Main Dishes
Greek Tomato Sauce

Prep
10 minutes
Cook
30 minutes
Yield
4 -6
You seriously cannot go wrong with any kind of tomato sauce. It has to be one of the most versatile foods and this Greek tomato sauce is no different. For this recipe, I’ve taken your classic tomato sauce but added a Greek flair to it! However, that doesn’t change how versatile this sauce is. Use it all day, every day, on all your favorite foods and noodles!
Why you’ll love this Greek tomato sauce:
- Quick: With only 10 minutes to prep this has to be the easiest sauce!!
- Versatile: You heard it once, I’ll tell you again, use this all day every day. You won’t regret it!
- Unique: You’ll notice I’ve added some different spices to this sauce to give it a little more of an exotic spin to your typical pasta sauce
Ingredients:
Here are the beautiful ingredients that I used for this Greek pasta sauce recipe:
Ingredient Notes:
Cinnamon: Yep, a weird, not-so-common ingredient in this sauce that I promise you will give you something you never knew you needed. I used Simply Organic Cinnamon for this recipe and I wouldn’t use anything else. Why? Because they just make such quality spices. What comes with quality spices? The best flavors!! You seriously will LOVE this addition to this sauce.
Tomatoes: Use what’s fresh or in season, you don’t have to use all the same kind here. Get creative. Try different colors, tomatoes are all wonderful in this sauce.
Clove: Another weird ingredient but let me tell you the combination of spices in this recipe will seriously make such a difference. It transforms a normal, regular (and boring) pasta sauce into something that has so many complex flavors.
How do you make Greek pasta sauce?
1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet or pot on medium heat. To the pot, add the onions and garlic and sweat them out on medium heat for around 5 minutes. Stir often to avoid burning.
2. To the skillet or pot, add the oregano, basil, cinnamon, clove, bay leaves, and red pepper flakes. Stir till the onions and garlic are fully coated and continue to cook on medium heat for 3 minutes.
3. To the pot or skillet, add the tomatoes and sugar. Stir till combined and reduce heat to low. Cook for 15-2o minutes.
4. Let the mixture cool for a few minutes, remove the whole bay leaf, then transfer to a blender or food processor.
5. Enjoy the sauce immediately with rice, pasta, protein, or veggies or cool completed and transfer to a tightly sealed container or jar.
Expert Tips & FAQ:
Storage: The sauce will last in the fridge for up to 1 week in a tightly sealed container.
Can I freeze tomato sauce? The sauce will last up to 3-4 months in the freezer in a tightly sealed container or air-tight zip-lock bag.
Why cinnamon in tomato sauce? Not only does this add flavor, cinnamon can help temper the acidity of the tomatoes in the sauce to make your sauce less acidic and a bit more sweet. Don’t worry, it won’t overpower your pot! Trust me here.
Why should I cook the onions first? Yes, onions will cook in the sauce as well but they take MUCH longer to do it this way and you run the risk of having partially cooked onions in your sauce. By cooking them first in the pot releases sugars and makes them taste sweeter versus having a strong onion flavor throughout.
Blending: I don’t like to keep my tomato sauce super chunky, that’s why blending in the end really helps have that smooth consistency. You can really blend your sauce as much or as little as you want. It’s all personal preference.
Other recipes you’ll love:
- Vegan Grits & Creamy Beans & Collards
- Refried Beans & Avocado Tacos
- Hearty Vegetable + Mixed Bean Stew
- Vegan BBQ Black Bean Meatballs
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Greek Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 large white onion roughly chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic roughly chopped
- 1 1/2 tsp sea salt
- dash of black pepper
- 1 tbsp. oregano
- 1 tbsp. basil
- 1 tsp. Simply Organic Cinnamon
- 1/2 clove spice
- 3 large bay leaf
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 3 cups ripe fresh tomatoes, assorted is fun, roughly chopped
- 1 tbsp. brown or white sugar
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet or pot on medium heat. To the pot, add the onions and garlic and sweat them out on medium heat for around 5 minutes. Stir often to avoid burning.
- To the skillet or pot, add the salt + pepper, oregano, basil, cinnamon, clove, bay leaves, and red pepper flakes. Stir till the onions and garlic are fully coated and continue to cook on medium heat for 3 minutes.
- To the pot or skillet, add the tomatoes and sugar. Stir till combined and reduce heat to low. Cook for 15-2o minutes.
- Let the mixture cool for a few minutes, remove the whole bay leaf, then transfer to a blender or food processor.
- Enjoy the sauce immediately with rice, paste, protein or veggies or cool completed and transfer to a tightly sealed container or jar.
Video

When you say 1/2 clove spice, what exactly do you mean what?
oh shoot, sorry! 1/2 tsp!
Hey Maria, I thought so. 😉 … Hmm, I think 1 teaspoon is more than enough. I did it with less than that and it came out fantastic. And for the second time I cooked this lovely sauce, I replaced the fresh tomatoes with 400 ml Passata. It was excellent.
Thanks for your recipes and ideas. Keep on with it!
Best regards, Patrick
You are so welcome, thank you Patrick!
Love this recipe. But you should add some salt to it.
Greetings from Germany 🙂
Patrick
Hey Patrick! Thank you so much for flagging that! That was an error! I have added salt to the recipe now!