Marinara Sauce Recipe

Wooden spoon full of homemade marinara sauce.

This Marinara Sauce Recipe is an easy and versatile sauce that is made with only a handful of ingredients. Serve it over pasta, or it makes a great base for many other recipes!

Course Sauce

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 2 15

Total Time 2 25

Servings about 9 cups

Calories 79kcal

Author Deborah Harroun

Ingredients

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4-6 cloves garlic minced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
4 28 oz each cans San Marzano tomatoes
3 tablespoons fresh basil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon sugar optional

Instructions

Heat the olive oil in a large heavy pot or Dutch oven. Add the garlic and cook for 30-45 seconds, until fragrant. Stir in the tomato sauce and let it cook for another minute.
Pour in the tomatoes and the juices. Stir in the basil, salt, and red pepper.
Let the sauce cook over medium heat, breaking up the tomatoes as it cook.
Let the sauce simmer until you reach your desired consistency. The sauce will be thicker and have a more concentrated flavor the longer you cook it. I have cooked it as short as 30 minutes, or as long as 4 hours. It is great at 30 minutes, but the flavor will deepen if you can let it cook longer.
If you’d like a smoother sauce, use an immersion blender to blend to your desired consistency.
Taste, and if needed, stir in the sugar.

Notes

Recipe cook time and total time is calculated with a 2 hour cook time.

SUBSTITUTIONS: San Marzano tomatoes will make a superior sauce. Other tomatoes can be substituted, but the flavor will not be quite the same. I also find that the sugar is more of a necessity when using other canned tomatoes.

Don’t have fresh basil? You can use 1 tablespoon of dried basil.

FREEZE: This sauce freezes well. Let the sauce cool completely, then transfer to freezer safe gallon or quart sized ziplock bags or freezer safe containers. Freeze for up to 3 months.

STORE: Store any leftovers in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.

Nutrition information provided as an estimate only. Various brands and products can change the counts. Any nutritional information should be used as a general guide.

Nutrition