Napoli Sauce

Want a simple and delicious dairy free pasta sauce? Make this Napoli sauce! It’s quick to make, full of flavour and very healthy. Napoli or Neapolitan sauce is a very easy thick tomato based sauce that is super quick to whip up.

About This Recipe

• With less than 5 minutes prep and a 30 minute almost hands-free slow simmer time, this can be made even on your busiest day.
• This Napoli sauce is dairy free, gluten free, low calorie, low in fat, vegan and vegetarian.
• Made with inexpensive canned tomatoes this is a budget friendly recipe.
• Use this quick Napoli sauce recipe to reduce food waste by using soft and overripe fresh tomatoes – see recipe notes below.  
• This tomato based sauce can be used make cheap easy meals on a budget – see our section on “What To Make With Napoli Sauce” for some great ideas.

Ingredient Notes

Tomatoes – I prefer to use a can of diced tomatoes for this recipe, simply for convenience. It just means opening the can and pouring it into the pot with no messy chopping.

However, if all you have is whole canned tomatoes, these can be roughly chop before adding to the pot or just crush them in the pan before cooking.

Onion – use a large brown onion.

Olive oil – use a mild flavoured extra virgin olive oil or vegetable oil.

Salt and sugar – the salt enhances the flavours of the sauce and the sugar helps to cut back the acidity of the tomatoes.

Small red chilli – you can use fresh or frozen chilli or leave it out if you don’t like chilli.

• If you just want a hint of chilli in the sauce, leave it whole and remove it after cooking.
• If you don’t mind a bit of a bite to the sauce, chop it up and mix it.
• If you can’t get fresh chilli you can always use a whole dried chilli or chilli flakes.

Parsley and basil – try and use fresh if you can but, if these are out of season or simply not available, it is okay to use 1-2 teaspoon each of dried basil and parsley.

Dried herbs give a slightly different flavour but are ideal to use when fresh herbs are out of season.

Recipe Steps

This Napoli recipe is so simple to make, it really doesn’t need step by step instructions.

However, I know that some of you would like to see the various steps involved so here they are:

Finely dice the onion and gently fry until soft, then add chopped parsley, torn basil leaves, salt, sugar, chilli and then the canned tomatoes.

Bring everything to the boil, stir well, turn the heat down to low, put the lid on and simmer for about 30 – 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

After about 30 minutes you should be left with a thick creamy Napoli sauce.

If the sauce looks a little watery continue to cook covered, over low heat for about 10 more minutes.

Use this sauce to make spaghetti Neapolitan which is basically spaghetti with a simple tomato sauce like this one.

Recipe Tips and Notes

Make A Smooth Sauce

If you prefer a smooth sauce use an immersion blender to puree until smooth.

Don’t have a blender!

Place the sauce into a sieve and use the back of a spoon to push the sauce through the sieve and into a clean bowl.

Use Fresh or Bottled Tomatoes

You can also use fresh tomatoes, passata or a combination of fresh and tinned tomatoes to make this sauce:

Fresh tomatoes – Fresh tomatoes can be used to make this sauce. I don’t bother peeling or removing the seeds. I will use a blender to either roughly chop them or puree them smooth before cooking. We don’t mind the tomato skin or seeds in the sauce.

If you want a smooth sauce, you could cook the sauce as above, then pass the sauce through a sieve to remove the skin and seeds.

Or, if you prefer you can blanch tomatoes to remove the skin, then cut in half to remove the seeds and process in a blender before cooking.

Note: The sauce when made with fresh tomatoes does need to be cooked a little longer, this is due to a higher moisture content. After 30 minutes of cooking covered, remove the lid and continue to simmer uncovered until the sauce has reduced and thickened.  

Passata – is Italian bottled uncooked pureed tomatoes with the seeds and skins removed. You can use an equivalent amount of passata instead of the canned tomatoes.

Combination of fresh and tinned tomatoes – If you have one or two overripe tomatoes rather than throw them out use them in the sauce. You can roughly chop them and add these in with the tinned tomatoes.

Throw in a few extra basil leaves and a little more parsley because, you’ve added the extra tomatoes. When cooking is done taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning to taste with salt.

