This is my recipe for the quickest, simplest, marinara sauce. Marinara sauce is a quick pan sauce, made with garlic, olive oil, and tomatoes. Add some salt and fresh basil, and you’ve got yourself a classic, fresh marinara sauce in no time. Why buy the jar when you can do it yourself?
All about Marinara Sauce
Marinara sauce: the most simple, traditional, tomato sauce. Marinara sauce doesn’t need much, just let the tomatoes shine.
This sauce is an Italian staple, but a lot of people are intimidated by the idea of making their own and resort to buying pre-made jars of marinara for convenience. I am all about making things easier in the kitchen, but jarred sauces often have hidden sugar and ingredients that marinara sauce does not traditionally have.
To be honest, when I went to write this blog post and recipe I found myself asking, “how do you explain something so simple to make?” Marinara is one of those things that doesn’t take a long time to make, and only a handful of ingredients are used. It’s fresh, its versatile, and can be made your own with the use of any preferred added spices (Italian seasoning, dried oregano, onion).
I can promise you, marinara sauce also only takes 20 minutes (tops) to make from start to finish and requires under 5 ingredients. You can use canned crushed tomatoes, or you can use fresh tomatoes. I have made marinara sauce with cherry tomatoes that were about to go bad in my fridge and it came out great also!
Recipes that use marinara sauce
Where do I begin? Marinara is so versatile and can be used in so many ways. It makes the quickest weeknight dinner, when paired with pasta. But aside from the obvious uses, the following recipes also use marinara sauce:
- Italian Beef Meatballs
- Air Fried Eggplant Rollatini
- Classic Stuffed Shells
- Cheesy Grilled Zucchini Stacks
Marinara sauce can also be used in a multitude of other recipes including to top homemade pizza! You can also use it as a dipping sauce for your favorite treats, like mozzarella sticks or these Air Fried Stuffed Zucchini Flowers.
If you have a jar of marinara sauce already made, you can store it in the fridge and always have it on hand. I love having a batch on hand to use with my favorite recipes!
My in-laws’ homemade canned tomatoes
Since I am Italian-American, my family has been in America for a while now. When they make marinara sauce, they use canned crushed tomatoes (like these) and add other ingredients. When I met my husband in 2006, I was introduced to a different world of tomato sauce. My in-laws are from towns outside of Avellino, Italy (near Naples). They came here in the 1970s and brought with them all of the traditions of Italy.
I met my husband in July, so a month later it was time for my in-laws to “do the tomatoes.” Of course, I had no idea what that meant. Every year, they take fresh tomatoes by the bushel, wash them, boil them, run them through a press to separate the juice from the skin and pulp. This makes homemade crushed tomatoes. They jar them with salt and fresh basil, and then boil the jars to preserve them for years to come. Their entire basement is filled with jars of these tomatoes from years past. These tomatoes blow store-bought crushed tomatoes away, which is why my marinara recipe is so simple. These tomatoes really don’t need anything! Just some fresh garlic, oil, and salt.
Here’s a video of us making the crushed tomatoes this past summer.
Making Marinara with Crushed Tomatoes
To make marinara, it’s very simple. Just sauté some garlic in olive oil spray or a teaspoon of olive oil for a minute or until fragrant. Add the crushed tomatoes and salt. Bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add some fresh basil. Taste for seasoning.
You can also sauté onion before the garlic for some extra flavor. You can add dried herbs like oregano, basil and parsley, or you can skip them altogether.
Before I wrote this recipe I called my mother in law and said, “how do you make marinara?” She was confused as to why I was asking her! And this method was confirmed by her. So it’s the real deal. I promise!
Making Marinara with Cherry Tomatoes
The process is similar with this method. You start off by sautéing some garlic in olive oil. Next, you add in cherry tomatoes. As the tomatoes cook, they begin to burst and break down, releasing their juices. I have a video showing step by step on how to make sauce this way.
This results in a thicker, chunkier sauce with texture. If you don’t like the idea of that, you can use an immersion blender to make it smoother.
Marinara Sauce
Equipment
- sauce pot
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 28 oz jar or can of crushed tomatoes
- kosher salt to taste
- 1/4 cup fresh basil
Instructions
- In a saucepan, add olive oil and minced garlic.
- After the garlic is in the pan, turn the heat on the burner to medium. (This is key to not burning garlic).
- Once the garlic starts to cook, it will become fragrant and start to turn a golden color (about 1 minute).
- Add the crushed tomatoes. Stir to combine and add salt.
- Let it come to a boil and then reduce the heat so its on a low boil or simmer, stir in fresh basil.
- Cook for about 20 minutes. Taste for seasoning.
Notes
Nutrition
You might also like this pasta sauce:
I make a batch of this about once every other week. This is super flavorful and easy to make. We freeze them in mason jars to take out for the week. It has now become a once a week meal for my household.
My favorite recipe from Steph! Super easy, FRESH!, and makes me feel like a “real” chef- always gets a thumbs up from my hubby!!!
I never by sauce anymore. This recipe is so easy and so so good.
We had Some fresh tomatoes from our garden and I saw this made an Instagram story, so I decided to try. This was so easy and so flavorful I actually made more and canned it.
Absolutely love making this sauce. Especially in the summer when I grow tomatoes in my garden. So delicious, I don’t buy sauce from the store anymore. Does not compare.
I never thought I would make homemade Marinara sauce! It’s so good and FRESH – you won’t want to ever buy it again. Trust Steph’s recipes – if I can follow them successfully, anyone can!! lol
I missed clicking on the stars – definitely 5 Stars!!
I never thought I would make homemade Marinara sauce! It’s so good and FRESH – you won’t want to ever buy it again. Trust Steph’s recipes – if I can follow them successfully, anyone can!! lol
Love the family history. Eager to do my own marinara sauce as suggested.
How much salt do you typically add? Im not great with seasonings and could use a starting point so that i dont overdo it.
The BEST I’ve ever had!
So much better than store bought!!
I had no idea that homemade marinara was so easy! Delicious and so fresh. This will be replacing store bought that’s for sure!
I find that canned crushed tomatoes are very concentrated and tend to be too strong. Am I using the wrong kind?
I started using San Marzano canned tomatoes, They cost a little more but well worth it, to me they are the best, Also if you don’t want to spend the money on San Marzano Tuttorusso brand it’s excellent also.
So quick, easy and delicious.
Do you cut up the basil or put it in whole?
The 1/4 cup of fresh basil is that chopped as well?
Very easy and great flavor!! I made it along side Steph’s chicken cutlet recipe for chicken parm. Will make many times to come!
Best ever zero point sauce. So fresh and flavorful.
I’ll never buy store bought marinara again. This is super easy, cheap, so flavorful and makes a lot of sauce. I use this on pasta and as my 0pt pizza sauce.
Love this sauce on my pizza!!! Very fresh and very easy to make.
I was actually so nervous to try this because I was accustomed to jarred marinara and pizza sauce and couldn’t imagine making my own!! But this is so easy and delicious – I’ve been making it regularly for over a year and will never go back to buying jarred sauce. I generally use a few pints of cherry tomatoes or canned san marzano tomatoes. I blend the sauce at the very end so it’s super smooth – and it almost looks like a creamy vodka sauce because it’s generally more orange than red! This is very versatile and works great with pasta and over eggplant, but I find myself using it for pizza at least weekly. Thank you, Steph!!
IT’S ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!! I MADE IT WITH FRESH CHERRY TOMATOES….LOVE IT AND SOOOOOO EASY!!!
Best & easiest marinara recipe that I have ever made. Every other recipe adds sugar. Why?
I loved the beautiful video and I always enjoy reading Steph’s stories! If you usually skip to the recipe, I suggest you read about the inspiration for it first. Somehow it makes your meal taste even better!
So delicious and easy to prepare!
About how much cherry tomatoes should be used?
Fantastico!! Thank you for sharing such a wonderful story, pics and recipe!
Delicious, health and so easy to make!! My family and I love this recipe. It also freezes well!
I’m Italian American also. Love your recipes!
I also make this biweekly and have it on hand for pasta, pizza, you name it. So much depth in flavor, and so easy to make!
I also make this biweekly and have it on hand for pasta, pizza, you name it. So much depth in flavor, and so easy to make! (Reposting because forgot to rate!)
So good & so easy! I don’t think I’ll by jarred sauce again. Thanks for another great recipe!
I always forget how delicious and easy this recipe is to make.
Best homemade marinara! Big hit, even for my 4 year old!