spicy Italian sausage and is redish in color. You can use either or both in this recipe. The spicy sausage becomes more mild after it’s cooked so, if you happen to buy it by mistake and have a tollerence for spicy food, you may not be that disppointed. This happened to me before.
Typically, Italian sausage is made with fennel. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen it without fennel but, you can probably buy it that way if you ask for it at an Italian butcher.
Always use a good quality extra virgin olive when cooking most Italian food, especially tomato sauce. It’s worth it pay more for the good stuff. The fresher and higher quality your ingredients, the better your food will be and you’ll LOVE it!
Ingredients
- sweet Italian sausage (with fennel) or spicy Italian sausage
- canned tomato sauce or puree
- EVOO- extra virgin olive oil
- chopped (or minced) garlic cloves
- chopped onion
- fresh parsley (Use dried if you don’t have it, but fresh is better.)
- salt and black pepper
- dry white wine (optional)
The full, printable recipe is in the recipe card below.
Cooking Summary
Place the oil, onions, and garlic in a large stock pot or Dutch oven. Simmer and then add the wine (if using) and meat. Let the meat brown on both sides and when the alochol has evaporated, add the tomato sauce, parsley and black pepper.
Wait until the end to add salt after you’ve test tasted it as the canned tomatoes already are loaded with salt. Bring sauce to a boil on high heat and then reduce to low, covered. Cook for 2 1/2 hours stirring every 10-15 minutes on low heat.
Making your own tomato sauce is EASY! Sure it takes some time from start to finish but, the prep time is minimal especially for the wonderful flavors of a homemade sauce. Of course, you can freeze the sauce for later use. Label your containers and you’ll have a great-tasting sauce for weeks (and months) to come!
How to Serve tomato Sauce with Italian Sausage
- Serve it with your favorite homemade pasta: fettuccine, gnocchi or cheese ravioli.
- Use the sauce for baked ziti, lasagna, or stuffed shells.
- Homemade Garlic bread is a great accompaniement to this dish.
- Serve the sausage alongside of Italian pasta casseroles.
- Serve the sausage as a meat side dish with meatballs.
- Use the sausage for sausage sandwiches on long bread rolls.
- Add red pepper flakes
Your whole family will love this Italian sausage spaghetti sauce or Sunday gravy as it’s referred to by the Italian-American community.
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See more ITALIAN recipes.
Easy Italian Sausage Tomato Sauce Recipe
Equipment
- 1 heat diffuser helps the sauce to NOT stick to the bottom of the pot and burn while cooking
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 6 cloves garlic, chopped
- 3/4 cup onion, chopped (or 1/2 large onion)
- 1/2 cup dry white wine (optional)
- 2 lb sweet or hot Italian sausage (with fennel) (ten sausage links)
- 87 oz canned tomato puree (or canned tomato sauce such as Hunt's)
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (or 1 1/2 tsp dried parsley)
- 1/4 tsp black pepper (or to taste)
- salt to taste
Instructions
- First, in a large Dutch oven or pot, add oil (1/2 cup), chopped garlic (6 cloves) and chopped onion (3/4 cup.) Stir and cook on med/high heat for 3-4 minutes, or until the onion is translucent.
- Then, add dry white wine (1/2 cup) if using.
- Next, add the Italian sausage (2 lbs or 10 links) Cook for a few minutes per side to brown and get brown bits. By this time, the alcohol, if using, will cook out.
- Next, slowly (to avoid splatters) add tomato sauce (87 oz) to the oil mixture. It will look oily and that's o.k. Stir it.
- Then, add the chopped parsley (1/2 cup) and black pepper (1/4 tsp.) If you choose to add salt, it's best to add it at the END of the cooking time so you can judge if it is to your liking as is. Some canned tomatoes have a good bit of salt already.
- Next, bring sauce to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover and cook on low heat for 2.5 hours. Stir (to the bottom of the pot) every 10-15 minutes to avoid sticking and burning. Using a heat diffuser, works well but, you still need to stir every so often especially if the edges of the pot aren't covered by the diffuser.
- Last, allow sauce to cool completely before putting in an airtight container or smaller containers to refrigerate or freeze.
Notes
Storage
Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to five days. Add sausage to pasta dishes or eat in sandwiches.How to Freeze Homemade Tomato Sauce with Sausage
- First, let the sauce cool to warm, not hot temperature.
- Then, using tongs for sausage and a ladle for sauce, first add the sausage to plastic containers and use the ladle to fill with sauce. Attach tight-fitting lids.
- Next, if the sauce is still warm, allow it to cool in the containers.
- Then, label the containers with "tomato sauce with sausage" and the date. Put the number of sausage too as that's helpful.
- Next, put the containers in your freezer.
Did You Make This Recipe?
If you made this recipe don’t forget to leave a review!
Hi Tami. I’m glad you like it. Thanks for the 5-star rating!
Love it!!