Skip the jarred stuff, a homemade marinara sauce is the way to go!
This simple sauce has many uses and it’s incredibly simple to make!
This homemade marinara sauce is a game-changer. The other day I was talking in my Ramen Noodle Soup post about my college staples.
Ramen noodles were certainly a college staple, but so were jars of spaghetti sauce.
As the saying goes, with age comes wisdom. It took me a while to realize that there is rarely a need to buy jarred pasta sauce.
Homemade marinara is so easy and so good and only requires a few readily available ingredients.
What Is Marinara Sauce?
Marinara sauce is the most basic sauce. It is a tomato-based sauce that can be used for all sorts of pasta dishes.
This recipe uses a few canned ingredients, garlic, and spices. It takes very little time to prepare.
What Do I Need For This Homemade Marinara Recipe?
Olive Oil – I always use extra virgin
Minced Garlic – Fresh or jarred
Crushed Tomatoes
Diced Tomatoes– I prefer the petite diced, but you can use what you prefer
Tomato Sauce
Sugar – Cuts the acidity of the tomatoes
Herbs – Oregano, Basil, and Red Pepper Flakes
How Do You Make This Homemade Marinara Recipe?
You are going to love how simple it is to make homemade sauce, you really won’t buy jarred again!
To start, heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook for one minute.
Add crushed tomatoes, diced, tomatoes and tomato sauce.
Stir in sugar, salt, oregano, basil, and crushed red pepper.
Cook until the mixture begins to simmer. Reduce heat to low and cover until ready to serve.
Tips On Make Homemade Marinara Recipe
- I like to use a large can of crushed tomatoes, and a smaller can of petite diced tomatoes and tomato sauce.
- I like to have only a little to zero”chunks” to my canned tomatoes or else my son won’t eat it. But honestly diced tomatoes, chopped fresh tomatoes would be fine in this recipe.
- This is your preference, the tomato style will not affect the taste.
- I like to season my sauce with dried oregano, Those seasonings are pretty standard, but I say use what you have at home.
- Fresh herbs are always good, but I would add those at the end of the process.
- I think adding them just before serving the sauce would really maximize the flavor. basil, salt, pepper, and few red pepper flakes.
- You can omit the bit of sugar, but it is a minimal omit and will help reduce the acid in the sauce.
- You can also add chopped onions – cook those down first with the olive oil
How To Thicken Marinara Sauce
There are a couple of ways to thicken your pasta sauce. The first way is to add tomato paste. If you add tomato paste, I may add a touch more sugar, as you are adding to the acidity in the sauce. Taste as you go.
The second option is to add a small amount of water from the cooked pasta. Pasta releases quite a bit of starch as it cooks which is great for thickening sauces. You can see how I use pasta water in this Stove Top Pastitsio. It really is a simple cooking hack.
You can reduce the amount of liquid; use less tomato sauce and then allow the sauce to simmer longer so that it cooks down.
Lastly, you can add a small amount of cornstarch to your recipe. It dissolves easily and is tasteless.
Can Homemade Marinara Be Used For Pizza Sauce?
This homemade marinara recipe is well-suited for so many recipes like this Pork Parmesan or this Basil Ricotta Dumpling recipe.
It works a base for both these Homemade Parmesan Soft Pretzel Bites, this crockpot lasagna, and this meaty marinara. Basically, this sauce will work anytime you need a red sauce. It is an extremely versatile sauce!
Can I Freeze This Homemade Marinara Sauce?
Yes, this sauce freezes well so there is no reason you cannot make a double batch each time.
Place your cooled sauce in an airtight container or a freezer-safe bag. Marinara sauce can be frozen for up to 3 months.
When the craving for spaghetti hits, you will always have the sauce ready!
Leftover sauce? This sauce is PERFECT for these meatball subs, this meatball pizza, baked risotto balls, and these pretzel bites! You can even stir in leftover marinara sauce into this Minestrone Soup!
More Pasta Sauces:
Roasted Garlic Cauliflower Alfredo
Pasta with Yellow Pepper Sauce

Homemade Marinara Sauce
Skip the jarred stuff, a homemade marinara sauce is the way to go!This simple sauce has many uses and it's incredibly simple to make!
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 1 28 oz can crushed tomates
- 1 14 oz can petite diced tomatoes
- 1 8 oz can tomato sauce
- 2 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook for one minute.
- Add crushed tomatoes, diced, tomatoes and tomato sauce.
- Stir in sugar, salt, oregano, basil, and crushed red pepper.
- Cook until the mixture begins to simmer.
- Reduce heat to low and cover until ready to serve.
Nutrition Information
Yield 6 Serving Size 1 cupAmount Per Serving Calories 43Total Fat 3gSaturated Fat 0gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 2gCholesterol 0mgSodium 349mgCarbohydrates 5gFiber 2gSugar 4gProtein 1g
Megan Davis says
Nice. Simple and easy is the key to a great Marianara. I made this and it turned out awesome! Thank You!
Tanya Schroeder says
I’m so glad you enjoyed this Megan! I use this everytime I need a red sauce! It really is so easy.
Janis A Creswell says
This mariana sauce and garlic parmesean pretzels were outstanding!! Thank you so much!! Cant wait to try some of your other recipes!
Tanya Schroeder says
Thank you! It’s easy and so different! I love serving this for parties.
Joyce Gonderman says
YUMMY YUMMY. Sauce is easy to make and very delicious.
Definitely a keeper.
Tanya Schroeder says
I’m so glad you like this recipe! I make it all the time and I always keep some in the freezer too, it is so easy to reheat and tastes just as good!
Barb says
can Marinara sauce and Pizza sauce , etc. be frozen ORcanned ?
Tanya Schroeder says
Yes! I haven’t canned this recipe, but I freeze it in an airtight container all the time! It reheats very well!
Eva Dankers says
This is a great sauce recipe! I still have to use the immersion blender though since my family is a NO CHUNK kind of family 🙂
Michelle says
Quick, easy and delicious
Melissa Taylor says
looks delicious!
Ashley says
Can you set this sauce aside and leave it in the pantry? Kind of like canning I suppose?
Tanya Schroeder says
If you will be going through the canning process, then yes. If not, then I would place this sauce in a ziptop bag and place it in the freezer. It freezes really well.
Jillian says
Do you know the. calories and how big a serving is? I love this marinara sauce and would like to know this info for when I count my calories. I also don’t put in the sugar and it still tastes great!
Tanya Schroeder says
Jillian, the serving size is roughly 1 cup. And you are right about the sugar. I am not sensitive to the acid in the tomatoes, but some might be.