Tired of the same old red sauce? Spice up your next pasta night with this arrabbiata sauce recipe! We love this fiery Italian tomato sauce over penne.

Break out the red pepper flakes—we’re making arrabbiata sauce! This spicy Italian tomato sauce is one of my favorite sauces to serve over pasta. It’s insanely flavorful, with a generous pinch of crushed red pepper giving it a delicious kick of heat. It also happens to be easy to make in 30 minutes with 7 basic ingredients. I love having this arrabbiata sauce recipe in our pasta night rotation—I hope you will too!

How to Make Arrabbiata Sauce

My arrabbiata sauce recipe has 7 simple ingredients:

• Canned whole peeled tomatoes – If you can find them, use San Marzano tomatoes for the sweetest flavor.
• Crushed red pepper flakes – For heat. I use 1 1/2 teaspoons to give this sauce a spicy kick, but if you’re nervous about it getting too spicy, you can start with less and add more to taste.
• Onion and garlic – For savory depth of flavor.
• Extra-virgin olive oil – For body and richness.
• Cane sugar – I often add a pinch to balance the acidity of the tomatoes. If you find that your tomatoes are sweet enough to skip it, feel free.
• And sea salt – To make all the flavors pop!

Find the complete recipe with measurements below.

To make the sauce, start by sautéing the onion, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Cook until the onion softens, about 5 minutes. During this time, the red pepper flakes will infuse the oil with heat.

Then, add the tomatoes and their juices. Use a wooden spoon to crush the whole tomatoes against the sides and bottom of the pot. You want the sauce to be mostly smooth but still retain some texture. Stir in the sugar.

Simmer over low heat for 20 minutes to develop the flavors and thicken the sauce. Season to taste, and enjoy!

How to Use Arrabbiata Sauce

• On pasta. I love this sauce over penne, but feel free to use your favorite pasta shape. I often add a little pasta water to loosen the sauce and help it coat the pasta. Top with fresh basil leaves or parsley and Parmesan cheese.
• Over gnocchi. Make potato gnocchi from scratch, or use store-bought for a quick and easy dinner.
• On pizza. A spicier alternative to regular pizza sauce.
• In baked pastas or eggplant Parmesan. Making a recipe that calls for marinara? Feel free to use arrabbiata sauce instead! It would be delicious in a vegetarian lasagna or baked ziti.

How do you like to use this sauce? Let me know in the comments!

More Italian Sauce Recipes

If you love this arrabbiata sauce recipe, try one of these classic Italian pasta sauces next:

This pasta puttanesca recipe stars a flavorful tomato sauce packed with garlic, olives, and capers. Perfect for weeknights, it’s ready in 30 minutes!

Pasta puttanesca is a perfect example of what I love about Italian cooking. This Southern Italian dish features a garlicky tomato sauce spiked with briny olives, capers, and anchovies. It requires simple ingredients and minimal prep, but it still delivers rich, bold flavor.

I shared a puttanesca recipe with zucchini noodles in Love & Lemons Every Day, but since this classic pasta is one of my weeknight favorites, I thought it was about time I shared a more traditional recipe too. It calls for 10 ingredients, cooks in under 30 minutes, and is absolutely delicious. I hope you love it as much as I do!

Pasta Puttanesca Ingredients

Puttanesca sauce stars three famous ingredients: capers, olives, and anchovies. They create its distinctive tangy, briny taste.

My recipe is vegetarian, so I skip the anchovies, but the capers and olives still pack in plenty of flavor.

Here’s what else you’ll need to make it:

• Whole peeled tomatoes – Canned tomatoes make up the base of this pantry-friendly sauce. Choose San Marzano tomatoes for the sweetest flavor.
• Shallot and garlic – They add sharp, savory depth of flavor.
• Red pepper flakes – For heat.
• Extra-virgin olive oil – For richness.
• Chopped fresh parsley – It offers a nice fresh contrast to the briny pasta sauce. Fresh basil or oregano is lovely here too.
• And sea salt – To make all the flavors pop!

A quick note on pasta: Spaghetti is most traditional here, but you could really use any type of pasta. I typically reach for a long shape—maybe bucatini or linguine if I’m not using spaghetti.

Find the complete recipe with measurements below.

How to Make Pasta Puttanesca

You can find the complete pasta puttanesca recipe with measurements below, but for now, here’s a quick overview of how it goes:

Start by prepping the tomatoes. Drain the juices (they’d make the sauce too watery), then transfer the tomatoes to a large bowl. Use your hands to crush them into a thick, chunky sauce. Set aside.

Next, cook the aromatics. Sauté the shallots until softened, about 4 to 5 minutes, then add the capers, olives, garlic, and red pepper flakes and sizzle for 2 minutes to infuse the olive oil with flavor.

Stir in the crushed tomatoes and simmer to develop the flavors in the sauce, about 8 to 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta. Follow the instructions on the package, cooking until the pasta is al dente. Before draining it, reserve 1 cup of the starchy pasta cooking water.

Add the pasta to the pan with the sauce, along with 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta water. Toss to coat, adding more pasta water as needed.

Finally, add the parsley and toss to combine. Season to taste and serve with more parsley for garnish.

What to Serve with Spaghetti alla Puttanesca

I love to serve this recipe with a salad on the side. It pairs perfectly with anything green and leafy, like this green salad or this Caesar salad. It would be nice with some simple sautéed broccolini too!

You might also want to serve it with crusty bread for sopping up the flavorful sauce. Level up the meal by making homemade garlic bread, garlic knots, or focaccia.

More Pasta Recipes to Try

If you love this pasta puttanesca recipe, try one of these delicious pastas next: