Veggie Loaded Tomato Sauce (Printable Format)

Rich tomato sauce blended with puréed vegetables, perfect for enhancing pasta with wholesome goodness.

# What's Needed:

→ Vegetables

01 - 1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped
02 - 1 small zucchini, chopped
03 - 1 red or orange bell pepper, seeded and chopped
04 - 1 small onion, chopped
05 - 2 cloves garlic, minced
06 - 1 celery stalk, chopped

→ Tomato Base

07 - 2 cans (14 oz each) crushed tomatoes
08 - 2 tablespoons tomato paste

→ Seasonings

09 - 1 tablespoon olive oil
10 - 1 teaspoon dried oregano
11 - 1 teaspoon dried basil
12 - 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
13 - 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
14 - 1/2 teaspoon sugar (optional, to balance acidity)

→ Optional Add-ins

15 - Pinch of red pepper flakes
16 - Fresh basil, chopped, for garnish

# How To Make It:

01 - Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, carrot, celery, zucchini, and bell pepper. Sauté for 8 to 10 minutes until vegetables are softened.
02 - Add minced garlic and sauté for 1 minute until fragrant.
03 - Stir in tomato paste and cook for 1 minute to deepen flavor.
04 - Add crushed tomatoes, oregano, basil, salt, black pepper, and sugar if using. Bring mixture to a gentle simmer.
05 - Cover saucepan and cook for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until all vegetables are very tender.
06 - Remove from heat. Use an immersion blender or countertop blender to purée the sauce until smooth.
07 - Return sauce to low heat and simmer uncovered for 5 to 10 minutes. Adjust seasoning to taste.
08 - Serve hot over pasta, garnished with fresh chopped basil if desired.

# Expert Advice:

01 -
  • A spoonful tastes indulgent while hiding an entire garden's worth of vegetables your body actually appreciates.
  • It comes together in under an hour, which means weeknight dinners stop feeling like a negotiation with yourself.
  • The sauce freezes beautifully, so you can make a big batch and taste homemade pasta dinners for weeks afterward.
02 -
  • Blending hot sauce is the biggest surprise waiting to happen—if you use a countertop blender, press a kitchen towel over the lid or the lid will pop clean off your blender and you'll spend ten minutes cleaning tomato sauce off your ceiling.
  • The difference between a good sauce and a great one is tasting it multiple times during cooking and adjusting as you go, not at the end when your options are limited.
  • Vegetables release moisture as they cook, which is why the final simmer without a lid matters—it reduces the liquid until the sauce coats pasta instead of sliding right off.
03 -
  • If your sauce tastes aggressively acidic even after you've added sugar, a pinch of baking soda creates tiny bubbles that neutralize the acidity immediately—add it carefully and watch the magic happen.
  • Room-temperature vegetables blend more smoothly than cold ones, so if you're working with leftovers from the refrigerator, let them sit out for a few minutes before blending or give them a gentle stir over low heat.
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