
I went out to lunch a couple days ago and when I was looking through the menu I came across a pasta with arrabbiata sauce. I had forgotten how much I loved this simple, spicy tomato sauce and I was determined to make it for myself when I got home! It took a little trial and error, but I finally came up with (in my opinion) the perfect balance of garlic, spice and basil flavors. This Easy, Spicy Arrabbiata Sauce would be delicious served with pasta, zucchini noodles, spaghetti squash or with any meat. I hope you love it!

Here are some tips for making this recipe:
- This sauce can easily be made as spicy or as mild as you like. My husband and I like our food SUPER spicy, so I use the full 4 tablespoons of crushed red pepper when making this sauce. Feel free to use as little as 1 tablespoon, or even less if you are a little more sensitive to spice.
- If you don’t love visible chunks of tomato in your sauce, you can use double the amount of crushed tomatoes and leave out the diced tomatoes. In contrast if you prefer a lot of chunky pieces of tomato in your sauce, you can use only diced tomatoes.
- Don’t skimp on the simmer time! This is a very important part of making this sauce. The simmer time will allow all of the flavors to become more pronounced and it will also give the sauce time to thicken.
These are some other recipes that I think will go great with my Easy, Spicy Arrabbiata Sauce:
Arugula Salad with Lemon and Shaved Parmesan
Rosemary and Parmesan Focaccia Bread
The following are products that I recommend for this recipe:
I would love to hear what you think of this recipe. Please let me know in the comments below, and don’t forget to select a star rating. Thank you and enjoy!
Easy, Spicy Arrabbiata Sauce
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 10 cloves garlic minced
- 1-4 tbsp crushed red pepper
- 1 medium onion diced
- 28 oz crushed tomatoes
- 28 oz diced tomatoes
- 1½ tsp kosher salt
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 bunch basil
Instructions
- Heat a large sauce pot on the stove over medium heat. Add the olive oil, garlic and red pepper. Sautee until fragrant. Add the diced onion and sautee until the onion starts to become translucent.
- Add the tomatoes, salt and chicken broth. Allow to come to a boil and then reduce the heat to low. Allow to simmer for approximately 1 hour.
- Add the basil leaves and more salt if desired before serving.
Nutrition
If you like this recipe, you may also like my Rigatoni Bolognese, Penne Alla Vodka, Simple Tomato Sauce or my Easy Skillet Lasagna.