What is Ina Garten's favorite spaghetti sauce?

Ina Garten has spoken publicly about her preference for rich, slow-simmered sauces built on a generous base of garlic and high-quality canned tomatoes. Her most celebrated tomato sauce recipe — sometimes described as her tomato sauce with 24 cloves of garlic — is widely considered her signature approach to pasta sauce. She has noted in interviews and in her cookbooks that she believes good olive oil and unhurried cooking time are the two factors that separate an excellent tomato sauce from a merely adequate one. There is no single "official" favorite on record, but this garlic-forward, slow-simmered sauce is the one most closely associated with her name.

What is the one ingredient that makes spaghetti sauce so much better?

According to many professional cooks and food writers, the single ingredient most likely to transform a basic tomato sauce is quality extra-virgin olive oil used generously both at the start (for cooking the aromatics) and sometimes as a finishing drizzle at the end. Ina Garten's approach leans heavily on this principle. A secondary answer that comes up frequently in cooking discussions is fresh basil added off the heat — its volatile aromatic oils dissipate quickly when cooked, so adding it at the very end and letting it steep in the warm sauce rather than boiling it in produces a noticeably brighter, more fragrant result. In Ina Garten's version specifically, it can be argued that the quantity of slowly cooked garlic is the single ingredient doing the most work.

What ingredient does Ina Garten dislike?

Ina Garten has mentioned on several occasions that she has a strong dislike for cilantro, describing it in interviews as a flavor she finds off-putting and that she avoids in her cooking. She has also expressed a general preference for using fresh herbs over dried ones where possible, and she tends to avoid overly processed or pre-packaged convenience ingredients in favor of whole, recognizable components. These preferences are consistent across her published recipes and reflect her broader cooking philosophy of simplicity and quality over convenience.

How to make tomato sauce with Martha Stewart?

Martha Stewart's approach to tomato sauce differs from Ina Garten's primarily in its structure and speed. Martha's classic marinara tends to be leaner in olive oil and garlic, with an emphasis on fresh tomatoes during the summer season and a cleaner, less garlic-forward flavor profile year-round. She often incorporates onion as an aromatic base alongside garlic — a step that Ina's version frequently skips in favor of letting the garlic carry all the aromatic weight. Both approaches produce excellent results, but they are optimized for different outcomes: Ina's for depth and richness, Martha's for brightness and versatility across a wider range of dishes.

Ina Garten Tomato Sauce Recipe: The Red Wine Secret

Description

A rich, slow-simmered Ina Garten tomato sauce made with olive oil, San Marzano tomatoes, and plenty of garlic for deep savory flavor.

Ingredients

Scale

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
12–24 cloves garlic, peeled
2 (28-ounce) cans whole San Marzano tomatoes, crushed by hand
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 generous pinch red pepper flakes
1 large handful fresh basil leaves, torn

Instructions

Warm the olive oil in a large Dutch oven or saucepan over medium-low heat.
Add the garlic cloves while the oil is warming.
Cook the garlic gently for 10–15 minutes, stirring occasionally until soft and lightly golden.
Add the red pepper flakes and cook for 1 minute to bloom the flavor.
Add the crushed San Marzano tomatoes along with the salt and sugar.
Stir well and bring the sauce to a gentle simmer over medium heat.
Reduce the heat to low and simmer partially covered for 25–30 minutes.
Stir occasionally while the sauce thickens and the garlic becomes very tender.
Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning with additional salt if needed.
Remove from heat and stir in the torn fresh basil leaves.
Let the sauce rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Notes

Using whole San Marzano tomatoes and slow-cooking the garlic in olive oil creates the deep flavor that makes this sauce special.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Category: Sauce
Method: Stovetop
Cuisine: Italian

Nutrition

Serving Size: 1 serving
Calories: 140
Sugar: 6g
Sodium: 380mg
Fat: 10g
Saturated Fat: 1.5g
Unsaturated Fat: 8g
Trans Fat: 0g
Carbohydrates: 12g
Fiber: 3g
Protein: 2g
Cholesterol: 0mg

Keywords: ina garten tomato sauce, barefoot contessa tomato sauce, garlic tomato sauce, homemade marinara, san marzano tomato sauce