There is nothing simpler than fettuccine with cherry tomato butter sauce. Bright cherry tomatoes are sauteed in butter with chopped onion, tossed with al dente fettuccine, and finished with fresh parsley and basil. Perfect for weeknights or when you’re short on time but don’t want to compromise on flavor.
Inspired by Italian culinary Queen Marcella Hazan’s tomato butter sauce, our version has just a few tweaks.
Hazan’s famous recipe calls for canned crushed tomatoes, an entire onion (not chopped and removed after cooking), and butter.
We opted for fresh cherry tomatoes and chopped onion for ours and it’s every bit as delicious.
Because we are using butter, the sauce has an incredibly rich body and a velvety texture that will leave you wondering why you haven’t been adding butter to your tomato sauce all along.
Sometimes the best things in life really are the simplest…
How to make it
Each number corresponds to the numbered written steps below.
- Begin by slicing in half 3 pints of cherry tomatoes. Also, dice 1 medium onion.
- In a large pan, saute the onion in 1 stick of unsalted butter for 5 minutes over medium-low heat or until the onions become soft and translucent.
- Add the cherry tomatoes to the pan and season with 1 teaspoon of kosher salt. Cook the sauce over medium heat for 30-35 minutes (stir frequently and lower heat if scorching).
- At this time bring a large pot of salted (2 tablespoons kosher salt per gallon of water) water to boil. After about 20-30 minutes the cherry tomatoes will burst and soften and the butter will completely blend in with the tomatoes. When the sauce is almost to your liking begin boiling the fettuccine to 1 minute less than al dente. If needed, you can turn the heat down or remove the tomato sauce from the burner while waiting for the pasta to cook.
- A few minutes before the pasta finishes cooking, add 1 cup of pasta water to the sauce and stir to combine. Cook the sauce over medium heat. Make sure to reserve extra pasta water in case it’s needed later on. Top tip: Get in the habit of reserving your pasta water for all pasta recipes you make. It’s always good to have extra pasta water to reconstitute a dried-out pasta or to help emulsify many types of sauces through tossing or rapid stirring.
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- Add the pasta to the sauce and toss to coat. Cook until the pasta is just al dente then turn off the heat.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper to get the flavors just right.
- Remove the pan from the heat. Add a 1/4 cup of minced parsley and a 1/4 cup worth of hand-torn basil leaves, toss once more, then plate. If the sauce is at all dry add more of the reserved pasta water a few ounces at a time to loosen it up. Serve with grated parmesan cheese. Enjoy!
Top tips for velvety cherry tomato butter sauce
- The tomatoes. This recipe uses 3 pints of red cherry tomatoes. Feel free to add another pint – if you want more sauce – or experiment with different colored cherry tomatoes, like orange, yellow, or even the green cherry heirloom type. This is a simple sauce with relatively inexpensive ingredients – the best type of sauce to experiment with. Feel free to add some canned crushed tomatoes to substitute for part of the cherry tomatoes as well.
- The butter. We used unsalted butter for this recipe. If you prefer to use salted butter you can, however, just be sure to taste test as you may not need to add much additional salt at the end.
- Save your pasta water. As with most of our recipes, we recommend saving some pasta water. The pasta water can really help reconstitute the butter and cherry tomato sauce pasta if it becomes too dry. Start by adding just a few ounces at a time to prevent the pasta from becoming overly watery.
- The herbs. We finished this pasta with some hand-torn basil leaves and chopped fresh parsley. These are optional and can be omitted if you don’t have them on hand. We don’t recommend using dried herbs or seasoning for this recipe.
More simple pasta recipes
One of the great things about fettuccine with cherry tomato butter sauce is that it can be made in about 35 minutes and requires just a few ingredients. Here are a few other simple pasta recipes that are perfect for when you’re short on time and don’t want to run to the grocery store.
- Fettuccine Alfredo – Butter, Parmigiano Reggiano, starchy pasta water and fettuccine – simple but always delicious.
- Penne puttanesca – Olives, capers, anchovy, tomato, and penne are tossed together in this super flavorful pasta dish.
- Roasted cherry tomato pasta – Cherry tomatoes and garlic are roasted and tossed with pasta, extra virgin olive, and fresh basil.
- Linguine al limone – Lemon zest and juice, fresh basil, Parmigiano Reggiano and butter are tossed with linguine.
- Linguine aglio e olio – The simplest of them all, pasta is tossed with garlic, oil, crushed red pepper, and parsley.
- Tuna pasta – also known as Pasta al tonno, this is made with canned yellowfin tuna, garlic, capers, and fresh parsley.
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Fettuccine with Cherry Tomato Butter Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 pound (454g) fettuccine or linguine, spaghetti, etc
- 1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter
- 1 medium onion finely diced
- 36 ounces (1kg) cherry tomatoes halved
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup minced flat-leaf Italian parsley
- 1/4 packed cup basil hand torn
- 2 cups (480g) reserved pasta water will most likely not need it all
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Instructions
- In a large pan saute the onion in butter over medium-low heat until soft (about 5 minutes) then add the tomatoes. Season the tomatoes initially with a teaspoon of kosher salt.
