Tomato Basil No-Cook Pasta Sauce

Tomato Basil No-Cook Pasta Sauce is a wonderful way to use fresh summer tomatoes and this tasty sauce is versatile, easy, and delicious! Serve the no-cook sauce with the pasta of your choice, over Zucchini Noodles, or as a topping for grilled chicken, fish, or pork!

PIN Tomato Basil No-Cook Pasta Sauce to try it later!

No-Cook Pasta Sauce made with fresh tomatoes, basil, olive oil, garlic, dried herbs is a recipe I first tried back in the days when my garden was bursting with fresh tomatoes! And I was completely amazed at how delicious it was!

Now this no-cook sauce is one of my favorite ways to use tomatoes, especially in late summer when I’ve had lots of tomato salads and want something different to do with fresh tomatoes. And a few years ago I decided the no-cook pasta sauce recipe had to have new photos so I could entice more people to try it, and Kara and I loved this when we tested the recipe again to take the new pictures! We had fun imagining how great this sauce would taste over low-carb pasta or as a topping for grilled chicken or fish.

If you have plenty of tomatoes to experiment with, I hope you’ll try the recipe soon, and if you do try it, I predict it will become one of your all-time favorite ways to use garden tomatoes. And scroll down to see two more no-cook sauce options that are back in the archives!

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.)

• vine-ripened fresh tomatoes
• extra virgin Olive Oil (affiliate link), use your best olive oil for this
• finely chopped fresh basil (more or less to taste)
• Dried Thyme (affiliate link)
• finely minced fresh garlic
• sea salt (we found this needs quite a bit of salt)
• hot pepper flakes

How long does the No-Cook Pasta Sauce have to sit on the counter?

For this type of sauce, you stir all the ingredients together and then let it sit on the counter for the tomatoes to soften and the flavors to blend. I think you need a minimum of an hour sitting time, but if you can let it sit for 4-6 hours the sauce will be even better!

How low in carbs is this No-Cook Pasta Sauce with Tomatoes and Basil?

This easy and tasty sauce has only 6 net carbs per serving and 2 grams of protein.

How to Make Tomato Basil No-Cook Pasta Sauce:

(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. I had just picked this whole salad spinner full of basil leaves, so I used a whole cup of chopped basil, but you can get away with a lot less basil.
2. Chop up 4 cups of garden fresh tomatoes. Tomatoes that are really ripe are best for this.
3. You’ll need minced garlic, sea salt, and hot pepper flakes to season the pasta sauce.
4. If you have thyme in your herb garden you add a few teaspoons of fresh thyme leaves, or use a teaspoon of dried thyme.
5. Stir all those ingredients together with 1/2 cup of your very best olive oil.
6. Let it sit on the counter for at least an hour, or as long as 6 hours, and the pasta sauce is ready. You can see from the photo that the tomatoes release some of their liquid to flavor the sauce!
7. Serve the pasta with cooked spaghetti, sauteed Zucchini Noodles, or another pasta shape of your choice.
8. Serve while the pasta or zucchini noodles are still hot, with freshly grated Parmesan cheese to add at the table if desired.

How to make the no-cook pasta sauce into a low-carb meal:

This no-cook tomato and basil sauce is amazing over pasta, but equally good with Zucchini Noodles if you’d like to make it for a low-carb meal that’s also gluten-free! I’d also it over any of the varieties of Fiber Gourmet Light Pasta (affiliate link) for a lower-carb pasta or Palmini Pasta (affiliate link) for even lower carbs . And definitely it would be amazing over grilled chicken, fish, or pork chops.

More No-Cook Pasta Sauce with Tomatoes:

Back in the archives I’ve got two other variations on a no-cook sauce with tomatoes. Check out the sauce with Arugula, Olives, and Capers or the one with Herbs and Feta! 

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Yield: 4 servings

Tomato Basil No-Cook Pasta Sauce

Prep Time 20 minutes

Additional Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes

This Tomato Basil No-Cook Pasta Sauce is a wonderful summer-into-fall way to use fresh garden tomatoes!

Ingredients

• 4 cups chopped vine-ripened fresh tomatoes
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (use your best olive oil for this)
• 1 cup finely chopped fresh basil (more or less to taste)
• 1 tsp. dried thyme (see notes)
• 1 T finely minced fresh garlic (more or less to taste)
• 1 tsp. sea salt (or more, we found this needs quite a bit of salt)
• pinch hot pepper flakes

Instructions

1. Wash tomatoes, pat dry, then cut away stem part and cut tomatoes into 1/2 inch pieces.
2. Put diced tomatoes into large glass or crockery bowl.
3. Wash basil leaves and spin dry or dry with paper towel. Finely chop basil with chef’s knife and add to tomatoes.
4. If you have fresh thyme, wash several thyme branches, pat dry, then strip off the leaves, finely chop, and add into bowl with basil and tomatoes.
5. Add olive oil, garlic, sea salt, and hot pepper flakes and gently combine.
6. Let sauce mixture sit on the counter at room temperature for at least one hour and as long as all day.
7. Serve sauce with hot cooked pasta or sauteed Zucchini Noodles, with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese if desired.

Notes

If you have fresh thyme, use 2 tsp. chopped thyme leaves.

Nutritional information is for sauce only and doesn't include pasta or zucchini noodles.

This recipe was slightly adapted by Kalyn from Fine Cooking Magazine.

Nutrition Information

Yield

4

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 275Total Fat 27gSaturated Fat 4gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 23gCholesterol 0mgSodium 591mgCarbohydrates 8gFiber 2gSugar 4gProtein 2g

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.

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Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
No-cook pasta sauce like this combined with whole-grain pasta is a perfect meal for phase two or three of the original South Beach diet. For a low-carb diets you can eat the no-cook sauce over Zucchini Noodles or Palmini Pasta (affiliate link) or enjoy it with any of the varieties of Fiber Gourmet Light Pasta (affiliate link) if you don’t mind a few more carbs. And definitely it would be amazing over grilled chicken, fish, or pork chops.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Sauces to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find more 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:
This recipe for a delicious tomato and basil pasta sauce that doesn’t need to be cooked was first posted in 2013 when my garden was totally overloaded with tomatoes! It was updated with better photos in 2020 and last updated with more information in 2025.

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