Marinara Sauce Recipe
on Sep 20, 2024, Updated Jun 09, 2025
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Don’t have time to dedicate an entire Sunday to sauce-making 🥫? Say no more! I’m here to show you that you don’t need a full-day production or Italian roots to make delicious sauce. This Marinara Sauce Recipe (or Marrri-NA-rrrraaa 😉) requires no special equipment and comes together on the stove in less than an hour, all while delivering the same authentic, rich taste as classic Italian tomato sauce.
Before your Nonno and Nonna come for me, let me start off by saying that quality ingredients are a must here! I suggest using San Marzano tomatoes 🍅, whether fresh or canned, but any juicy tomatoes on the vine will work.
Why You’ll Love My Marinara Sauce Recipe
Much like most authentic Italian cooking, this Marinara Sauce Recipe is all about simplicity. From the ingredients to the method, we’re keeping it straightforward—just the way Nonno 👴 and Nonna 👵 would have liked. The only difference? We’re cutting out about 10 hours of labor because, honestly, who has that kind of time these days?!
Smooth, velvety, and packed with flavor and nutrients from the blended veggies 🥕, this Marinara Sauce Recipe will impress even your toughest food critics: your kids! You can simplify this recipe even further by using canned tomatoes, adding a touch of spice, or adjusting the texture to be as chunky or creamy as you’d like—it’s totally up to you. One thing’s for certain, though: this Nonna-approved simplified Mariana Sauce will save you time and effort while still delivering that authentic Italian 🇮🇹 taste!
How to Prepare
🍅 Wash the tomatoes and score the bottom of each one with a paring knife so the bottom looks like this: (+).
🫧 Next, to a pot of simmering water, gently boil the tomatoes for 3 minutes or until the skins start to pull away.
👩🍳 Take the tomatoes out and peel each one. Cut each tomato in half and dice them making sure to remove the stem.
🔪 Use a knife to dice the shallots and mince the garlic. Use a box grater to grate a carrot.
🫒 Now, to that same pot, dump out the tomato water, add olive oil, and heat up on medium-high heat.
🥕 Add in the shallots, carrots, and garlic, and sauté for a few minutes until the onions are translucent.
🧂 Then add in the diced tomatoes and salt to taste.
🥄 Stir, reduce the heat to medium-low and let the sauce cook for about 30 minutes as you occasionally stir.
🌀 Once the sauce has thickened and cooked, carefully blend it and pour on top of cooked pasta with a splash of the starchy cooking water.
🍝 Enjoy the pasta with grated Parmigiano cheese, basil, or hot pepper oil. Feel free to use this sauce for any recipe that calls for marinara sauce.
Nonna’s Tip 🍅
The sweetness or acidity of your sauce will depend entirely on how much grated carrot you include in this recipe. Carrots naturally balances the acidity, so there’s no need to add any sugar.
Variations and Substitutions for Marinara Sauce Recipe
- Instead of a carrot, you can also use a 🫑 sweet bell pepper to cut the acidity and add sweetness. I don’t advise you to use any other sweeteners in the sauce, such as honey or sugar.
- Instead of shallot, you can also finely dice a small 🧅 white onion in this Marinara Sauce.
- Please feel free to use any variety of fresh 🍅 tomatoes you like here. I prefer on the vine as they’re the freshest-tasting and juiciest. You can also use canned San Marzano tomatoes here.
- For a kick, you can add 🌶️ red pepper flakes or hot pepper oil while sautéing the garlic and shallots.
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Best Served With
- Serve this Marinara Sauce recipe with your favorite 🍝 pasta variety—gluten-free or regular.
- Use this Marinara Sauce in my Zucchini Rolls, 🍆 Eggplant Rolls, or in a Lasagna.
- Use this sauce to top a 🍕 pizza or in my Baked Chicken Parmigiana.
Common Questions
Yes, you can use canned tomatoes (preferably whole or crushed) if you don’t have fresh ones on hand. They still provide a great flavor, though fresh tomatoes may give a brighter taste.
The carrot helps to balance the acidity of the tomatoes, giving the sauce a natural sweetness. If you don’t have a carrot, you can also use a sweet bell pepper.
For a spicy Marinara Sauce, you can add red pepper flakes or hot pepper oil while sautéing the garlic and shallots.
Store the Marinara Sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. For longer storage, you can freeze it.
Marinara Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
Instructions
- Note: the color and sweetness of the sauce will depend on how much grated carrot you add to this recipe. Carrots offset the acidity of the tomatoes which has always been my secret to a perfect marinara sauce.
- Wash the tomatoes and score the bottom of each one. I like to make two shallow cuts so the bottom looks like this: (+).
- Next, to a pot of simmering water, gently boil the tomatoes for 3 minutes or until the skins start to pull away.
- Take the tomatoes out, peel each one. Cut each tomato in half and dice them making sure to remove the stem.
- Now, to that same pot, dump out the tomato water and add olive oil. Let it the oil heat up on medium-high heat.
- Add in the shallots, carrots, and garlic, and sauté for a few minutes until the onions are translucent. Add in the diced tomatoes and salt to taste. Stir, reduce the heat to medium-low and let the sauce cook for about 30 minutes as you occasionally stir.
- Once the sauce has thickened and cooked, carefully blend it and pour on top of cooked pasta with a splash of the starchy cooking water.
- Enjoy the pasta with grated Parmigiano cheese, basil, or hot pepper oil. Feel free to use this sauce for any recipe that calls for marinara sauce.
My Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I love how great this tastes in my mouth!