Homemade marinara sauce is perfect for pasta, pizza, or dipping.
This easy sauce is made with canned tomatoes and a handful of seasonings simmered until thick and flavorful.
Marinara sauce is a simple tomato sauce, perfect for pasta or preparing lasagna. Don’t let the simplicity fool you; it’s delicious.
This Is The Best Marinara Sauce Because…
- This sauce is easy to make, and the taste is deliciously fresh.
- It uses simple everyday ingredients, most of which you likely have on hand.
- It’s fresh, wholesome, and nutritious—perfect for replacing a jar or adding to recipes or pasta sauce.
- Homemade marinara sauce can be used to replace tomato sauce in most recipes.
- You can double or triple the batch and freeze it for last-minute recipes!
Ingredients for Homemade Marinara Sauce
- Tomatoes: Use a combination of crushed and canned tomatoes along with tomato paste. While it costs just slightly more, I love the fresh flavor that San Marzano tomatoes add to sauces. Fresh tomatoes can be peeled and added.
- Vegetables: Onion and garlic add flavor, while shredded carrots add sweetness and balance the tart flavor of the tomatoes.
- Sugar: Depending on the brand of tomatoes, you may not need sugar in this recipe. If the sauce is tart, add a pinch or two. You can omit the sugar entirely if you’d like.
- Seasonings: Add dried seasonings (like DIY Italian seasoning) before simmering in Step 5. Fresh herbs should be added just before serving. A few red pepper flakes or a splash of sriracha gives homemade marinara a little pep!
Marinara Sauce vs. Spaghetti Sauce
Marinara sauce is a thinner sauce than spaghetti sauce and has very few additions. Spaghetti sauce tends to be thicker, zestier, and bolder.
Variations
- Sneak in shredded zucchini or a little pureed pumpkin or squash as a natural sweetener and nutrient booster.
- Or add ground beef and turn this into a hearty homemade spaghetti sauce.
How to Make Marinara Sauce
- Saute onion, carrot, and garlic in oil until softened (.
- Add whole tomatoes and break them up with a spoon.
- Add remaining ingredients with ½ cup of water and simmer until thickened.
- Stir in basil before serving.
Besides spaghetti, use marinara sauce in chicken parmesan, for a great meat sauce, or as a dipping sauce for breadsticks.
Marinara sauce will last about 5 days in the refrigerator in an airtight container. For longer storage, it can be stored in the freezer for up to 4 months.
More Easy Tomatoe Sauces
Step up your sauce and try one of these favorites to spoon over your favorite pasta or pizza.
Did your family love this easy Marinara Sauce? Leave us a rating and a comment below!
Easy Marinara Sauce
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup finely diced onion
- ⅓ cup shredded carrot
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 28 ounces canned whole tomatoes 1 can
- 28 ounces crushed tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1-2 teaspoons granulated sugar optional
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ cup water
- ¼ cup thinly sliced fresh basil leaves
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.
- To the pot, add the finely diced onion, shredded carrot, and minced garlic. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add whole canned tomatoes (juice included), breaking them apart gently with a spoon.
- Mix in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar if using, dried oregano, and season with ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper. Stir in ½ cup of water.
- Simmer uncovered on low heat for about 20 minutes, or until thickened to the desired consistency. Stir in fresh basil.
- Serve over spaghetti or enjoy in your favorite recipes.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Main Course, Pasta, Sauce
Cuisine Italian© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
Can I add 1lb Italian seasoned ground beef and sweet Italian pork sausage to this recipe?
That sounds delicious Mike!
Sounds really good, will try. I froze some of my tomatoes from last year after peeling. Could they be used instead of the crushed?
Those would probably work well! We hope you love this recipe as much as we do.
This is a 5 star recipe
Delicious!!! I did add some fennel. Freezes great. Thank you!
Holly, I love your down home recipes! An Italian friend told me to try using a pinch of baking soda instead of sugar for tomato sauce and I’ve been using it ever since
Great tip, thank you for sharing! So glad you’ve loved the recipes.
So good! I used this in lasagna! I skipped out on the whole tomatoes as I found the crushed tomatoes and tomato paste was enough. I also substituted balsamic vinegar for the optional sugar as I find that the balsamic cuts the acid better. I will defo make this again!
Only issue I have is that the whole tomatoes you are putting directly in have seeds. Wouldn’t you want to take them out of the can and deseed them?
Hi Rob, the seeds don’t bother us so we just add the tomatoes whole. You can remove them if you prefer.
I’ve never heard of anyone having issues with tomato seeds!
