If you are looking for the easiest and most flavorful way to make tomato sauce using fresh tomatoes, a cherry tomato sauce has to be it.
Most recipes for homemade tomato sauce require multiple steps and lots of time. Cherry tomato sauce is the short cut version. With cherry tomato sauce, you can skip the blanching and peeling of the tomatoes. You can also do away with the hours of simmering and stirring.
Best of all, the end result is every bit as flavorful!
Boost the Flavor + Nutritional Value of Your Cherry Tomato Sauce
Adding garlic—LOTS of garlic—is most definitely the easiest way to boost both the flavor and nutritional value of your cherry tomato sauce.
I think a lot of people know garlic is healthy, but I don’t think the average person realizes just how healthy it really is. I learned about the benefits of garlic over a decade ago while researching our first book. Garlic was one of the three “superfoods” we encouraged people to try to consume every single day.
Since the release of that initial book, I have since learned a lot more about garlic. Let’s just say I am now more of a garlic enthusiast than ever before!
Favorite Garlic Press
We use this incredible little garlic press (only $20) that comes with an easy-to-squeeze press and a smart little tool to clean out the garlic press. It’s one of our favorite kitchen items and you can find it here.
Garlic Perks
Beyond garlic’s more well-known benefits on cholesterol and blood pressure, here are just a few additional reasons to eat more garlic:
- Anti-Inflammatory: If you are trying to follow an anti-inflammatory diet, garlic is one of the most anti-inflammatory foods you can eat.
- Detox: Garlic plays a critical role in helping your body manufacture it’s most powerful detoxifying (and anti-inflammatory!) agent, glutathione.
- Immune Booster: Garlic is the most effective broad spectrum anti-microbial agent possessing 39 different anti-fungal, bacterial, parasitic and viral agents. (Note: garlic is one of the most important ingredients in my recipe for natural cold remedies)
FYI: I Use LOTS of Garlic in My Sauce
Just like my Steamed Clams, I use what might seem like a crazy amount of garlic in my Cherry Tomato Sauce recipe. Both recipes call for 1/4 cup of garlic. And that is not a mistake 😉
But in addition to adding tremendous health benefits, I promise the extra garlic really does wonders for boosting the flavor too.
Don’t Forget the Herbs!
In addition to garlic, adding a combination of both dried and fresh herbs to your Cherry Tomato Sauce will boost nutrition just as much as flavor.
Did you know herbs are an amazing source of phytonutrients? More Phytonutrients = More Antioxidants
Herbs are an incredible source of antioxidants. Adding more phytonutrients to you diet will help reduce inflammation, slow aging and protect against a number of different diseases.
For what it is worth, when it comes to cooking with herbs, I always keep a pot of fresh ones right on my kitchen counter. Not only do the herbs serve as great décor, but having them visible makes it so much easier for me to remember to add them to recipes.
My Favorite Ways to Use Cherry Tomato Sauce
Of course you can always put your Cherry Tomato Sauce on top of whole grain pasta, zucchini noodles or other vegetable pasta (by the way, have you tried butternut squash pasta yet?) But I think my favorite use of all is on pizza!
Pizza and clean eating might not seem like they go hand in hand, but these recipes below are healthy ways to get your pizza fix:
Ok, let’s get the sauce going!
Kitchen Favorites
Easy Garlicky Cherry Tomato Sauce Recipe
With just 6 ingredients, this Garlicky Cherry Tomato Sauce Recipe is super easy to make and packed with flavor! It’s a great alternative to classic marinara.
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Sauce
- Cuisine: Clean Eating
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 thinly sliced garlic cloves
- 2 pounds 32 ounces organic cherry tomatoes
- Unrefined sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat; add the garlic and gently sauté for a few minutes (take extra care not to let the garlic brown!)
- Add the tomatoes, cook and stir until they begin to burst and turn into a sauce, about 10 minutes. Add the salt, oregano and coconut sugar and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Stir in the basil and cook for 1 more minute. Serve warm. (Note: For a smooth sauce see notes below)
Notes
The recipe above yields a chunky tomato sauce. If you want a smoother sauce simply use a handheld stick blender to puree the sauce to a smooth consistency.
LOOKING FOR MORE CLEAN EATING DINNER RECIPES?
If you liked the Cherry Tomato Sauce recipe, be sure to check out a full month’s menu of delicious healthy dinner recipes (including weekly shopping lists!) in our Clean Cuisine Dinners digital cookbook.
Nicole says
The recipe stays 1/4 for the garlic… 1/4 cup?
Ivy Larson says
hi Nicole, thank you so much for bringing that to my attention. Yes, it is 1/4 cup of garlic! I know it seems like a lot, but it’s absolutely delicious (just be careful not to burn the garlic!)