Homemade Pasta Sauce Recipe (Instant Pot or Stovetop)

This delicious Homemade Pasta Sauce Recipe has sausage, tomatoes, and herbs, and it’s amazing with zucchini noodles or any type of pasta. And you can make this chunky flavorful pasta sauce in the Instant Pot or on the stove!

PIN the Homemade Pasta Sauce Recipe to try it later!

This tasty Homemade Pasta Sauce Recipe was inspired by the pasta sauce I made for many years when I lived in a little house in Salt Lake where I grew I grew lots of tomatoes and fresh herbs in my garden. In those days I’d make fresh tomato sauce with sausage and herbs every summer. And even after I moved and didn’t have a big garden any more, I still made pasta sauce with fresh herbs and canned tomatoes, simmering it on the stove and making the house smell amazing.

Then I became an Instant Pot fan and got obsessed with the idea of making Instant Pot pasta sauce with that combination of ingredients. It seemed like a no-brainer until I tried several batches of sauce that burned in the Instant Pot! Then Kara and I decided to try making a chunkier pasta sauce recipe (from the earlier days of the blog) using the Instant Pot. We experimented until we had perfected this homemade pasta sauce recipe, and it turned out to be such a winner in both the Instant Pot and on the stove!

And I decided to share both methods for the homemade pasta sauce in the same post, so people can choose the one they prefer. Whichever way you make this tasty pasta sauce (and whether you eat it with zucchini noodles or pasta) I hope you have fresh herbs from your garden; that’s what puts this over the top for me! But see my suggestions for making it without fresh herbs if that’s just not happening at your house. I hope you enjoy the recipe!

What ingredients do you need for this recipe?

(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe with ingredient amounts.)

• hot turkey or pork Italian sausage
• Olive Oil (affiliate link)
• canned petite diced tomatoes
• canned beef broth (affiliate link)
• Minced Garlic (affiliate link)
• Dried Basil (affiliate link)
• dried Greek Oregano (affiliate link)
• ground fennel (affiliate link)
• fresh basil (optional, but recommended)
• fresh oregano (optional, but recommended)
• salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste
• freshly-grated Parmesan for serving (optional)

Do you need all the dried herbs I used for the Homemade Pot Pasta Sauce?

I highly recommend using the dried basil, Greek Oregano, and ground fennel I suggested to flavor this sauce. That combination of herbs plus the fresh herbs will give the pasta sauce flavor that makes people swoon in a good Italian restaurant!

Can you make this Homemade Pasta Sauce Recipe without fresh herbs?

You can still make a pretty flavorful sauce with this recipe even if you don’t have fresh basil or fresh oregano. I recommend using a few tablespoons of Basil Pesto to replace the fresh basil if possible. If you don’t have fresh oregano, I would just use a bit more dried oregano.

How low in carbs is the Homemade Pasta Sauce?

This delicious pasta sauce made in the Instant Pot or on the stove has less than 4 net carbs per serving and 18 grams of protein!

Love Your Instant Pot?

I use a 6 Quart Instant Pot for all my Instant Pot Recipes. Use the category Instant Pot to see all the recipes I’ve made with this popular cooking gadget!

How to make Homemade Pasta Sauce in the Instant Pot:

(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

1. Heat oil in the Instant Pot on SAUTE / HIGH HEAT. Squeeze sausage out of the casings and cook, breaking apart with a turner while you brown it.
2. While sausage cooks, drain 2 of the cans of tomatoes.
3. When the sausage is brown, push it to the side, add more oil, minced garlic, dried basil, dried Greek oregano, and ground fennel and cook 2-3 minutes.
4. Then add all the tomatoes and beef broth. Lock the lid, set the Instant Pot to HIGH PRESSURE, and cook 10 minutes, then QUICK RELEASE.
5. When the pressure is released, check to see if you want your sauce to be a little thicker. If so, use SAUTE / HIGH HEAT to cook until it has reduced a bit and is the thickness you prefer.
6. Then change to SAUTE / LOW HEAT, stir in chopped fresh herbs (or basil pesto) and 1 T more olive oil and simmer about 5 minutes to finish the sauce.
7. Serve hot, with zucchini noodles or pasta of your choice, and plenty of freshly-grated Parmesan cheese.
8. See the NOTES section in the recipe below for instructions for making the homemade pasta sauce recipe on the stove.

Tips for cooking Zucchini Noodles to eat with the Instant Pot Pasta Sauce:

Here are Three Ways to Make Zucchini Noodles if you haven’t done it. You can also buy them pre-made in the produce department of most stores.

1. To cook zucchini noodles, heat 1-2 tablespoons olive oil in a large frying pan. (You can add a few sliced garlic cloves to season the oil. If you do that, only cook until you barely smell garlic and then remove it.)
2. When the oil is hot, add the zucchini noodles and cook until barely tender and heated through, not more than 2-3 minutes.
3. Season with a little salt and serve with sauce or topping of your choice.

Weekend Food Prep:

This Homemade Pasta Sauce Recipe has been added to a category called Weekend Food Prep where you’ll find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week! And this is a perfect recipe to make and stash in the freezer.

