We all need a go-to pasta sauce in our arsenal, and this one is it for me. This perfect creamy tomato sauce (aka pink sauce) is just that - perfect. It's an incredibly easy sauce to make with plenty of shallots and garlic, a little spice from red pepper flakes, tomato paste for that easy concentrated flavor, and of course heavy cream. A weekly staple sauce that comes together in no more than 15 minutes.
A FEW INGREDIENT NOTES:
- Pasta: Use your pasta of choice here and cook according to directions (always al-dente!). Mezze rigatoni is my go-to.
- Shallot: Shallots are one of my favorite sauce ingredients because it gives that onion-y flavor with less sharpness.
- Garlic: Always load up on garlic. Three cloves is the sweet spot, but you could definitely add more if you want.
- Tomato paste: Paste is perfect for this sauce because it has that concentrated tomato flavor. And we cook it a bit before adding the heavy cream which caramelizes it a bit and brings that flavor out even more.
- Red pepper flakes: Adding a sprinkle of red pepper flakes gives this sauce the slightest kick - you could definitely leave this out though.
- Heavy cream: Of course how the sauce gets its creaminess.
KITCHEN EQUIPMENT YOU'LL NEED:
- Chef's knife
- Cutting board
- Sauté pot
- Stock/pasta pot
- Can opener
- Wood spoon
- Strainer
- Measuring cups & spoons
HOW TO MAKE THIS PERFECT CREAMY TOMATO SAUCE:
If you take one thing away from reading this recipe, I want it to be how insanely easy it is to make.
- Step 1: Boil your water. In your stock/pasta pot, bring heavily salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to directions.
- Step 2: Sauté the garlic and shallots. To your sauté pot over medium heat, add 1 tbsp unsalted butter and 1 tbsp olive oil. Sauté for 3 minutes until the shallots are starting to get translucent and all is very fragrant.
- Step 3: Add the red pepper flakes and tomato paste. To the garlic and shallots, add the red pepper flakes, tomato paste, salt, and pepper. Mix those together and cook for 2-3 minutes to caramelize the tomato paste (flavor!!).
- Step 4: Add the heavy cream. Reduce heat to medium-low and mix in the heavy cream. Stir to combine until smooth. Let it come up to a slight simmer, then add the pasta (it's ok if pasta water gets in there!).
- Step 5: Serve. You can serve as is, or, as I like to do – dollop some ricotta cheese or sprinkle some parmesan cheese on top.
WHAT ELSE CAN YOU USE CREAMY TOMATO SAUCE FOR?
There are SO many things you can do with this sauce if you're looking to take it beyond just pasta. A few thoughts:
- Add some ground chicken/turkey/beef and serve with pasta (or make meatballs)
- Make baked ziti and sub this sauce for marinara
- Make lasagna and sub this sauce for marinara
- Chicken parmesan with creamy tomato sauce
- Add to cooked spaghetti squash, top with mozzarella cheese, broil until the cheese is browned and bubbly
- Serve it with some zoodles as a pasta alternative
OTHER EASY PASTA RECIPES:
- Creamy Roasted Garlic Gnocchi with Bacon
- Creamy Tortellini and Pesto Tomato Soup
- One Pot Gnocchi Bake
- Creamy Pumpkin Pasta Sauce with Sage Breadcrumbs
Perfect Creamy Tomato Sauce
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
We all need a go-to pasta sauce in our arsenal, and this one is it for me. This perfect creamy tomato sauce is just that - perfect. It's an incredibly easy sauce to make with plenty of shallots and garlic, a little spice from red pepper flakes, tomato paste for that easy delicious concentrated flavor, and of course heavy cream. A weekly staple sauce that comes together in no more than 15 minutes.
Ingredients
- 1 lb dry pasta of your choice
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 shallot, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 6 oz tomato paste
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream
- Ricotta or parmesan cheese to serve
Instructions
- In your stock/pasta pot, bring heavily salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to directions.
- To your sauté pot over medium heat, add 1 tbsp unsalted butter and 1 tbsp olive oil. Sauté for 3 minutes until the shallots are starting to get translucent and all is very fragrant.
- To the garlic and shallots, add the red pepper flakes, tomato paste, salt, and pepper. Mix those together and cook for 2-3 minutes to caramelize the tomato paste.
- Reduce heat to medium-low and stir in the heavy cream until smooth. Let it come up to a slight simmer, then add the pasta right in (it's ok if some pasta water gets in there).
- You can serve as is or with dollops or ricotta cheese or a sprinkling of parmesan cheese.
This was really simple but tasted fancy! Great for the cold weather and a busy week night.
★★★★★
Yay! Glad you liked it! This is one of my faves.
Do you think I could sub the heavy cream for buttermilk?
Hi there - I wouldn't recommend buttermilk because the end flavor would be very different.
This was seriously as easy, and more fun, as heating up a jar of sauce, and way more delicious! You can taste the shallots and garlic, but they are not too strong. I love creamy red sauce, but had never made one. Will definitely make this again!
★★★★★
Thank you!! So happy you loved it.
I never write reviews but I had to for this - wanted something tomato creamy, delicious and easy and this was PERFECT. will definitely be making it into the weekly dinner rotation. Used chickpea pasta and did some dollops of ricotta on top. Perfection! Thanks for sharing.
★★★★★
Yay I'm so glad to hear you loved it! Thanks for trying it and leaving a review 🙂
Delicious. We didn't have shallots, so I added half a white onion. I also added some salt when I added the tomato paste. Just to give it some more depth, I added oregano and basil. My boyfriend is a cook, so I felt like I needed to do something to impress him.
yay glad you liked it! Thanks for making it!