Italian marinara sauce is the basis of so many wonderful Italian recipes! It’s simple but flavorful, and homemade marinara will elevate any pasta dish you want to make. You can grab a jarred sauce from the market, but why do that when making your own is easy, tastier, and can be made in a big batch for all your marinara sauce needs? A few common ingredients and a little time to bring them together into a harmonious whole is all you need.
Like you, I have grabbed a jar of marinara from the market when I’m in a rush, but I’m never quite happy with it. No matter what brand I try, it’s just not quite right. There is too much garlic, or too much oil, or it’s bland, or it’s too sweet. So, I’m always happier when I have some homemade marinara sauce stacked up in my freezer. When I have some of my Italian marinara sauce on hand my dinner rush becomes no problem.
Easy Spinach Manicotti? All set! Chicken Parmesan? I’m ready. 🙂 Just want a quick plate of pasta? I can defrost it now. Chicken Cacciatore? Oh, yes. (Recipe coming soon!)
Before I start talking about the secrets of my marinara sauce, I want to talk about the word authentic. This sauce is authentic to my family and to my traditions. Other families and other traditions may make a different sort of marinara which is authentic to them. I can only speak for myself and my heritage.
That said, onto the tips for my favorite, family recipe of Italian marinara sauce!
Tip #1 – Canned Tomatoes are Best
No, really, they are! Save your beautiful, fresh in-season tomatoes for Caprese Salad or Raw Tomato Sauce, pass by the out-of-season tomatoes , and grab some canned, whole tomatoes from the store. San Marzano are considered to be the best, but can be hard to find. Or least actual Italian San Marzano tomatoes are hard to find. Tomatoes labeled San Marzano are pretty easy to find, but aren’t any better than the domestic tomatoes sitting near them on the shelf. My advice is to pick a brand of tomatoes you enjoy and make sauce without worrying too much.
Tip #2 – Cook Your Aromatics Low and Slow
The key here is sweating the onions! Marinara may be a fairly quick sauce to make (especially as compared to Bolognese), but undercooked or burnt onions are nobody’s friends. You are looking for sweet, soft onions and garlic and carrots. Too high a heat and you’re likely to burn them before they fully soften. Too quick to add the tomatoes and you are going to have hard bits of onion in your sauce. Bleh!
This is especially important in an acidic, tomato-based sauce like marinara. Acid will keep the onions, and the rest of the aromatics, firm and make it more difficult for them to break down into the sauce if they are not soft and ready before you add the tomatoes.
Tip #3 – Add Dried Herbs with the Aromatics
Dried herbs need time to fully integrate with the sauce. Add dried herbs at the end and you will be hit with harsh notes of oregano and thyme which will taste separate from the rest of the ingredients. Furthermore, dried parley and dried basil? I don’t think they taste like much of anything, so I would recommend skipping them and sticking with dried herbs which retain their flavors.
However, fresh parsley and basil? Bring them on! Just add them at the end of cooking if you are serving the marinara sauce fresh, or after you’ve reheated the sauce if you are pulling it out of the freezer. In fact, fresh herbs are at their best when stirred in just as you are tossing the sauce with the pasta.
Tip #4 – Use Carrots to Tame Acidity and Add Sweetness
You can use sugar to do this, but why? Unless you have a strong need for marinara RIGHT NOW and not a carrot in the house, always go for the natural sweetness of carrot over the refined sweetness of sugar. You don’t need much, it takes only a moment to chop, and it won’t turn your sauce orange or throw off the flavor balance. One carrot for each two cans of tomatoes is just right.
Tip #5 – Puree to Your Desired Chunkiness
This is where a hand blender comes in so handy! (I love my KitchenAid Hand Blender.) Live in a household where everyone is into smooth sauces? Puree it smooth! Yes, I live in such a household. That’s why the photos are of smooooth sauce. 🙂 Like a rustic, chunky sauce? Give it a few, quick whirs to break up the tomatoes a bit. The great thing about making your sauce is you get to choose!
Extra tip – If you like a fairly chunky sauce, it’s nice to mince up the onions fairly finely. They will melt into the sauce better and not stand out.
Tip #6 – Don’t Worry, Be Happy
There are marinara sauce snobs out there who would like to tell you you’re doing it wrong. (Yes, even marinara sauce has snobs!) That there is only one right way and it’s their way and don’t bother if you are going to do it differently. Now, there is nothing wrong with learning the history of foods and trying to make the best version of the recipe as possible. But your best version may be a bit different from theirs, or from mine, and that’s okay. I just hope my tips and recipe help you to a marina sauce you will happily serve over pasta, ladle on pizza, and enjoy in lasagna.
– Happy Eating, Annemarie
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 carrot diced
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 2 28 oz cans whole peeled tomatoes
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In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium low heat until hot. Add the onion, garlic, carrot, salt, oregano, thyme. Reduce the heat to low and let the aromatics sweat and soften until the onions have no resistance to the edge of a spoon, 20-25 minutes.
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Add the tomatoes. Increase the heat to bring the sauce to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, and breaking up the tomatoes with your spoon, for 15-20 minutes.
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Either puree the sauce right in the pot with a hand blender or transfer it to a blender. Either way, puree the sauce until it's as smooth as you like it.
- The nutritional information is an estimate and is included for informational purposes only. Please make your own calculations using your specific ingredients if you need an accurate calorie count.
- If you wish to add fresh herbs, such as basil or parsley, add them at the end of cooking or just before serving.