Continue to Content

Print

Yield: 8 servings of sauce

Homemade Pasta Sauce Recipe (Instant Pot or Stovetop)

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Additional Time 25 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes

This Homemade Pasta Sauce Recipe has Sausage, Tomatoes, and Herbs, and this sauce that can be made in the Instant Pot or on the stove is definitely a winner! The sauce is delicious served over pasta or zucchini noodles.

Ingredients

• one 19.5 oz. package hot turkey Italian sausage (see notes)
• 5 T olive oil, divided
• three 14.5 oz. cans petite diced tomatoes, drain 2 cans and keep the liquid in the other one
• 1/2 cup beef broth
• 2 T minced garlic (or more)
• 1 tsp. dried basil
• 1 tsp. dried Greek Oregano
• 1 T ground fennel
• 1/3 cup finely chopped fresh basil (see notes)
• 2 T chopped fresh oregano
• salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste
• freshly-grated Parmesan for serving (optional but recommended)

Instructions

1. Heat 3 T olive oil in the Instant Pot on SAUTE / HIGH HEAT. Squeeze turkey or pork Italian sausage out of the casings and add to Instant Pot and cook, breaking apart with a turner while you brown it. (Turkey sausage will release a bit of water, so cook until that's evaporated.)
2. While sausage cooks, drain 2 of the cans of tomatoes.
3. When the sausage is brown, push it to the side, add another 1 T olive oil, minced garlic, dried basil, dried Greek oregano, and ground fennel and cook 2-3 minutes more.
4. Then add 2 cans drained tomatoes, 1 can undrained tomatoes, and beef broth.
5. Lock the lid, set the Instant Pot to HIGH PRESSURE, and cook 10 minutes, then QUICK RELEASE.
6. When the pressure is released, check to see if you want your sauce to be a little thicker. If so, use SAUTE / HIGH HEAT to cook until it has reduced a bit and is the thickness you prefer. (This probably won't take more than 5 minutes or so.)
7. Then change to SAUTE / LOW HEAT, stir in chopped fresh herbs (or basil pesto) and 1 T more olive oil and simmer about 5 minutes to finish the sauce.
8. Season with salt and a little fresh ground pepper to taste.
9. Serve hot, with pasta or zucchini noodles and freshly grated parmesan cheese.
10. The sauce can be kept in the refrigerator for about a week or frozen for several months; reheat on low heat.

Notes

Use pork Italian sausage if you can't find turkey sausage.

Use as much chopped fresh basil as you prefer or have available, or you can use frozen basil or basil pesto. I highly recommend using fresh chopped herbs to finish the sauce, but you can still make a pretty good sauce by slightly increasing the amount of dried herbs.

I used a 6 Quart Instant Pot (affiliate link) for this recipe.

Use this recipe to make the homemade pasta sauce on the stove:

Ingredients:

• 1 pkg. (19.5 oz.) hot turkey or pork Italian sausage (squeeze meat out of casings)
• 5 T olive oil, divided
• 3 cans petite diced tomatoes, drain 2 cans
• 1/2 cup beef broth
• 2 T minced garlic (or more)
• 1 tsp. dried basil
• 1 tsp. dried Greek Oregano
• 1 T ground fennel1/4 - 1/3 cup (or more)
• finely chopped fresh basil (or use frozen basil or basil pesto)
• 2 T chopped fresh oregano
• (I highly recommend using the fresh chopped herbs or substitutes to finish the sauce, but if fresh herbs or pesto is not available you can make a pretty good sauce by slightly increasing the amount of dried herbs.)
• freshly-grated Parmesan for serving (optional but recommended

Instructions:

1. Heat 3 T olive oil in heavy frying pan, then squeeze sausage out of casings and cook over medium heat until well browned, breaking sausage apart as it cooks.
2. When sausage is quite brown, push to the side of the pan and add 1 T more olive oil, then add minced garlic and dried herbs and cook 2-3 minutes.
3. While sausage cooks, drain two cans of the tomatoes.
4. When sausage is well-browned, add all the tomatoes and the beef broth to the pan and cook on low heat 25 - 30 minutes.
5. After sauce has simmered, add fresh chopped basil and chopped oregano (or frozen basil or basil pesto) and a the rest of the olive oil to finish the sauce.
6. Cook about 5 minutes more, just enough to blend flavors.
7. Serve with hot pasta or zucchini noodles and freshly grated parmesan cheese.

This Homemade Pasta Sauce Recipe was created by Kalyn and Kara.

Nutrition Information

Yield

8

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 243Total Fat 16gSaturated Fat 3gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 11.2gCholesterol 64mgSodium 694mgCarbohydrates 7.1gFiber 3.6gSugar 4gProtein 18g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

Did you make this recipe?

Did you make this recipe? Please leave a star rating (under the PRINT button in the recipe) or share a photo of your results on Instagram! THANKS!

Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
This homemade pasta sauce served with zucchini noodles would be suitable for low-carb or Keto diet plans, and for all phases of the original South Beach Diet. Tomatoes do have some carbs, but when I calculated the nutritional information I was pleasantly surprised that this sauce was quite low in carbs, enjoy!

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Instant Pot Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Historical Notes for this Recipe:
The homemade pasta sauce recipe was first posted in 2017. It was last updated with more information and to include both recipes in the same post in 2025.

Share This: