Puttanesca Sauce Recipe (Ready in 25 Minutes)
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This is a classic Italian puttanesca pasta sauce recipe that makes an amazingly thick, rich tomato sauce from whole canned tomatoes. You’ll be craving this red sauce for days, made in a skillet on the stovetop with capers, anchovies, olives and garlic galore.
Have you moved on from learning how to make marinara sauce from scratch? Then congrats to you, you’re ready to cook homemade puttanesca sauce! This easy Italian red pasta sauce recipe is brimming with bold flavor — it’s spicy, piquant, and tasty as all get-out.
Growing up in a Southern Italian household, I learned as a kid that a great red sauce is never shy. Puttanesca is the embodiment of classic Italian pasta recipes my family loves — it does not whisper. The anchovies, capers, and olives all bring something loud and unapologetic to the pot (kinda like my family), and that is exactly why this sauce has been in my rotation for as long as I can remember.
Karen’s ingredient notes
- Anchovies: Anchovies are non-negotiable — they dissolve completely in the hot oil and contribute a deep, savory backbone that you would never identify as fishy. They enhance all the flavors in the sauce, making tomatoes and olives taste more intense. I tested a batch without them once out of curiosity, and the sauce tasted flat and one-dimensional by comparison. Always use oil-packed fillets. I think anchovy paste often has a stale, metallic aftertaste that will come through in a quick-cooking sauce like this.
- Capers: Capers add a sharp, pickled punch that cuts through the richness of the olive oil and tomatoes. In puttanesca sauce, they’re doing a different job than the anchovies, and both are necessary. I prefer capers packed in brine over salt-packed. Salt-packed ones are firmer and more intensely flavored, but they require thorough rinsing or they will make the entire sauce aggressively salty. If your capers are larger than a peppercorn, chop them roughly so they distribute more evenly through the sauce.
- Canned tomatoes: For a rich, thick sauce that cooks quickly, use high-quality whole peeled tomatoes, such as San Marzano-style tomatoes (they don’t necessarily have to be grown in Italy). Drain off the excess water in a strainer, then crush them with your hands or use a potato masher to produce a chunky texture.
- Crushed red pepper: The heat in puttanesca is part of its character, so this is not a sauce that should be timid. I use a full teaspoon because I want to feel it, but a half teaspoon gives you warmth without full-on spice. What I found during testing is that the chili goes in at the very start with the anchovy, which means it blooms in the oil and becomes a deeper, more integrated heat rather than a sharp top-note. If you reduce the chili, you can compensate with an extra pinch of black pepper to keep the sauce from tasting flat.
Recipe steps
1. The drained tomatoes should look dense and deeply red — no watery pool at the bottom of the bowl. 2. Rustic uneven chunks are better than a smooth puree — they’ll give the sauce texture.
3. Everything goes in cold — starting in cool oil lets the anchovy dissolve gently without burning. 4. The oil will look slightly hazy and smell savory and toasty — that’s your cue to move on.
5. The tomato paste should turn a shade darker in about 30 seconds — that’s the color and flavor you want. 6. After 15 minutes the sauce should hold its shape on a spoon — if not, give it another 5 minutes.
Classic Puttanesca Pasta Sauce
Equipment
Recipe Video
Ingredients
- 1 28-ounce can (795 g) whole tomatoes
- ¼ cup (60 ml) extra virgin olive oil
- 3-4 oil-packed anchovies, chopped
- 2 tablespoons (30 g) capers, rinsed and drained
- ½-1 teaspoon crushed red pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons (30 g) pressed or grated garlic, 4-5 cloves
- 1 tablespoons (15 g) tomato paste
- â…“ cup green or black olives (such as Castelvetrano or Gaeta), pitted and halved
- Kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley or basil
Instructions
- Empty the can of tomatoes into a mesh colander set over a bowl — this will drain off excess water. Discard the water and add the tomatoes to the bowl. Crush them with your hands or use a potato masher or wooden spoon. Set the bowl aside.
- Add ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil, 3-4 oil-packed anchovies, 2 tablespoons capers, and ½-1 teaspoon crushed red pepper to a 10-12-inch saute pan or skillet and place over medium-high heat. Cook until the anchovies break down easily with a spoon and the capers begin to sizzle, about 2 minutes.
- Stir in 2 tablespoons pressed or grated garlic and 1 tablespoons tomato paste. Cook another 30 seconds to one minute, just until the garlic is aromatic. Add the reserved drained tomatoes, ⅓ cup green or black olives (such as Castelvetrano or Gaeta) and ½ teaspoon kosher salt.
- Bring the sauce to a simmer. Cook 15 minutes, stirring frequently, until the sauce has thickened. Add the parsley and serve over hot cooked pasta.
Karen’s Notes and Tips
- About olives: Black olives such as kalamata olives or gaeta are traditional in puttanesca. But they can taste pretty strong to my palate. That’s why I prefer plump green olives such as Castelvetrano. They are sweet, meaty and so delicious in pasta sauce.Â
- To store the sauce, pack into jars or other airtight container and refrigerate up to a week or freeze one month.
Nutrition per serving
Nutrition facts are calculated by third-party software. If you have specific dietary needs, please refer to your favorite calculator.
Hey, I’m Karen
Creator of Familystyle Food
I’m a food obsessed super-taster and professionally trained cook ALL about creating elevated dinners with everyday ingredients. Find simplified recipes made from scratch and enjoy incredibly tasty food! Read more about me here.
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Everyone just loved this sauce. I used zucchini spirals and penne as pasta choice. Paired well with both.
Super Easy and quick. Had with homemade pasta. Simple ingredients but the flavor is complex. Thanks for sharing!
Why no listing/mention of olives in the recipe?
Hi Jonathan – That was an error! Thanks for catching that. There should be 1/3 cup of green or black olives.
mmmmm! I love me some spicy tomato sauce!