Our Sauces
Fazoli’s Sauces
In Italian, the word for sauce is sugo. Everybody loves pasta, but just as important is the sauce you put on it. At Fazoli’s we take great pride in our sauces. In each of our entrees, we have selected the right sauce to pair perfectly with the rest of the ingredients. Find out more about each of the sauces you’ll encounter at Fazoli’s below.
Marinara – The name Marinara Sauce translates to “Mariner’s Sauce” or “Sailor’s Sauce.” There isn’t 100% agreement on the origin of this name but one of the theories is that it is a sauce that sailor’s wives traditionally prepared for them upon their return from sea. Many of the jars of sauce you’ll find at the grocery store are made with tomatoes picked unripe, and ripened with ethylene gas. That’s not how we do it at Fazoli’s! Fazoli’s marinara sauce is made from tomatoes ripened on the vine. The sauce is made just hours after picking the tomatoes to ensure maximum freshness. Our marinara sauce is seasoned with Italian herbs like anise, oregano, fennel, and basil. It is also used as a base to other sauces at Fazoli’s.
Alfredo – The name of this sauce comes from the Roman restaurateur, Alfredo di Lelio. In the 1900s, he made Fettuccine Alfredo famous. The original recipe was just butter and Parmesan cheese. As the recipe came over to America, cream was added to give it more body and more richness and garlic was added for more flavor.
Meat Sauce – The Italian name for a meat sauce is Ragù. Fazoli’s meat sauce is made by adding ground beef and seasonings to our marinara sauce. We used our meat sauce in our Baked Lasagna and our Baked Ziti, but it is also perfect on spaghetti with some meatballs.
Spicy Tomato Pepper Sauce – We make our Spicy Tomato Pepper Sauce in-house by blending Alfredo sauce, marinara sauce, and crushed Calabrian pepper. Calabrian pepper is named after the region it is imported from, Calabria. Calabria is located in the “toe” of the boot. Calabrian pepper has a more fruity and smoky flavor than traditional crushed red pepper. We import our Calabrian pepper to provide the most authentic flavor for our Spicy Tomato Pepper Sauce. Try this sauce on our Spicy Sausage Penne.
Creamy Basil Sauce – We make our Creamy Basil Sauce by adding basil pesto to our Alfredo sauce. Pesto is named from the Genoese (a specific Italian dialect) word, pestâ which means “to pound” or “to crush.” It was named this because of the traditional way to make pesto—grinding basil with a mortar and pestle. Fazoli’s pesto also has garlic and Parmesan cheese, for added flavor. For our creamy basil sauce, we drizzle this on top of our Alfredo sauce. Try this sauce on our Creamy Basil Chicken Penne