Outstanding, thank you!
Absolutely delicious. I wouldn’t recommend changing anything. I doubled the recipe and made two lasagnas. One for dinner and one for the freezer. Yummy!!
Such a good idea, Jenna! Glad you enjoyed it.
I was about trying this recipe. How much salt and pepper do I put in the sauce?
Depending on your taste preferences I would personally add anywhere from ¼ to ½ teaspoon of each.
If you have diverticulitis you don’t want the tomato seeds
This recipe was easy and quick, and delicious!
I followed the recipe, adding shredded carrots, and using less sugar. I love whole plum tomatoes, it gives a hearty texture to the sauce. The consistency was perfect, it clung nicely to the pasta.
My family also enjoyed, I will be making this sauce again, but in a bigger batch!
Can you think of any reason why this recipe cannot be canned
I personally do not have a lot of experience with canning so I can’t say for sure. Another reader may have some insight!
Do you remove the skin from the whole canned tomatoes?
Hi Ed, we do not. We add the can of whole tomatoes in step 2 gently breaking them apart.
why do you use whole and crushed tomatoes?
why if you buy tomatoes fresh should you peel them?
I sometimes add fresh tomatoes from my garden too (be sure to peel your tomatoes first). This removes the peel which doesn’t have a great texture.
I have diverticulitis and cannot have seeds!
hi
why do you use both? crushed and whole tomatoes?
We like using crushed and whole tomatoes for a lovely texture for the sauce! I find whole tomatoes, squished by hand or by spoon have the best consistency. I’ve tried canned diced tomatoes and they don’t seem to produce the same results.
Why do you say 28 ounces of tomatoes twice. Must be another food blog.
One is 28 ounces whole tomatoes and the other is 28 ounces crushed tomatoes. Enjoy Stewart!
This is the BEST marinara sauce!!! I use it as the base for just about anything, from stuffed peppers, spaghetti, baked ziti, stuffed shells, lasagna, and more!!!!! I love the carrots and actually dice mine small and also add diced green pepper. This is seriously so much better than any of the jar sauce you can buy and it saves me money, because now I can jar my own. Thank you!!!!
Holly, I found your site today and love it. I have been cooking for 20 years on my own and to the point I often no longer use recipes, unless I am looking for something new, or a new angle to something I already cool.
This is another excellent recipe from your site – two in one day (your lasagna being the other). Agree on the carrots – to many online recipes skip this step. I grate mine instead of shred as there is no carrots left for kids to fish fore and call you out over. On the whole tomatoes, I recommend the San Marzano if you can get them. A few more dollars per can, but is a superior tomato, especially if you are sensitive to tomatoes being overly acidic. Cheaper brands (ie Hunts, etc) can be very acidic (carrots help). Not so much with the San Marzano brand.
The only thing I did not see in the recipe was some red wine. As much as you love wine in your bio :), I’m surprised to not see it. Red wine is a perfect compliment to tomato sauce/dishes. Even if I am using store bought tomato sauce, I will use some red wine to rinse the bottle out into the pot. It highlights the tomato flavor to another level. I add about an inch per can/jar, give it a good rinse and pour into the pan. Some thicker sauces might get two wine rinses. If money is an issue or you just are not a drinker, the cheap cooking wines are good enough and better than nothing.
On the recommended qualities, worth pointing out 1/2 cup of onions is half a medium onion and 1/3 cup shredded/grated carrot is about 1 medium carrot. May be helpful to some who don’t know their veggies by volumes.
Thank you for sharing your tips on the tomatoes and the volumes Chris!! I agree, a splash of wine would be great in this.
Made this sauce yesterday and swapped the water for red wine :). Cooked on stove top, made and browned ricotta meatballs(beef, veal, pork) I transferred both to the crock pot on low to marry for a couple hours before supper, absolutely delicious
Thank you Chris for the extra tips. :)
Thanks for a simple and healthy recipe!
Can I use this sauce for my eggplant lasagna?
Yes, this will work well.
It all depends on what taste good to you. This is a good spaghetti sauce so it very well can be used for eggplant lasagna.
One of the best ever marinara sauce recipe i have ever tried. I love this marinara sauce recipe. Thanks for sharing this recipe with all of us.
Can I replace the canned whole and crush tomatoes with fresh tomatoes? How many pound will I need?
I haven’t tried this recipe with just fresh tomatoes so I can’t say for sure how the consistency or flavor would be. That being said I do sometimes peel fresh tomatoes and add them in with the whole canned tomatoes.