My homemade, Quick and Easy Cherry Tomato Tomato Sauce recipe features luscious, nutritious, fresh cherry tomatoes, garlic, and sweet aromatic basil, made into a light but full-flavored cherry tomato pasta sauce.
Why I love this recipe, and you will too!
- If you have ever grown cherry tomatoes, you know how prolific they are. My favorite ways to use them are my Cherry Tomato Pie and this recipe for pasta sauce!
- This simple garlicky tomato sauce contains only six pantry ingredients and can be made in less than 20 minutes.
- Because it’s so quick to prepare, I get to spend more time with my family and I’m in and out of the kitchen in no time. A big plus in my book!
Ingredient notes and substitutions:
Let's talk ingredients: what you need, what you can swap, and how to make it work with what's in your pantry. The full list is waiting down in the recipe card.
- Cherry tomatoes – are the star of this recipe. I have also substituted grape and Campari tomatoes with good results.
- Garlic – with its pungent smell and taste, enhances the sauce with a wonderful garlicky layer of flavor.
- Basil – adds a nice pop of color and a fresh, slightly sweet, aroma and taste that complements the acidity of tomatoes.
- Salt and ground black pepper – enhance all of the flavors of the tomato sauce.
- Olive oil – is used to saute the garlic and cherry tomatoes.
How to make Cherry Tomato Tomato Sauce:
- Place a large skillet over medium heat and add the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the garlic. Cook and stir for about 3 minutes or until the garlic is soft. If the garlic starts to brown, turn the heat down.
- Add the cherry tomatoes to the pan and cook until they start to burst, about 6 minutes. To speed up the process, you can gently press down on them with a fork or potato masher.
- Continue cooking the tomatoes until their juices have formed a sauce, which should take approximately five minutes. Stir in the chopped basil and season with salt and pepper.
- Serve.
Serving suggestions:
Serve immediately over pasta and top with a generous amount of grated parmesan cheese, or add these fun Firecracker Meatballs for a heartier dish. I like to serve this dish with my Classic House Salad and Texas Toast Garlic Bread.
This delicious sauce may also be used as a topping for homemade pizza or as a dipping sauce for mozzarella sticks.
How to store it:
Homemade fresh cherry tomato sauce can be stored in a covered container in the fridge for three to four days. It can be frozen for up to six months.
Top tip:
If you won’t be serving your sauce right away, wait to add the basil. It will turn black in the fridge.
⭐ ⭐ ⭐⭐⭐ If you make this dish, please leave a comment and give this recipe a star rating. I would love to know how you liked it!
Thank you so much for visiting Grits and Pinecones; I hope you come back soon!
Recipe:
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Quick and Easy Cherry Tomato Tomato Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 pints cherry tomatoes washed
- 1 cup chopped fresh basil leaves chopped
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Place a large skillet over medium heat and add the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the garlic. Cook and stir for about 3 minutes or until the garlic is soft. If the garlic starts to brown, turn the heat down.
- Add the cherry tomatoes to the pan and cook until they start to burst, about 6 minutes. To speed up the process, you can gently press down on them with a fork or potato masher.
- Continue cooking the tomatoes until their juices have formed a sauce, which should take approximately five minutes. Stir in the chopped basil and season with salt and pepper.
- Stir in the chopped basil and season with one teaspoon of salt and one-half teaspoon of pepper.
- Serve immediately over your favorite pasta.
Rosemary Youngberg
Delicious sauce! I added a bit of my angel hair pasta water and dried Italien seasonings. It will be hard to go back to jarred sauce. So good!
Sharon Rigsby
Hi Rosemary, I’m so happy you enjoyed it. Thanks, too, for taking the time to leave a comment and a rating.
All the best,
Sharon
Janet
The was delicious and so easy. I added shrimp and served it over pasta. My family devoured it! Thank you!
Sharon Rigsby
Hi Janet, I’m so happy you and your family liked it, and adding shrimp was genius! Thanks for sharing!
Sharon
Sarah
So good! We loved this recipe. My kids loved it!!
Sharon Rigsby
So glad you liked the recipe and thank you for letting me know!
All my best,
Sharon
Renée
Excellent recipe..I added oregano to the herbs, greek olives & fresh chives on top along with the cheese.. served it with home made garlic bread. …will certainly do it again. I fed my landscape crew (3) thinking “they won’t like it…it’s not a spaghetti’ sauce, it has no meat..man, they gobbled it up in no time and wanted the recipe😉😊 Thank you.
Gritsandpinecones
Hi Renée,
Thank you so much for sharing your kind comments, and thank you too for including your tweaks. They all sound like they would be perfect with this dish and I love to see how my readers make one of my recipes their own! I can see why your landscape crew gobbled it up!
Thank you again,
Sharon