Black Pepper Free Tomato Sauce (Marinara)
A great marinara is one of those foundational recipes that makes everything else in the kitchen better, and this one delivers that deep, brick-red richness without any black pepper in sight. Many store-bought sauces and even restaurant versions sneak in ground pepper as a background note, so making your own is the cleanest way to stay in control of what's actually in the bowl. The base here is beautifully simple — good San Marzano tomatoes crushed by hand, golden-toasted garlic, a whisper of red pepper flakes, and fresh basil stirred in right at the end. That hand-crushing step is worth it: it keeps the texture rustic and uneven in the best way, so the sauce clings to pasta rather than sliding right off. A long, unhurried simmer is what transforms the bright, sharp tomato into something mellow and deeply savory, with a finishing drizzle of olive oil that pulls it all together. Whether you're spooning it over pasta, using it as a pizza base, or dunking crusty bread straight into the pan, this is the kind of sauce you'll want to keep on rotation all year long.
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Learn more →Ingredients
4 servings
- 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 can (28 oz) whole peeled san marzano tomatoes
- ½ tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
- ½ tsp granulated sugar (optional)
- 6 fresh basil leaves, torn
For finishing
- 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, for finishing
Instructions
- 1
Pour the tomatoes and their juices into a large bowl and crush them by hand until broken into rough, uneven pieces — some chunks are fine.
- 2
Heat 3 tbsp olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the sliced garlic and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring occasionally, until the garlic is pale golden and fragrant, about 3–4 minutes. Watch closely, as the garlic can brown quickly.
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