Napoli Pasta Sauce Variations

You can easily introduce other flavours to the sauce like:

• Add 1-2 anchovy fillets when you are frying the onions. If using anchovies don’t add the salt, rather taste the sauce once you have finished cooking and add a little salt and black pepper (optional) if needed at the end.
• You can add 2-3 cloves garlic finely chopped or grated. Add these to the onions in the last minutes of their cooking time and before you add everything else. Garlic only need 1-2 minutes of cooking, just to remove the raw taste.
• You can stir in 1-2 teaspoons of drained and rinsed chopped capers.
• Throw in a handful of sliced or whole black olives.
• Use other herbs like oregano and sage.

What To Do With Napoli Sauce

There are a number of things that you can make with this sauce. You could use it to make any of the following:

Creamy Marinara Sauce

For a rich and creamy sauce stir in ¼ – ½ cup of heavy cream and 1 tablespoon butter at the end and gently heat through and serve with pasta.

Cheesy Napoli Sauce

For a cheesy sauce stir in a small handful of mixed cheeses like mozzarella, ricotta, cheddar or parmesan at the end of the cooking time. Allow the cheese to melt into the sauce before serving.

Napoli Chorizo Sauce

Remove the skin of one chorizo sausage. Break the sausage meat into small pieces as your fry it until golden brown. Drain away the excess fat, pour in the prepared Napoli sauce, simmer covered for 5 minutes before serving.  This sauce is great for plain pasta as well a meat free ravioli.

Easy Meatballs In Tomato Sauce

While the sauce is cooking, make small meatballs with about 250 grams (8 oz) of lean ground beef. Seasoning the meat with salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder before shaping.

In the last 10 minutes of cooking add the meatballs to the sauce, gently pushing them under. Bring back to the boil, turn down the heat to a simmer, cover and continue to cook for the remaining time or until the meatballs are cooked through.

To avoid a salty sauce don’t add the salt to the sauce at the start, instead add it at the end.  

This is because the meatballs are seasoned with salt and this should be enough to flavour the sauce. If not, you can easily add some salt to the sauce at the end.

You could serve this as spaghetti and meatballs or serve the meatballs on skewers with a little sauce for easy party appetisers.

Lasagne

Use this sauce as a healthy alternative to bottled sauce next time you make lasagne.

Chicken Parmigiana

You don’t need to eat out to enjoy chicken param you can make it yourself, it’s so easy to do.

1. Cut horizontally one small chicken breast to give two even steaks – which is enough for two servings. Season the chicken breasts on both sides with salt.
2. Next prepare three containers one with plain flour, one with two well beaten eggs and the third with panko breadcrumbs.
3. Working with one piece of chicken at a time, dip each into the flour evenly coating both sides, shaking of the excess.
4. Next, dip into the beaten eggs, coating both sides.
5. Then coat both sides with the breadcrumbs, gently pressing so that the crumbs stick to the chicken.
6. You can crumb the chicken and store covered in the fridge for several hours before cooking.
7. When ready to cook preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
8. Line a baking tray with foil or baking paper and place a cake rack onto the tray. Baking the chicken elevated on the cake rack, will stop the bottom of the chicken from going soggy when baked.
9. Fill a frying pan with about 2-3 cm (1 inch) of oil and heat. Carefully place 1 – 2 pieces of chicken into the pan, cook for 2-3 minutes or until the under side is golden brown, turn the chicken over and cook the other side until golden.
10. Remove the chicken from the pan and place it on the cake rack on the prepared tray. Cook the remaining chicken.
11. Evenly spread about 2 -3 tablespoons of Napoli sauce onto each of the cooked crumbed chicken pieces.
12. Top with slices of mozzarella cheese.
13. Place into the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes or until the cheese has melted and is just starting to turn brown.
14. Serve hot sprinkled with chopped parsley or fresh basil leaves.

Napoli Sauce Pizza Topping

Use this as a pizza topping but do make sure that the sauce is thick and paste like and not watery.

If necessary, cook the sauce uncovered over a low heat until the liquid has evaporated.

Stir the sauce often as it becomes thicker. Allow the sauce to cool completely before using.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Easy Recipes Using Tinned Tomatoes

• Marinara sauce – a simple variation based on this recipe
• Chicken Tinga (Mexican shredded chicken)
• Slow cooker ground beef and pork ragu
• Slow cooker Hungarian goulash
• Green beans in tomato sauce
• Slow cooker meatballs in tomato sauce
• Hamburger soup with macaroni
• Beef chilli bean soup

So now you know how to make Napoli sauce, why not start with the basic sauce and then venture out and try one of the easy recipe variations above.

I’d love to know what you are going to make with this Napoli sauce. Let me know in the comments below.

Recipe