Red Sauce Pasta (Red Pasta Recipe)

Make delicious and easy Red Sauce Pasta under 30 minutes. Made with pantry staple like fusilli, tomatoes, onions, spices and herbs, this flavorsome Red Pasta is sure to please your family. For a vegetarian meal, serve it with Grilled veggies, Cheese Sandwiches, Garlic Cheese Toast or a Vegetable Salad. If you are a meat lover, serve with grilled Chicken Kebabs or simply stir in some cooked Keema/ minced meat with the finished pasta.

About Red Sauce Pasta

A romantic Italian restaurant? A Sunday gravy menu? Checkered tablecloths? These all sound lovely and do have some place in the history of red sauce. After the introduction of tomatoes to Italy, it took a few hundred years for them to be regularly cultivated and incorporated into Italian food. By the 1830s, however, some regions of Italy began serving tomato sauce on top of pasta and red sauce started catching on.

By the late 1800s, innovations in canning, industrial agriculture, and factories let migrating Italians take the recipe with them across the globe and the rest is history.

What is Red Sauce?

Red Sauce was originally a vegetarian pasta sauce made from tomatoes cooked in olive oil and sometimes flavored with herbs and garlic. When Italians migrated to the Americas, where meat and dairy were plentiful, they began incorporating more Parmesan, meatballs, ground meat, and braised meat into their red sauces. What was once a holiday treat became an everyday staple!

How to Make and Use Red Sauce

This recipe returns to the vegetarian-friendly origins of red sauce, but with a twist. Instead of canned tomatoes, fresh tomatoes are roasted until soft and sweet for a concentrated flavor. They are then pureed with roasted bell peppers – another uncommon inclusion for a unique piquant taste and enhanced color.

The puree is added to sautéed garlic, chili flakes, and onion, then salted and cooked down to a thicker consistency. Once the sauce has been cooked and seasoned to preference, it’s tossed with cooked pasta, garnished with fresh herbs and freshly cracked pepper, and served hot.

While a sauce like this is most traditionally served over pasta, don’t be afraid to use it in other culinary experiments. Use leftover sauce on Homemade Pizza, add it to a pasta bake, or try poaching eggs in it and serve with some crusty bread on the side.

More Pasta Recipes,
Masala Pasta
White Sauce Pasta
Spaghetti Aglio e Olio
Pasta Soup
Chicken Pasta

How to Make Red Sauce Pasta (Stepwise Photos)

Preparation

1. Heat a tablespoon oil in a pan and add ½ cup (70 grams) red bell peppers or white onions and sauté on a medium high heat for 4 mins until blistered. Add about 250 grams (1¾ cups) tomatoes (2 medium diced) to the same pan and saute on a medium high heat until the tomatoes turn mushy. Alternately you may also do this in the oven. Spread tomatoes and bell peppers on a baking tray and add a tbsp. of oil. Bake for 15 mins at 425 F – 220 C, until the tomatoes are softened. Or Air fry for 9 mins at 390F / 200 C.

2. While they cool down, prep up the other ingredients as mentioned below:

• 3 to 4 (1 tablespoon) garlic cloves (fine chopped)
• ¼ cup shallots or onions (finely chopped)
• ½ to 1 teaspoons red chili flakes (reduce for kids, adjust to taste)
• ½ teaspoon mixed Italian herbs or oregano (or 3 to 4 fresh basil leaves)
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper freshly crushed (optional + more to garnish)
• 1½ cups (120 grams) fusilli or any other pasta (2 servings – about a cup like penne or macaroni)
• 2 to 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (divided)
• 1 teaspoon sea salt to cook pasta (+ more to season)

3. Add the cooled ingredients and chili flakes to a blender.

4. Blend to a smooth sauce.

Boil Pasta

5. Bring 6 cups water to a rolling boil and add the pasta along with salt (check the package for the correct timings).

6. On a medium high heat, cook al dente following the timings on the pack. Mine takes 11 mins.

7. Reserve half cup pasta stock and drain to a colander. Cover and keep aside.

Make the Red Pasta

8. Heat a pan with oil and add garlic. Saute for a minute and add the onions.

9. Saute until transparent. Stir in the chili flakes and pour tomato puree.

10. Saute for 3 to 4 mins and pour the reserved pasta stock.

11. Cook for another 3 to 4 mins until thick and add the herbs, black pepper (optional) and salt. Taste test and add sugar if your sauce is too tart.

12. Stir the pasta into the red sauce.

13. Garnish with black pepper or parmesan cheese if you want.

Serve red sauce pasta hot.

Pro Tips for Cooking Pasta

If you plan on serving your red sauce the traditional way, here’s some techniques to cook the best possible pasta.

When you cook the pasta, use a large pot with at least 3-4 quarts of water. Season the water with plenty of salt, and make sure it’s at a rapid boil before you add the pasta to it.

Do not add oil, as it prevents the sauce from sticking to your pasta. Cooking the pasta with lots of water and at a high temperature will prevent the pasta from sticking to itself.

Test the pasta yourself to see if it’s cooked. You’ll want it al dente or a little under cooked. Use the package directions as a guide for cook time if you’re unsure.

Before you drain the pasta, reserve some of the cooking water and then add the pasta to the sauce (not the other way around!). The pasta will continue to cook and absorb the sauce as you toss it, and you can also add more pasta water to the sauce to help it come together.

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Recipe Card

Red Sauce Pasta first published in February 2016. Updated in April 2024.

Red Sauce Pasta Recipe (Red Pasta Recipe)

Make this delicious and healthy red sauce pasta under 30 mins. It is a plant-based dish but you can also make it vegetarian by stirring in your favorite cheese. Make it a meat-based meal, by stirring in some grilled or cooked chicken or Keema.

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For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card

Prep Time5 minutes minutes

Cook Time25 minutes minutes

Total Time30 minutes minutes

Servings2

AuthorSwasthi

Ingredients (US cup = 240ml )

• ▢ 1½ cups (120 grams) fusilli or any other pasta (2 servings, read notes)
• ▢ 2 to 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (divided)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon sea salt to cook pasta (+ more to season)
• ▢ 3 to 4 (1 tablespoon) garlic cloves (fine chopped)
• ▢ ¼ cup shallot or onions (finely chopped)
• ▢ 250 grams (1¾ cups) tomatoes (2 medium diced)
• ▢ ½ cup (70 grams) red bell peppers or white onion
• ▢ ½ to 1 teaspoons red chili flakes (reduce for kids, adjust to taste)
• ▢ ½ teaspoon mixed Italian herbs or oregano (or 3 to 4 fresh basil leaves)
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon black pepper freshly crushed (optional + more to garnish)
• ▢ 6 cups water to boil pasta
• ▢ grated parmesan (to garnish, optional)

Instructions

Preparation

• ▢
  Spread tomatoes and bell peppers on a baking tray and add a tbsp. of oil. Bake for 15 mins at 425 F – 220 C, until the tomatoes are softened. Or alternately, pan fry the tomatoes and bell peppers on a medium high heat until blistered & soft, for about 5 to 6 mins. Or Air fry for 9 mins at 390F / 200 C.
• ▢
  Cool down and blend to a smooth sauce with chili flakes.
• ▢
  Bring water to a rolling boil and add the pasta along with salt (if required, check the package). On a medium high heat, cook al dente following the timings on the pack. Mine takes 11 mins.
• ▢
  Reserve half cup pasta stock and drain to a colander. Cover and keep aside.

How to Make Red Sauce Pasta

• ▢
  Heat a pan with oil and add garlic. Saute for a minute and add the onions.
• ▢
  Saute until transparent. Stir in the chili flakes and pour tomato puree. Saute for 3 to 4 mins and pour the reserved pasta stock.
• ▢
  Cook for another 3 to 4 mins until thick (check pics) and add the herbs, black pepper (optional) and salt. Taste test and add sugar if your sauce is too tart.
• ▢
  Stir the pasta into the red sauce. Garnish with parmesan and black pepper if you want.

Notes

1. If using other kinds of pasta like penne or macaroni, use about 1 cup that is around 100 to 115 grams. 
2. With prawns: You can add about 125 to 150 grams of fresh cleaned tiger prawns after sauteing garlic, onions. Saute until they get cooked. They swirl completely when done. Set them aside without removing onions or garlic. Add them back to the pan along with cooked pasta.
3. With chicken: Cook 150 grams of boneless chicken separately until tender, shred and then add it after sauteing garlic, onions.

Alternative quantities provided in the recipe card are for 1x only, original recipe.

For best results follow my detailed step-by-step photo instructions and tips above the recipe card.

NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)

Nutrition Facts

Red Sauce Pasta Recipe (Red Pasta Recipe)

Amount Per Serving

Calories 400 Calories from Fat 144

% Daily Value*

Fat 16g25%

Saturated Fat 2g13%

Polyunsaturated Fat 2g

Monounsaturated Fat 11g

Sodium 1237mg54%

Potassium 578mg17%

Carbohydrates 56g19%

Fiber 5g21%

Sugar 7g8%

Protein 10g20%

Vitamin A 2298IU46%

Vitamin C 65mg79%

Calcium 76mg8%

Iron 2mg11%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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