This healthy Spaghetti recipe with Fresh Tomato Sauce and Basil comes together in under 20 minutes and highlights fresh summer tomatoes. Vegan and GF adaptable. With a video!

Spaghetti with Fresh Tomato Sauce and Basil in a saute pan.

I’m a little embarrassed to tell you how much I’ve been making this Spaghetti with Fresh Tomato Sauce lately. Like every single night this past week!  Summer tomatoes are so juicy and flavorful right now, so tomato-ey, and I can’t get enough of them! This recipe really highlights them in a simple, flavorful way.  It’s a meal that can be whipped up very quickly – like in 20 minutes flat, yet feels like a feast, somewhere on a Tuscan hillside. Great for busy weeknights, it’s a snap to make, kids love it and it is deeply nourishing.

Keep it light and vegan, embellishing with capers, chili flakes or kalamata olives,  or add a little fresh grated Romano or salty cheese to add richness. And of course you can always use gluten-free pasta! Either way, I know you’ll love this.

Spaghetti with Fresh Tomato Sauce | 60-second video

What makes this recipe so good:

Fresh Summer Tomatoes! The success of this recipe lies in the quality of the tomatoes. Fresh, vine-ripened tomatoes taste so good, they need little else to boost their inherent flavor. And guess what? It just happens to be tomato season here in the Northwest. Juicy, ripe and full of flavor, they are at their peak.  Knowing they won’t be here too much longer, makes me want to eat them at every meal.

fresh colorful heirloom tomatoes

What you will need for the recipe:

  • onion
  • garlic
  • olive oil
  • fresh summer tomatoes
  • spaghetti (or other pasta)
  • Basil
  • salt and pepper

chopped onion and garlic

Step by Step Instructions:

Step 1:

Set the pasta to boil.

cooking the spaghetti in a pot

Step 2:

Add olive oil to a large pan over medium high heat. Saute onion and garlic until fragrant and golden, reduce heat, stir occasionally.

onions, sautéing in a pan

Step 3:

Add the fresh ripe tomatoes, their seeds and juices, and a splash of vermouth or wine.

tomatoes cooking in a pan

Step 4:

Add salt and pepper and simmer 5 minutes on medium heat, covered. In 5 minutes flat, the tomatoes will break down just a bit, and a look like this below.

(Note: Some people remove the seeds and skins, but I’ve found the seeds have so much flavor. The skins, well they don’t bother me, easily dissolving in the sauce.)

fresh tomato sauce cooking in the pan

Step 5:

Add the cooked pasta. Drain the pasta and add it to the tomato sauce. Continue cooking the pasta in the tomato sauce for just a few more minutes, letting it soak up the delicious flavor.

Spaghetti being added to tomato sauce.

Step 6:

Add the fresh basil!

spaghetti and sauce cooking in a pan

Then feel free to embellish a bit.

Add capers or Kalamata olives if you want.

A forkful of Spaghetti with Fresh Tomato Sauce

Dish it up and either keep it vegan or add some fresh grated Romano or Parmesan.

A bowls of Spaghetti with Fresh Tomato Sauce and Basil topped with grated pecorino cheese.

You could also top this with Vegan Cheesy Sprinkle!

Vegan Cheesy Sprinkles! Give a little savory depth to your meals with this dairy-free rich topping. Perfect for pasta dishes, soups, and salads- a  great vegan substitute for parmesan cheese.  Easy to make in less than 20 minutes! #veganparmesan

Or keep it plain!

A forkful of Spaghetti.

Spaghetti with Fresh Tomato Sauce and Basil - a simple, quick and healthy recipe featuring fresh summer tomatoes that can be made in 20 mins flat! #tomatoes #tomatosauce #freshtomatosauce #quick #easytomatosauce

And that is it – the simplest of recipes for healthy Spaghetti with Fresh Tomato Sauce made with vine-ripened summer tomatoes and basil- one of my favorite dinners.

Have a good week!

Sylvia

Other Delicious Pasta Recipes:

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Spaghetti with Fresh Tomato Sauce and Basil - a simple, quick and healthy recipe featuring fresh summer tomatoes that can be made in 20 mins flat! #tomatoes #tomatosauce #freshtomatosauce #quick #easytomatosauce

Spaghetti with Fresh Tomato Sauce

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 25 reviews

Description

Healthy Spaghetti with Fresh Tomato Sauce and Basil – a simple, quick and healthy recipe featuring fresh summer tomatoes that can be made in 20 mins flat!


Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 8 oz pasta (linguini, spaghetti or angel hair )
  • 1/2 an onion- diced
  • 8 garlic cloves, rough chopped
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 lbs juicy ripe tomatoes, diced (about 6 cups chopped, save juices)
  • 1/4 cup splash vermouth, red wine or white wine
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
  • 1520 basil leaves, torn, more for garnish
  • Pptional: fresh grated Pecorino Romano cheese (or Parmesan), or vegan parmesa, or try this Vegan Cheesy Sprinkle
  • Optional additions: chili flakes, Kalamata olives or capers

Instructions

  1. Set a big pot of salted pasta water to boil on high to cook pasta. Cook pasta according to directions on the package.
  2. Make the Fresh Tomato sauce. In a large skillet heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add chopped onions, saute 3-4 minutes, until tender. Turn heat to medium. Add the rough chopped garlic. Saute a few minutes until garlic is fragrant and golden. Add the chopped tomatoes and all their juices and seeds. Turn heat up to medium-high.
  3. Add vermouth or wine, cook this off then bring to a simmer and simmer 5 minutes until tomatoes begin to break down and wine cooks off a bit.
  4. Stir in salt and pepper.
  5. Turn heat to low, simmer on low, covered, until pasta is cooked is ready to add.
  6. When pasta is cooked to al dente, drain and add it to the fresh tomato sauce, continuing to cook pasta on low for a few minutes in the sauce. Stir in the basil leaves.
  7. Divide among bowls and top with fresh grated Pecorino cheese and top with fresh basil ribbons.

Notes

Feel free to use vegan parmesan or Vegan Cheesy Sprinkle.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size:
  • Calories: 362
  • Sugar: 8.4 g
  • Sodium: 598 mg
  • Fat: 11.9 g
  • Saturated Fat: 1.7 g
  • Carbohydrates: 55.5 g
  • Fiber: 5.1 g
  • Protein: 10.1 g
  • Cholesterol: 0 mg

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Comments

  1. I made this a few nights ago with my heirloom tomatoes that are still ripening in my garage after being picked green in October! Heaven. So easy and so delicious. This sauce will be on my regular rotation when the tomatoes are is season.






    1. You can just leave it out, and if it seems dry add a tiny splash of water. 🙂

  2. This is one of our favorite recipes. We made it using our home grown tomatoes. Felt like we were in Italy while enjoying this meal!






  3. Absolutely delicious. I wasn’t sure it would pack a flavour punch with so few ingredients, but how wrong I was. I did add a dash of chilli flakes for a bit of extra kick. This is now a go to dish for us.

  4. Unbelievably simple recipe and a meal that made me feel I was back in Italy. My partner and I were talking about this recipe for days after I made it for dinner!






  5. This is quite possibly the best pasta sauce I’ve ever eaten. I was leery of the called-for 8 cloves of garlic; nonetheless, I pressed on and oh my…incredible! I added a little more pasta than the recipe stated but felt the pasta-to-sauce ratio was perfect (my tomatoes were very juicy!). Thanks for an amazing recipe. I don’t know what I’ll do this winter w/o fresh tomatoes and have to resort to canned again. This recipe has ruined me. 😉






  6. This is such an easy recipe and so delicious! We’re traveling for a few months in an RV so picking up some local produce was fun. It’s full of flavor and doesn’t take much time.






  7. Absolutely delicious! I agree that tomatoes fresh from the garden are required. I use cherry tomatoes early in the season, as we always have them before the larger tomatoes ripen. This dish screams summer!






  8. Do you have GF pasta that you recommend? BTW, My husband and I recently started eating clean and your website is a LIFESAVER!❤️❤️❤️

    1. Thanks Shannon! I like Banza brand, made with chickpeas, but there are lots out there!

  9. Really tasty, quick and easy to make tomato pasta sauce. I added a chopped large fresh green chilli for a little extra kick and served with linguini pasta, absolutely delicious!
    Will definitely be making again.






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