Marinara Sauce
Craving a simple and delicious homemade Marinara Sauce to top all your favorite pasta dishes with? Look no further than my go-to recipe that’s WAY better than store-bought, requires ZERO prep, and is ready in just 45 minutes!
Use this delicious Authentic Italian tomato sauce as a base to build delicious recipes like Baked Ziti or Marinara Mac and Cheese or dip your homemade Parmesan Breadsticks in it!
I wish you could all lick your screens right now so you’d know just how incredible this simple gluten-free Marinara Sauce recipe tastes! This is such a great recipe for pasta sauce and one you’ll definitely want to keep around!
🍅 What’s In It?
Olive Oil – Is it even an authentic Italian recipe without olive oil? Choose an extra virgin olive oil that you like. We enjoy California Olive Ranch Everyday, it’s flavor blends beautifully with the tomatoes!
Garlic Paste – This is my preferred form of garlic because it’s so easy to work with and it’s already broken down (less prep!). You should be able to find the Gourmet Garden brand in the produce section at your grocery store. If you prefer to use fresh garlic cloves, I recommend finely mincing 3 cloves. You could also use 2 tablespoons of minced garlic if that’s what you have on hand. I do not recommend garlic powder or salt for this recipe.
San Marzano Tomatoes – This is the best variety of tomatoes to use for this recipe, so please try and use them! These tomatoes are grown near Mount Vesuvius in volcanic soil which gives them a sweet flavor with low acidity.
You can use Cento brand, or if you’re trying to keep the recipe more budget-friendly, try Hunt’s San Marzano Style tomatoes. Both are delicious in this recipe and much more flavorful than standard whole peeled canned tomatoes.
If you can’t find these tomatoes, you can use regular but you might have to add a bit of sugar to make up for the sweetness.
Spices/Salt – This recipe includes a combination of dried oregano, basil, crushed red pepper flakes, and salt to bring depth to the finished sauce and give it that classic Italian flavor everyone loves!
Parmesan Rind – The final ingredient and trick to getting the BEST flavor in your sauce! The next time you finish off a block of parm, save the rind and make this recipe!
👩🍳 How To Make It
Heat Garlic & Olive Oil – You’ll begin this recipe by adding the olive oil to a large saucepan and heating it up. Then add in your garlic paste and cook for about 1 minute, stirring frequently so the garlic doesn’t burn.
Add Tomatoes, Spices, & Salt – Add in all of the other remaining ingredients except for the rind and allow them to break down and simmer over medium heat for 30 minutes. While simmering, occasionally use a wooden spoon or handheld masher to help the tomatoes break down.
Add Parmesan Rind & Simmer – The final step in this delicious recipe that gives it the last boost of flavor in the Parmesan rind. Add it once your tomatoes have mostly broken down and simmer for another 15 minutes. Remove before enjoying the sauce.
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe!
- Amazing Flavor – You will never buy storebought sauce again once you taste this recipe and realize how easy it is to make at home!
- Easy To Make – This recipe only requires one pot, a measuring cup, a couple of measuring spoons, and a mixing spoon. It’s basically a dump-and-simmer recipe that requires minimal hands-on time and ingredients!
- Minimal Ingredients – Other than the San Marzano tomatoes and maybe the parmesan rind, everything else should be found right in your pantry.
- Large Batch – This recipe yields about 6 cups which is usually enough to use in two different recipes! Since this Marinara Sauce is good for up to 5 days in the refrigerator, you can make something delicious (like this Spaghetti Pie) and the beginning of the week and at the end!
- No Sugar – The tomatoes are naturally sweet which means you don’t have to add any additional sugar to the sauce.
- Zero Prep – Unless you count opening the fridge and pantry, this recipe should require any prep! Just make sure you save a Parmesan rind from an old block or if you need to, cut it off a new one.
- 45 Minutes! – Yup, that’s right! That’s all this delicious sauce takes to make! But don’t try to speed it up with high heat or food processors. Because while they might help you get the desired consistency faster, you’ll miss out on a lot of flavor if you don’t let it build!
🧅 Why Aren’t There Onions?
While they’re a popular addition to Americanized Marinara, we chose not to add onions because we wanted to stick to my husband’s Italian roots and therefore this alla marinara includes the basics: tomatoes, oregano, and basil. The additional ingredients we used are common Italian recipe ingredients that boost flavor without impacting the texture.
🥗 Is It Vegan/Vegetarian?
It isn’t vegan because of the Parmesan rind, however, it is still vegetarian. If you absolutely NEED to make this recipe vegan, you can omit the rind, but you’re missing out on some serious flavor!
🍝 How To Serve:
There’s no wrong way to enjoy Marinara Sauce. You can keep it simple and serve it over spaghetti garnished with fresh basil or you can use it as a dipping sauce for breadsticks. However, I love using it in recipes like One Pot Lasagna and Spaghetti Pie!
More Sauce Recipes
- Alfredo Sauce – A rich and creamy sauce that comes together in minutes!
- Pomodoro Sauce – This simple and hearty tomato sauce is a winner!
- Bolognese Sauce – This meat sauce recipe is a favorite in our house!
- Vodka Sauce – A creamy and delicious tomato sauce!
👋 Let’s Connect!
If you’ve tried this recipe, please let me know how you liked it in the comments below and leave a review. I love hearing from you!
Don’t forget to tag me – @sugarandsoulco – on Instagram and Pinterest with your photos or join our Sugar & Soul Show-offs Community and share them there, where you can join our recipe challenges!
Marinara Sauce
Ingredients
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons garlic paste1
- 2 (28 oz.) cans whole San Marzano Style tomatoes2
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ⅛ teaspoon crushed red pepper3
- 1 Parmesan Rind
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Then add in the garlic paste and stir frequently for about one minute.
- Add in the tomatoes, salt, basil, oregano, and red pepper flakes and simmer for 30 minutes. Occasionally, use a wooden spoon or hand masher to help break down the tomatoes.
- Add in the Parmesan cheese rind and simmer for another 15 minutes. Remove the soft rind and enjoy the sauce immediately or store it in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Video
Notes
- This is my preferred form of garlic because it’s so easy to work with and it’s already broken down (less prep!). You should be able to find the Gourmet Garden brand in the produce section at your grocery store. If you prefer to use fresh garlic cloves, I recommend finely mincing 3 cloves. You could also use 2 tablespoons of minced garlic if that’s what you have on hand. I do not recommend garlic powder or salt for this recipe.
- This is the best variety of tomatoes to use for this recipe, so please try and use them! These tomatoes are grown near Mount Vesuvius in volcanic soil which gives them a sweet flavor with low acidity. You can use Cento brand, or if you’re trying to keep the recipe more budget-friendly, try Hunt’s San Marzano Style tomatoes. Both are delicious in this recipe and much more flavorful than standard whole peeled canned tomatoes. If you can’t find these tomatoes, you can use regular but you might have to add a bit of sugar to make up for the sweetness. Add to taste.
- This amount of red pepper flakes does not make the sauce spicy, but it does help build on the amazing flavor, so don’t skip them!
- This sauce only takes 45 minutes to make with zero prep, but don’t try to speed it up more with high heat or food processors. Because while they might help you get the desired consistency faster, you’ll miss out on a lot of flavor if you don’t let it build!
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?
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As good as what you get at a high end Italian restaurant. This has been a go to at our home for years.
I’m so glad you all enjoy it so much!
Best Marinara sauce ever tasted, absolutely love it.
Hi Rebecca, this is now my new favorite marinara sauce recipe, it was so delicious. My only question is when the sauce starts to simmer, do I keep the heat at medium or turn the heat down to low?
We usually keep it on medium but you can do low and slow as well.