- When pureeing, if you are not going for a smooth sauce pulse the blender a few times, then check to see if you're happy with the sauce, and pulse a few more times if you need to.
- The recipe can be doubled easily and freezes well. If you want to be able to defrost quickly, freeze the sauce in gallon sized resealable bags and lay it flat.
Lisa | Garlic + Zest says
This is exactly the way I make my sauce as well! Great minds! And I always keep a few pre-portioned packages in the freezer — just in case!
justalittlebitofbacon says
Yes, making extra for the freezer is the way to go! There is nothing like pulling out some homemade sauce for a quick dinner.
Christina | Christina's Cucina says
Homemade is always best, but the type of canned tomatoes DOES make a huge difference. I dip my finger in to taste, and if it’s sour and bitter, your sauce will be too. San Marzano DOP are the best because it’s the Italian gov’t’s stamp of approval. So many Chinese companies putting out scary stuff with labels that lie nowadays.
justalittlebitofbacon says
Unfortunately, San Marzano tomatoes can be difficult to find and expensive to buy. And many of the cans labeled San Marzano, aren’t! (And, let’s face it, that little region of Italy can’t possibly produce enough tomatoes for everyone to make marinara sauce. 🙂 ) So, my advice is for people to use a canned tomato brand they like and trust and make their sauce with that.
Jillian says
I have been looking for a homemade marinara sauce recipe, can’t wait to try yours!
justalittlebitofbacon says
Thanks! 🙂
Matt @ Plating Pixels says
I’m always for creating your own healthy/natural products. Gorgeous photos too!
justalittlebitofbacon says
Homemade is always best (and tastier) when you can do it. And thank you!
Kim @ Three Olives Branch says
I agree, you need to add the dry herbs in earlier! Great tips and it looks delicious!
justalittlebitofbacon says
Yeah, dried herbs need some time to come to terms with their lives and get on with flavoring the sauce. Thank you!
Stacey Courtney says
So excited just made this morning for dinner tonight, I used fresh tomatoes instead of canned. added lots of veggies and herbs, will serve over spaghetti squash with turkey meatballs, I did use the blender for a smooth but small chunks
justalittlebitofbacon says
Sounds tasty! We love spaghetti squash here too. Thanks for the lovely comment!
Colleen Boothe says
This is a very good sauce. It has great Italian flavor and easy to make.
I will be making this often and leave the store bought jars on the shelf.
justalittlebitofbacon says
Thank you, Colleen! We love this sauce and I’m glad you are enjoying it too. 🙂
Tom W. says
Thank you. This is about the most identical recipe my Italian Grandmother started almost every morning. The smell of this sauce would wake my sister and I up as kids.
She always made a bit or alot depending on occasion, She also wrote nothing down as far as amounts and quantities. Old school for sure. Pinch of this, simple spoon of that.
It was amazing. Thank you again for explaining and reminding me how much better this is than any sauce from a jar.
Much appreciated.
justalittlebitofbacon says
That was my grandma too! Always with a pot of sauce on the stove and never with the measurements. 🙂 Thank you for this lovely comment.
Teri says
Should I cover the onion and garlic mixture while softening?
justalittlebitofbacon says
I don’t. The salt will allow the onions to soften nicely without needing to cover. However, with low enough heat, it wouldn’t hurt if you want to cover it.
Giusy says
Mi spiace dirti che in Italia questa salsa non esiste ^^ qui la salsa semplice la facciamo con olio extravergine di oliva, aglio o cipolla, pomodori o passata di pomodoro e basilico! Molto bella comunque la tua, la proverò! *-*
justalittlebitofbacon says
I’m sorry to tell you that in Italy this sauce does not exist ^^ here the simple sauce we do it with extra virgin olive oil, garlic or onion, tomatoes or tomato and basil! Very nice anyway yours, I will try it! * – *
I hope that translation is close to what you said! Though I’m thinking you are talking about strained, jarred tomatoes (passata) and that is something I’ve been looking into lately, though it is not something most Americans know about or use. I do cook from an Italian American tradition and I try to be authentic to that. 🙂
Sarah says
I agree with Giusy here. This is not authentic Italian. Marinara means “of the sea” in Italian — a true authentic Marinara sauce would therefore have fish or seafood in it. This is North American Olive Garden style Italian, or what I fondly refer to as “mock-talian”. Nothing wrong with it, definitely delicious, but far from authentic!
Michelle says
Hi, and thank you for the recipe it sounds wonderful, just one question, I am wanting a smooth sauce and would like to know if there would be any harm in pureeing the tomatoes and diced carrots before adding them to the pot with the other ingredients instead of after it’s cooked all together?
justalittlebitofbacon says
Hmmm. The reason I puree after the sauce is cooked is so that all the veggies are soft and they’ll puree smoothly. I’m not sure how smooth the sauce will be if you puree everything first. I guess the only way to find out is to try it?
REENA MUKHERJEE says
I was looking for a home made marinara sauce and I found it here. However San Marzano tomatoes are not available easily in our country and if found are too expensive. I prepared it with our local grown plum Shimla tomatoes which are sweet, plum and are almost seedless. I did a twist and added roasted red bellpepper and it gave an extra smoky flavour to the sauce. Thanks for the great share.
justalittlebitofbacon says
Great addition! And, while San Marzano tomatoes are wonderful, I know they aren’t always available or affordable so I’m glad you found a local alternative.