No.4 The 100 Most Popular Recipes Ever · October 2026

Tomato sauce with onion and butter

Made famous by Marcella Hazan

Photo: HaJunkiyada, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

From Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, 1992.

Three ingredients and a pot. It became one of the most cooked recipes on NYT Cooking and the one people name when they talk about Marcella.

Written in our own words and tested in a home kitchen. Get the original in Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking.

Ingredients

• One 28-oz (800 g) can whole peeled tomatoes, with their juice (San Marzano if you can find them)
• 5 tbsp (70 g) unsalted butter
• 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and cut in half through the root
• Fine salt, to taste
• 1 lb (450 g) spaghetti or rigatoni, to serve
• Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, to serve

Steps

1. Put the tomatoes with their juice, the butter and both onion halves (cut side down) in a medium saucepan.
2. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat, then lower the heat so it bubbles slowly and steadily, just a few lazy bubbles at a time.
3. Cook uncovered for about 45 minutes. Every 5 or 10 minutes, crush the tomatoes against the side of the pot with a wooden spoon. The sauce is done when the fat floats free of the tomato in little pools and the sauce has thickened.
4. Taste and add salt, usually 1/2 to 1 teaspoon. Lift out the onion (it's good eaten with bread).
5. Meanwhile cook the pasta in well-salted boiling water until a minute short of done. Drain, saving a cup of the water, and toss the pasta in the sauce over low heat for a minute, loosening with a splash of pasta water if needed.
6. Serve with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Chef's tips

• Marcella preferred no cheese on it; try it both ways.
• The sauce doubles easily and freezes for 3 months.

This is Chef Amazing's write-up of the dish, tested for a home kitchen. The original is in Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan: get the book, No. 3 on The 100 Greatest Cookbooks.

← No. 3No-knead bread→ No. 5Lasagne alla bolognese