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.
I wish I would have known how easy it is to make my own marinara sauce when I was younger! Growing up, tomato sauce isn’t something we ate a lot of so when I started cooking for myself, I picked up the jarred sauce.
But once I figured it out, I have never gone back to buying marinara again. The taste is just incredible, it’s quick to whip up and your home will smell amazing!
Ingredients you’ll need
Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for quantities!
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.
How to make Marinara Sauce
1 Start by sautéing the onion, garlic, carrot and celery in olive oil. You do not want to brown the vegetables, you just want to cook them and soften them well.
This is important, otherwise the biting taste of raw onion will linger in the finished sauce, which makes it unpleasant.
2. Next, you’ll want to stir the tomato paste and seasoning into the vegetables and cook it for a minute to become fragrant.
3. Finally, stir all of the remaining ingredients into the skillet. Bring to a simmer, breaking up any whole tomatoes with a wooden spoon.
4. Simmer the sauce for 20-30 minutes, until thickened to your favorite consistency. Either cool to store in the fridge for up to 5 days, store in the freezer or use immediately in your favorite recipe.
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.
How to use Marinara sauce
We love marinara sauce over spaghetti (or other pasta shapes – but spaghetti are our favorite!) as a simple dinner with a salad on the side. Sometimes I make chicken breast in the air fryer to serve with the pasta.
It’s also great to use in Chicken Parmesan, or as a dipping sauce for breadsticks, Focaccia or a crusty no knead bread!
PS If you try this recipe, please leave a review in the comment section and add a star rating in the recipe card – I appreciate your feedback! Follow along on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram.
Printable recipe
Easy Homemade Marinara Sauce
Recipe details
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup finely diced onion
- ½ cup shredded carrot
- ⅓ cup finely diced celery
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- salt and pepper
- 2 (28-oz) cans tomatoes not drained; add tomatoes and juice (diced, whole or one of each all work; see notes below)
- 4 tablespoons freshly chopped basil
- 1 teaspoon sugar
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.
Glenda Carrara says
I made this recipe today the only extra ingredient I added, was half a cup of lambrusco wine which gave it a wonderful robust flavor.
SG says
Husband and kids all said this was very good spaghetti sauce! Thank you for sharing a great and easy recipe.
Nora says
I’m so glad!
Kathy Falk says
Hi Nora–I’m new to your website but loving it! I’m an intermediate-level cook, so maybe this question is elementary, but I’m wondering if I should use this marinara sauce on my stuffed shells recipe. I’ve been using jarred spaghetti sauce, but I’m thinking this might take the recipe up a notch! I’m not sure when to use spaghetti sauce and when to use marinara… Thanks for your help!
Nora says
Kathy, marinara sauce can absolutely be used for stuffed shells. Spaghetti sauce usually has some more vegetables and is a little thicker/richer. Marinara sauce has a fresher/lighter taste. But yes, it’s great for stuffed shells!