Stanley Tucci's Go-To Tomato Sauce Only Requires 5 Ingredients

There are few ingredients in Italian cooking as frequently used as tomato sauce. Whether it's some delicious stuffed peppers or a timeless dish of spaghetti and meatballs, tomato sauce is a flavorful and vibrant addition that truly brings your favorite dishes to life in a way that nothing else can. However, while there are plenty of great store-bought tomato and marinara sauces on the market today, there's no reason to avoid making the staple ingredient yourself at home. In fact, beloved actor and director Stanley Tucci has even revealed his personal strategy when it comes to making the sauce at home, one that only includes five key ingredients to complete.

Tucci showed his tomato sauce recipe in an Instagram post that revealed he had some fresh tomatoes that were soon going to go bad, prompting him to make some impromptu sauce to utilize them to their fullest. In the end, Tucci utilized chopped onions, garlic, olive oil, fresh basil, and a can of Campania tomatoes to create his variation of tomato sauce, one that he noted was incredibly versatile and could be used in countless different dishes.

The use of both fresh and canned tomatoes in Stanley Tucci's go-to tomato sauce recipe is a strategy that is considered incredibly beneficial, especially for those who have a limited number of fresh tomatoes on their hands. Because tinned tomatoes are known for having a high concentration of flavor — making the use of high-quality canned tomatoes a great upgrade for sauce — their strong taste is sometimes preferred compared to what fresh ones can provide. Thus, Tucci's recipe allows you to reap the many benefits of using fresh tomatoes, such as their oftentimes brighter and more vibrant taste, at the same time as you enjoy the convenient and tasty advantages of the tinned version of the fruit.

As for how Tucci utilizes the fresh and canned tomatoes, he first blends the fresh tomatoes and cooks them alongside pre-sweated onions and garlic. He then salts the ingredients as the tomato blend cooks down, finally adding the high-quality canned tomatoes as they begin to form a proper sauce in the pan. This also gives you a choice on how chunky you want your sauce to be, as the additional diced tomatoes can be cooked for as long or as short as you'd like for the recipe to be complete.