Easy Marinara Sauce Recipe
The best easy marinara sauce recipe made with whole peeled tomatoes. You will love this delicious and smooth tomato sauce.
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Easy Marinara Sauce Recipe
Good morning friends! Today, I am so excited to share my simple and delicious homemade pasta sauce recipe. I have been buying premade pasta sauce from the grocery store for years, but I have always wanted to try my hand at making my own with some canned tomatoes and a few other simple ingredients. Last weekend, I finally decided to give it a try. Let me tell you, it did not disappoint.
This homemade marinara sauce recipe is so easy to make. It comes together quickly and tastes incredibly fresh. I don’t know why it took me so long to make my own sauce, but now I can’t see myself going back to premade pasta sauce anytime soon.
Fortunately, the ingredients for this pasta sauce are incredibly budget friendly. Also, there is minimal prep work required, and you guys know that’s something I strive for, especially on busy workdays. So, if you eat pasta often like I do, you are definitely going to want to try this delicious homemade marinara sauce.
Now, let’s take a look at a few quick things to note for this recipe. Then, we will dive into the list of ingredients you will need to make this homemade pasta sauce a smashing success.
What Tomatoes are Best for Marinara Sauce?
A very common question that arises when it comes to making homemade marinara sauce is which tomatoes are best to use in order to make the sauce. Now, for this recipe, I simply used a can of whole peeled tomatoes. This brings down the prep time a bit. However, if you want an even fresher taste and you don’t mind a bit of extra prep work, I definitely recommend roma tomatoes. Roma tomatoes have a nice texture to use in marinara sauce, plus they have less seeds than other types of tomatoes. You will also want to peel them before you cook them so that the marinara sauce comes out nice and smooth.
However, if you want to reduce your prep time and create this recipe exactly as I did, a single can of whole peeled tomatoes will work just fine.
How Do You Make Marinara Sauce Better?
A common complaint when it comes to making marinara sauce is that it’s lacking in flavor. If you simply boil a can of tomatoes in a pot for ten minutes, the flavor will be severely lacking. So, how can you make marinara sauce richer in flavor? Well, I like to add aromatics, namely yellow onion and garlic. I also include key spices like basil, oregano, and crushed red pepper flakes. Finally, I add in some olive oil for richness and dimension. With just a few simple additions, you truly can make a creamy, rich, and delicious tomato sauce to serve over your favorite pasta.
Now that we have covered a few quick things to note for this recipe, let’s take a look at the list of ingredients you will need to make this easy homemade marinara sauce.
Easy Marinara Sauce Recipe – Ingredients
- Whole Peeled Tomatoes – The whole peeled tomatoes serve as the main base ingredient for this delicious pasta sauce. Since we are making a tomato based sauce, this ingredient should come as no surprise.
- Dried Basil – The dried basil adds a ton of flavor to this marinara sauce. You could also add in some fresh basil leaves if desired.
- Dried Oregano – The dried oregano is the next key spice used in this delicious pasta sauce recipe.
- Chopped Yellow Onion – The chopped yellow onion adds flavor and dimension to this recipe.
- Crushed Garlic – The crushed garlic is another aromatic used in this simple yet tasty marinara sauce recipe.
- Crushed Red Pepper Flakes – The crushed red pepper flakes add some spiciness to this homemade pasta sauce.
- Salt – The salt provides this sauce with even more flavor. This ingredient will be added to taste to suit your own personal preferences.
- Olive Oil – The olive oil adds a ton of richness to this pasta sauce recipe. It is a key ingredient that you definitely do not want to forget.
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Easy Marinara Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 can whole peeled tomatoes (1 can = 14.5 oz)
- 2 cloves crushed garlic
- 2 tbsp yellow onion (finely chopped)
- 1/4 tsp dried basil
- 1/4 tsp dried oregano
- 1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- salt to taste
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Add the chopped onion and crushed garlic to a pan with a bit of olive oil.
- Sauté the onion and garlic mixture for a few minutes over low heat.
- Add the whole peeled tomatoes, dried basil, dried oregano, sautéed onion and garlic, salt, and olive oil to a pot.
- Place the lid on the pot and bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat.
- Once the mixture begins to boil, turn the heat to low and simmer partially covered for 10 minutes.
- Remove the mixture from heat and let it sit covered for 20 minutes to cool down a bit.
- Pour the marinara sauce mixture into a high speed blender along with the crushed red pepper flakes.
- Blend the sauce until smooth, about 30 seconds.
- Serve the sauce fresh and warm over your favorite pasta.
- Dig in and enjoy!
Notes
I hope you all enjoy this simple and delicious marinara sauce recipe. It is the perfect sauce to serve over your favorite steamed veggies, pasta, and more. Anyway, that’s it for this recipe. As per usual, I will be back with another blog post very soon.
-Alyssa 🙂
