Fra Diavolo Sauce Recipe (Spicy Tomato Sauce)
5 min read
Diavolo Sauce is a simple and spicy marinara sauce made with flavor-forward elements, like tomatoes, garlic, white wine, and pink pepper flakes. Toss it with spaghetti and your favourite seafood and luxuriate in!

This restaurant-worthy Diavolo Sauce takes simply 20 minutes to make utilizing a brief checklist of no-nonsense elements. As with most do-it-yourself pasta sauces, this recipe requires barely extra effort than storebought pasta sauce, however relaxation assured, it’s price it!
Whereas Diavolo is a spicy tomato sauce, it isn’t overwhelming or heavy like many different pasta sauces. A splash of white wine retains it mild whereas the pink pepper flakes give it simply the correct quantity of warmth.
Shrimp fra Diavolo is a simple shrimp pasta and one of many extra frequent Diavolo-based dishes. Nevertheless, this do-it-yourself spicy tomato sauce has loads of makes use of, resembling:
- Braising white fish, shrimp, lobster, and different recent seafood.
- Turning up the warmth up on pasta night time.
- Paired with all types of greens and proteins.

🍅 What’s fra Diavolo sauce?
Fra Diavolo (pronounced fra-dia-voh-loh) roughly interprets to “brother satan” or “among the many satan” in Italian – an acceptable nickname for a marinara sauce identified for its signature devilishly scrumptious sizzling pepper warmth.
The origins are up for debate, however fra Diavolo sauce is on the coronary heart of many Italian-American seafood dishes. Making it from scratch leaves you in charge of the spice; preserve it gentle or flip the warmth manner up with dried or recent sizzling peppers.
🌶 Arrabbiata vs. Diavolo
Each are tomato sauces made with Italian herbs and pink pepper flakes. Fra Diavolo sauce recipes usually embody white wine, and arrabbiata recipes don’t. Nevertheless, essentially the most distinguishable distinction between these two spicy pink sauces is what they’re usually used for:
- Arrabbiata is used primarily in easy pasta dishes with simply sauce and pasta noodles.
- Diavolo is best suited in stew-like seafood dishes.

🛒 Substances wanted
- Olive oil – With so few elements, the standard of the olive oil counts right here! Attempt to use a wealthy, full-bodied oil.
- Garlic cloves
- Purple pepper flakes – A bit of goes a good distance on this sauce. For those who don’t love spice, begin with ½ teaspoon, then work as much as extra to search out the right stage of warmth.
- Sugar – The sugar helps to chop any bitter, acidic flavors from the tomatoes, leading to a well-rounded sauce.
- Petite diced tomatoes – Or use a can of fire-roasted tomatoes for further warmth.
- Dry white wine – Vermouth works nicely, too. Including both intensifies and improves the flavour of each ingredient.
- Recent parsley
- Salt
📋 How you can make Diavolo sauce
Begin the sauce by sautéeing half of the minced garlic in a big oiled skillet over medium-low warmth. Prepare dinner, stirring regularly, till golden.
Add the pink pepper flakes, salt, sugar, tomatoes, and wine. Let the sauce simmer till it thickens. To complete, add the remaining garlic and a handful of chopped parsley. Flip off the warmth.
Now add your cooked spaghetti to the skillet and toss to coat the noodles. Serve sizzling and luxuriate in!





🌟 Ideas and tips
- For those who’re making pasta to your Diavolo sauce, don’t rinse it after draining. The starch on the floor of the noodles helps thicken the sauce.
- You possibly can stir 2 or 3 tablespoons of the reserved pasta water in with the pasta and sauce if the sauce is just too thick.
- For much more taste, attempt substituting the freshly minced garlic added on the finish with roasted garlic.
ℹ️ FAQs
For those who observe the recipe as instructed, your Diavolo sauce could have a kick, but it surely gained’t be overwhelming. For those who’re delicate to spicy meals, use lower than 1 teaspoon of pink pepper flakes. Or, for those who love spice, add extra!
This spicy Diavolo sauce recipe makes simply the correct quantity for a 1-pound field of dry spaghetti (4 cups cooked).
Sure! Retailer the additional Diavolo sauce in a freezer-safe container for as much as 3 months. Thaw it within the fridge earlier than reheating it in a saucepan over medium warmth.

🍽 Serving strategies
The easiest way to serve this spicy sauce is to toss it with lengthy pasta noodles and your favourite type of seafood. Stir in air fryer or boiled shrimp, cod, crab, mussels, seared scallops, clams, or lobster.
Is pasta not your factor? That’s okay, you may nonetheless take pleasure in this sauce stirred into cooked rice, polenta, or mashed potatoes.
Make this pasta dish a meal with these 40 Straightforward Sides for Pasta!
🍷 Wine pairings
You’ll discover that spicy pasta dishes with seafood pair finest with wines which can be fruity and fragrant, like:
- Dry Rosé: It’s fruity however extra crisp than candy, so it gained’t compete with the daring flavors.
- Sauvignon Blanc: The acidity on this fruity white wine enhances the candy, tangy tomatoes.

For those who want extra choices, use my information on the very best wines to pair with pasta.
Did you make Diavolo sauce?
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- 3 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon pink pepper flakes (plus extra, to style)
- 6 giant cloves garlic (minced, divided(about 3 TBSP))
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 28- ounce can petite diced tomatoes (drained)
- 1 cup dry white wine (or vermouth)
- ¼ cup recent parsley (minced)
- Salt (to style)
For Serving:
- 1 pound spaghetti (cooked, pasta cooking liquid reserved)
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Warmth olive oil in a big skillet over medium-low warmth.
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As soon as sizzling, add half of the minced garlic and cook dinner, stirring regularly, till the garlic is mild golden, about 7-10 minutes.
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Add pink pepper flakes, 1/2 teaspoon salt, sugar, tomatoes and wine. Improve the warmth to medium-high and simmer till thickened, about 8 minutes.
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Stir within the remaining garlic and parsley.
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If desired, add spaghetti and toss to mix, including pasta cooking liquid if wanted to loosen the sauce.
Energy: 403kcal | Carbohydrates: 64g | Protein: 11g | Fats: 8g | Saturated Fats: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fats: 1g | Monounsaturated Fats: 5g | Sodium: 27mg | Potassium: 475mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 470IU | Vitamin C: 16mg | Calcium: 67mg | Iron: 3mg