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Arrabbiata Sauce Recipe

Published November 29, 2022. This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

This spicy Arrabbiata sauce recipe is a delicious slow-cooked sauce with tomatoes and chiles and is classically served with pasta for a tasty zesty dish. If you love spicy, then this is the sauce for you.

I’m Italian so I’m a fan of different sauces that can be made with pasta. There are many different ones to try, and I recommend starting with Pasta Carbonara or Cacio E Pepe.

Arrabbiata

Arrabbiata is a simple Roman sauce consisting of tomatoes and chiles stewed together. It’s commonly served with pasta. The word arrabbiata in Italian means “angry” and was created in the early 1900s as an alternative to All’Amatriciana. The guanciale was removed and instead of bucatini pasta, penne was used.

This is one of the easiest-to-make sauces out there and gives a nice little punch of flavor to the basic tomato or marinara sauce. Be sure to check out the variations below to see how you can customize this recipe to your liking.

Ingredients and Substitutions

Tomatoes – Use good canned tomatoes such as San Marzano tomatoes.
Olive Oil – This is used for cooking the garlic and chilis and added to the end for some much-needed fat and flavor.
Chiles – Any spicy fresh or dried pepper such as Fresno, red finger, Arbol, or guajillo will work.
Garlic – A few finely minced garlic cloves will add a lot of flavor to this sauce.

How to Make Arrabbiata Sauce from Scratch

Add the olive oil to a medium-sized pot over medium heat and lightly sauté the garlic and dried chili for about 5 to 6 minutes.

Crush the tomatoes with your hands ensuring there are still some chunks in them.

Next, add in the tomatoes and stew for 1 to 2 hours.

adding crushed tomatoes to a pot of garlic and chiles

Finish by seasoning with salt and drizzle in olive oil.

adding olive oil to a pot of arrabbiata sauce

Serve the sauce with some penne pasta and garnish with optional pecorino Romano and freshly torn basil leaves.

Variations

There are a few other things you could add to this sauce that is sometimes considered.

Cheese – Pecorino Romano or Parmesan is sometimes added to the sauce at the end.
Herbs – Occasionally, fresh oregano or basil is added at the end of the sauce. You can use dry herbs. Just add them at the beginning of making the sauce.
Pork – Rendering the fat from pancetta or guanciale and then using it to gently cook the onions and chiles before adding the tomatoes is a procedure that is sometimes used.

Make-Ahead and Storage

Make-Ahead: You can make this up to 2 days before serving it. Please keep it in the refrigerator until 1 hour before serving it, and reheat it until hot in a pot.

How to Store: To store the arrabbiata sauce, cool it in an ice bath in your sink or transfer to a refrigerator and cool it uncovered until it is cold about 3-4 hours. Cover it and keep it in there for up to 5 days. This will also freeze well and be covered for up to 3 months. Thaw for 1 day in the refrigerator before reheating.

How to Reheat: Add your desired amount to a medium-size pot and cook over low heat until hot. You can also reheat it in a microwave-safe bowl until hot.

Chef Notes + Tips

If you cannot access a dried chili, you can substitute it with red pepper flakes.
You can substitute 5 pounds of fresh peeled tomatoes for canned ones.

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