- Cook the sauce over medium heat for 30-35 minutes (stir frequently and lower heat if scorching) or until the cherry tomatoes have burst and softened and the butter has completely blended in with the tomatoes.
- Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted (2 tablespoons kosher salt per gallon of water) water to boil. When the sauce is almost to your liking begin boiling the fettuccine to 1 minute less than al dente.
- A few minutes before the pasta finishes cooking add 1 cup of pasta water to the sauce and stir to combine. Continue to cook the sauce over medium heat.
- Add the pasta to the sauce and toss to coat. Cook until the pasta is just al dente then turn off the heat and season to taste with more salt and pepper as required. Add the herbs, toss once more, then plate. If the sauce is at all dry, add more of the reserved pasta water a few ounces at a time to loosen it up. Serve with grated parmesan cheese. Enjoy!
Notes
- Some tomatoes will be juicer than others. If you need a bit more tomato, feel free to increase the amount of cherry tomatoes or supplement with 14 ounces (half of a can) of crushed plum tomatoes.
- Make sure to reserve extra pasta water, to thin the sauce as much as required to avoid it drying out.
- Leftovers can be saved for up to 3 days and can be reheated in the microwave.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I made this last night for the first time and this was also the first of Jim’s recipes I have made. The dish was great! I do feel like I had way more tomatoes than the pictures and video seem to have, which broke down to a very saucy puree, still with nice size pieces of cherry tomato, but definitely became more of a sauce than it looks in picture. I used a 12″ non stick Skillet, not 14″ stainless, so that may account for some of it, but I had easily a double if not triple layer of tomatoes when I added them fresh. I googled the conversion of pints to ounces (even specifically for cherry tomatoes), and I got 6 cups. I used 3 – 16oz./1lb. flats of cherry tomatoes (3 lbs. total). Just wondering if my conversion was off. I did not measure them in cups.
How many exactly are 3 pints to cherry tomatoes converted to cups or dry ounces? I may have converted them to fluid ounces which may be a lot more than required. The dish was great. Just wondering if my ratio of butter to tomatoes was correct of if I need less tomatoes so the butter is more prevalent?
Hi Paul, so typically 1 dry pint of cherry tomatoes would equal roughly 12 dry ounces. I happen to have a pint of cherry tomatoes here and just weighed them on my kitchen scale and it equaled 9.5 ounces. So if you used 48 ounces of cherry tomatoes, that would be alot more than this recipe calls for. I am glad you thought the dish was great!
Hi Jim, I am doubling the recipe for 2lbs of fettucine. I think three pounds of grape tomatoes would fine, do you agree?
Hi Judith, 1 dry pint is roughly 12 ounces. Jim uses 3 dry pints for the recipe, or 36 ounces. You’ll probably need closer to 4.5 pounds, however, you can always substitute with some whole plum tomatoes if you don’t have enough cherry tomatoes.
After recently discovering you on YouTube, I have watched sooooo many of your segments and the food looks amazing! I am going to start with this simple but unusual dish tonight! While I am inclined to make it exactly as the recipe says, I was just curious if there was a meat component that may add well to this dish or if it’s better to leave it alone and have any meat be a separate accompanying dish. I certainly don’t want to mess up the dish by adding meat, especially the first time I attempt it, but would like to hear your thoughts on the matter. Thx..
Hi Paul, feel free to add any meat you’d like. I think shrimp would be an especially good fit here! So happy you’re enjoying the videos!
This is delicious and couldn’t be simpler. I can’t wait for the abundance of summer tomatoes and garden basil to make this on a regular rotation.
Hi Judy, thanks for the comment and so happy you enjoyed this one!
One of the most simple yet delicious pasta recipes I have ever eaten. Making this was so very easy yet the flavor was complex. I can’t wait to try this with fresh summer tomatoes from the garden! Thanks for sharing this. Love love love it!
Hi Joyce, I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe and really appreciate the comment!
This was so easy and so good I served it to my Italian friend and she loved it. Tastes amazing and fresh.
Hi Pam, I’m so happy you enjoyed this one and appreciate the comment!
I absolutely love this recipe… You sir are a great cook… Just found this site and am ecstatic about the way you cook. Thanks for all the great content!
Hi Jason, I really appreciate the comment and so happy you found our site!
I made this yesterday. I was pleasantly surprised at how good it is. Just a few basic ingredients and I felt like I was dining in a fine restaurant.
Hi Bill, so happy you enjoyed this one and really appreciate the comment!
Is this something that can be made ahead of time, or is it better to serve it immediately?
Thanks so much for all the great recipes! My husband and I are hooked on your channel! 🙂
Hi Anne, you certainly can make it ahead and reserve some pasta water to reconstitute when you warm it back up, but this one will definitely be better if it’s served right away. Hope you enjoy and appreciate you watching the channel!
