A versatile summertime staple, this quick and easy sauce is a delicious way to use an abundance of cherry or grape tomatoes. It will even make the most of off-season cherry tomatoes.
This is the sort of easy summer cooking I love: basic, fresh ingredients coming together as something altogether pleasing in a few short minutes.
Although perfect over pasta–and I have included a simple, “every-night” recipe along with the sauce instructions below–this sauce is incredibly versatile.
You can use your imagination to create quick, flavorful meals based on what you enjoy. I’ve also included a few ways that we enjoy the recipe.
I particularly enjoy the rustic sauce served over roasted or grilled eggplant, zucchini, and mushrooms. In addition to traditional pasta, it pairs beautifully with zucchini noodles.
Or pick a grain of preference, be it quinoa or rice, and create your own alternative to the traditional pasta dinner. After cooking the grain, add the grilled or roasted veggies (even leftovers work well), stir in some of the chunky sauce, and add any other flavor boosters that may appeal. Mozzarella or feta cheese and Kalamata olives pair particularly well.
Speedy Cherry Tomato Sauce is also delicious as the sauce on this recipe for Deconstructed Eggplant Parmesan. Or go appetizer-style and use it as a condiment for bite-size (and addicting!) Crispy Baked Eggplant.
Versatile as it is, Speedy Cherry Tomato Sauce serves as an excellent springboard for Tuna in Rustic Tomato Sauce. It’s an easy, one-pan meal that can be modified with another variety of fish, or even shrimp or chopped chicken. Serve with crusty bread or break up the tuna and stir everything into hot cooked pasta.
Recipe tweaks I’ve made since first posting this recipe:
- Make it meaty. For variety, I occasionally start by first sautéing 12 ounces of sausage (turkey or pork), removing the cooked and crumbled sausage to a plate and then proceeding with the sauce recipe.
- When I don’t have fresh basil, I add ½ teaspoon of dried oregano or Italian seasoning along with the salt and pepper.
- For a super easy protein addition, I sometimes stir in a 5-ounce can of drained tuna at the end of the cooking time. I break up the tuna with a fork but keep it rather chunky.
- I’ve also added 2 thinly sliced shallots to the oil, cooking to soften, before adding the garlic. (More shallots would be good!) Then I toss in 12 ounces of cooked pasta, sprinkling with grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano to taste. A little reserved pasta water is nice to have on hand to loosen the pasta after it has been sitting a while.
- One more idea: A reader emailed me recently to say that she makes this sauce on repeat. When she has an abundance of zucchini from her garden she chops it and sautés it in olive oil until golden. (Higher heat and less stirring help to achieve this more quickly.) Then she removes the cooked zucchini to a plate, continues with the Speedy Cherry Tomato Sauce recipe, and stirs in the zucchini at the end. A sprinkle of crumbled feta would be lovely as well.
This rustic sauce is an ideal way to use an abundance of seasonal cherry or grape tomatoes. It will also make the most of grocery store cherry tomatoes, which are available year round.
After briefly sautéing the garlic, the tomatoes are added.
The flavorful sauce needs only the simplest of seasonings.
Pressing on the tomatoes with a fork encourages them to break down and turn into sauce more quickly.
Basil adds fresh flavor and color, but if you don’t have any, you could use a half teaspoon of dried Italian seasoning or oregano.
This 2013 photo shows a batch of the sauce made with grape tomatoes, which have a higher ratio of skin to pulp (meaning less moisture). The sauce will look slightly different depending on variety of tomato used and precise simmer time–but will always taste delicious!
* I’ve also made this sauce with grape tomatoes and it’s excellent. They tend to have less moisture than cherry tomatoes, so the finished sauce will be slightly chunkier. ** Choose the amount of pasta based on whether you like your pasta extra saucy or not. I like a high ratio of sauce to pasta so use the lesser amount of pasta. 
Recipe first posted August 2013.
Incredibly simple & delicious!! A wonderful way to use cherry tomatoes!! I had goat cheese on hand so added it to become more of a rose sauce. But other than that, followed the recipe exactly. Thank you!
Your rose twist sounds divine, Kelly! I’m thrilled you enjoyed the sauce and appreciate the terrific feedback!
Husband loved it and just finished another batch to freeze for supper with our small group meeting next time
So happy the cherry tomato sauce was a hit, Rhonda. Thank you for your comment!
Wow, so simple, so good!
Fabulous news, Elaine. Thank you for the glowing review!
So I had a 5 gallon bucket full of grape tomatoes. Really wasn’t sure what to do with them. They’re awesome and salad and the great raw right off of the vine. I found this recipe and I made up three batches one we’re going to eat tonight and one or two we’re actually gonna freeze so far the sauce is amazing. I thank you so much. Oh did I mention this was the easiest recipe I have ever come across that tasted so fantastic. Thanks again.
Karen, First of all, incredible that you have a 5 gallon bucket of grape tomatoes! Perhaps you have some prolific plants? I am so happy you found this recipe and it’s a winner for you. Thank you for the glowing review. And if in need of more variety, I have several other recipes that are equally terrific ways to make use of an abundance of cherry or grape tomatoes.
Do you ever freeze or store this sauce and for how long please?
Hi Luci, Any leftovers of this are always eaten at our house before I have a chance to freeze them. That said, I have frozen similar recipes successfully and some readers have reported freezing this sauce as well. I’d estimate 3-6 months is a safe bet and up to 12 months if you have a chest freezer that freezes to a colder temperature. Hope this helps!
I needed something to do with the plethora of cherry tomatoes from the garden. I added sautéed onion, celery, and bell pepper to the garlic as my base. It came out so sweet! I also added a can of tomato paste, because I like my sauce thick. Came out amazing. Thanks for the recipe.
Jill, How wonderful that your cherry tomato plants are doing well (ours still have a ways to go!) and I’m delighted this recipe was a success. Thanks so much for the great feedback!
Ended up with some cherry tomatoes from a leftover stock bag at a shop, so had to use them today – they were a minor part of the bag but I hated the idea of throwing them away.
Found your recipe and I’m amazed. I’m terrible in the kitchen but this has changed my outlook on things a lot – I really enjoyed cooking this – it takes no time at all and tastes amazing.
I’m actually planning on buying fresh tomatoes next time just to taste the difference.
Clearly you are not terrible in the kitchen, Steve! I’m so happy you’re a fan of the recipe and that you enjoyed making it. I fully hope to read more comments like this from you in the future. Well done!
Just made your sauce recipe to use a large container of cherry tomatoes. OMG, excellent, will now be my go to for a fresh homemade sauce. Thank you for posting!
So happy this will be your go-to, Cindy. Thank you for the glowing review!
I love this! The only thing I’d change is to add less salt, but great recipe. Thank you!
Great news, Joanne. Thank you for your feedback!
Hi Ann! With an abundance of grape tomatoes, I decided to give this recipe a go. Not only is it delicious, but it’s easy and quick. I love pasta sauces with some texture to them, and this is definitely one of those! I opted to use the parmesan instead of the mozzarella. It was perfect! Thanks for another terrific recipe that takes advantage of the garden’s bounty!
So happy the sauce was perfect, Nancy, and thank you for the lovely feedback. I created this recipe years ago thanks to a similar abundance of cherry tomatoes – those plants have a way of generating many more to tomatoes than seems possible!