This easy homemade Marinara Sauce is quick to whip up and tastes absolutely amazing! You'll never want to go back to store-bought sauce again once you try this one.
2(28-oz) cans tomatoesnot drained; add tomatoes and juice (diced, whole or one of each all work; see notes below)
4tablespoonsfreshly chopped basil
1teaspoonsugar
Instructions
Sauté vegetables: Place olive oil in a large pot or sauté pan over medium heat. Add onion, carrot, celery and garlic and cook until softened, 4-6 minutes.
Season: Stir tomato paste, dried oregano, salt and pepper into vegetable mixture. Cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Add remaining ingredients: Add canned tomatoes, basil and sugar. Bring to a simmer, breaking up whole tomatoes with a wooden spoon.
Cook: Simmer sauce for 20-30 minutes, stirring from time to time, until thickened to your favorite consistency. Use in your favorite recipe or store for later.
Notes
Ingredient notes
Tomatoes: I do really like using one can diced tomatoes and one can whole tomatoes for this recipe. Feel free to use only diced or only whole if that’s what you have on hand. The textures of the sauce will vary a little, but I have made it every way and it always comes out great.
Celery: If you don’t like celery, just leave it out. I do enjoy the flavor it adds very much, but the sauce is still very good if you skip the celery.
Sugar: If you are strictly against using sugar in your sauce, just leave it out. I will say that the sugar is mainly important if you’re using cheaper canned tomatoes. They often lack a little bit of sweetness and the sugar makes up for that. If you’re using the highest quality Italian canned tomatoes, I’m guessing you could skip the sugar without noticing a difference. I do find it makes sauce with cheaper tomatoes a lot better, though.
Fresh basil: I want to urge you to stick to fresh basil in this recipe, it really takes it to another level. You could use dried if you absolutely had to, but it’s not the same at all.
Garlic: As with the basil, the fresh garlic is one of my favorite components of this sauce. You could use garlic powder if you need to make this right now and don’t have fresh on hand, but it really isn’t the same.
Recipe tips
Dice the onion and celery as small as you can, it makes the consistency of finished sauce much better. If you don’t feel like chopping, you can throw the celery, onion, carrot and garlic into a food processor and pulse a few times until finely chopped!
Make sure to sauté the vegetables really well. Use medium heat to avoid browning them too much, but the onions need to be softened and cooked well for the best flavor of your marinara sauce.
Do not drain your tomato cans, you need to juices. If you have tomatoes with very little juice in the can, you may need to add up to ½ cup of water with the tomatoes to reach your preferred consistency.
Break up wholes tomatoes well to avoid having large chunks in your sauce.
Marinara is a quick sauce that’s only simmered for a short time compared to other tomato sauces. Do not cook it for too long, or you’ll lose the fresh taste it is supposed to have.
Storage tips
Fridge: Keep the cooled sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.Freezer: Freeze portions of the sauce in freezer-friendly bags or containers. Label with the name and use-by date, then freeze for up to 3 months.Defrost in the fridge overnight, then gently reheat with a touch of water added.