I just found your blog and loving the recipes. Just wanted to thank you!
Hi Zoe, we’re happy you found us! Thank you for being here and appreciate the comment!
I’ve been looking for a handful of recipes to memorize and keep the ingredients around, just in case I need to make something last minute. I found this by accident, and it became one of my favorite things to make. I have only tried adding basil, the fresher the better. I haven’t tried parsley yet, but it doesn’t really need it. Do yourself a favor and sprinkle with mozzarella at the end. It’s next level. Guess I should make more things… what should I try next, Jim?
Hi Rae, thanks for the comment and so happy you enjoyed this one! Yes, definitely make more. If you like cherry tomatoes, the roasted cherry tomato pasta is great and easy, and puttanesca is also great. It all depends on what you’re in the mood for, pasta or otherwise!
I’ve made a few of Jim’s recipes over the last couple of weeks. My wife recently just said that I’ve upped my game with these recent dishes.
Coincidence?
I THINK NOT!
Jim, your recipes are “da bomb”, “fire”, “bussin” and whatever the kids say these days to express sheer appreciation and enjoyment!
I love how you address your audience. You’ve got a great combo of relaxing no nonsense YouTube videos, simplicity and deliciousness.
I just made this last night for the wife and her friend, who is a pasta snob, and they both said it was really good – restaurant quality even!
Now, my wife can’t decide which is her favorite between this or the Chicken Alfredo dish.
Cheers to you, Jim, for knocking it out out of the park again and again!
I really appreciate you and all you do.
Peace & Love
✌️&❤️,
– Justin
Hey Justin, really appreciate this comment and I’m thrilled to hear you’re enjoying the recipes and videos. Thanks for the feedback!
This is a delicious sauce and I have been making this version and Marcella’s version for quite a while now. My mother always put a bit of butter in her red sauce and it was always delicious. I just discovered your page and I enjoy seeing your recipes.
Hi Gail, thanks for the comment and so happy you’re enjoying the recipes!
This is a recipe I make often as it is very easy to make and delicious. Really great with a nice steak, and red wine. I also want to say that your youtube video’s are helpful, and I get a kick out of seeing your son’s reaction at the end 🙂 Thanks for another great recipe.
Hi Natasha, I’m so happy you enjoyed this one as well, and glad you’re finding the videos to be helpful and entertaining!
you are such a pleasure to watch, you make things so relatable and since I found your site recently, I am literally hooked. Thank you for great recipes.
Hi Licia, so happy to hear you’re enjoying the recipes and thanks for the comment!
Outstanding recipe! Using it for my next potluck.
Thanks
Hi Quinten, I’m so happy to hear you liked this and will be using it for a potluck!
Something this delicious, should not be as easy and simple as this. I grated a little manchego (wife can’t eat parm) and we were blown away.
Hi James, thanks for the comment and so happy you enjoyed it!
This turned out delicious. I made it two days in a row because I couldn‘t get enough of it! Great recipe, quick and easy. I subscribed on youtube and look forward to trying more!
If I may make one suggestion for the website, a switch for metric would be a nice to have. Googling „one pint in grams“ led to some conflicting results (luckily, it is just as delicious with 470g tomatoes).
Hi Claudia, thanks for the comment and so happy you liked it. I’m working on converting to make metric available but it’s taking some time. At some point, both options will be there.
I’ve lived in various parts of the country in my 77-78 years and have enjoyed the wide variety of foods and cooking styles available. I love to cook, but I’m nowhere gourmet. I use the “kiss” style (keep it simple silly). Now retired in NH, I have more time to putz in the kitchen. Several weeks ago, on youtube, I came across this recipe and I tried it. We loved it; and I have made it several times since. Through my 77-78 years, my favorite locale to live was NJ (20 years); and I savored both the NY Italian and Chinese styles of cooking in that area. Nowhere else has my palate been more pleased and satisfied. I’ve browsed through many of your recipes and prepared a few (savored each); and then, several days ago, I did something I have never done, I subscribed to your website; and my taste buds and tummy could not be happier.
Hi Fran, what a wonderful comment. Thank you so much for your kind words and I am so happy to hear you’re enjoying the recipes!
I made this last night and it was fantastic. I added 1/2tsp. of red pepper flakes and 3 cloves of thinly sliced garlic slightly into the butter and onions prior to adding the tomatoes. The sauce is silky smooth. I like this recipe because of its simplicity but love it because of the flavor. You can easily commit this to memory. Thank you for a great recipe that I will make again and again!!
Hi Charles, so happy you liked this recipe and I appreciate the comment!
Amazing recipe. My friend shared this with me on FB. I added 3 tablespoons of fresh minced garlic (I love Garlic) some shrimp and cut up some left over Hot Italian Sausages, It was a huge hit. I have since changed from using the cherry tomatoes to using a large can of diced tomatoes as it saves alot of time. I have made this with all kinds of different pasta and it is a hit every time. Thanks for a wonderful and easy recipe.
Hi Tammy, thank you for the comment and so happy you like the recipe!