Homemade Marinara Sauce

Making Homemade Marinara Sauce is simple as can be.  Canned crushed tomatoes, mixed with onions, garlic, and fresh Italian herbs, simmered on your stove. Serve over pasta, or add to your favorite baked pasta dishes.  

Out of alllllllll the pasta sauces, marinara is by far my most favorite!  I bet you would be surprised at how easy it is to make Homemade Marinara Sauce.  I know when I first thought about making it, I thought it had to be super hard.  I pictured hours of chopping and slaving over a hot bubbling pot.  

I used to just open a jar of sauce, and call it a day, until I really needed to start paying attention to what is in our food.

Recently, my oldest daughter has spent quite a bit of time in the emergency room, and seeing specialists.  All of the sudden, she has been having allergic reactions, which started out when she was eating pasta.  The strangest thing? Spaghetti is literally her favorite food.  Always has been.   

All of the sudden, hours after she’d eat it, she would get horrible stomach aches, and her lips and face would start to swell.  

For about the first 6 months, it was only red sauce with pasta or a couple of kinds of pizza.  Then she started having reactions to other foods, too.  Things she had eaten her whole life. 

Always 5-6 hours after she’d eaten, and they were getting worse.  Anaphylactic shock, that would take us to the ER.  We saw a specialist and had her tested, and everything came back negative.  

After a few trips and no resolution, we tried a new doctor.  This time, we took pages of explanation of each episode in detail.  The only thing we could come up with was canola oil.  Crazy thing? Not when it’s in dressing, only when it’s cooked.  

You would actually be shocked to know how many foods contain canola oil, that you just wouldn’t think.  Things like cheese dips/queso, and pasta sauces.  I have been making a lot of things homemade now.  Including this pasta sauce.  

^Pin it so you can find it!^

Sure, it’s a bit harder than opening a jar from the store, but the fresh ingredients add such amazing flavor, you’ll want to try it for sure.  

Ingredients in Homemade Marinara Sauce:

• canned crushed tomatoes
• olive oil
• onion, garlic
• fresh basil, fresh Italian parsley
• oregano, red pepper flakes
• salt & pepper

The recipe calls for a handful of fresh basil.  I actually counted the leaves, and it was about 18-20.  

I simmered this on my stove, covered for one hour.  My kitchen smelled heavenly.

We added my Homemade Italian Meatballs to the sauce, and served it over spaghetti.  

There are so many ways to use this marinara! 

It makes an AMAZING dip for these Air Fryer Toasted Ravioli, my Arancini (Fried Risotto Balls), and for my Baked Zucchini Chips.

It’s delicious scooped onto this Italian Burger, or on my Pizza Monster Sandwiches! 

Of course, homemade marinara works it’s magic when it gets baked into cheesy meals like this Skillet Lasagna, my Baked Spaghetti & Meatballs, Easy Weeknight Chicken Parmesan or these Spinach & Artichoke Stuffed Shells.  

Do you love Italian food like I do? Check out all of my Italian Recipes today! 

Simple fresh ingredients are all you need to for this Homemade Marinara Sauce! Let’s get to the recipe! 

5 from 2 votes

Print Recipe

Homemade Marinara Sauce

Making Homemade Marinara Sauce is simple as can be.  Canned crushed tomatoes, mixed with onions, garlic, and fresh Italian herbs, simmered on your stove. Serve over pasta, or add to your favorite baked pasta dishes.  

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time1 hour hr

Total Time1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Course: Pasta

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: Homemade Marinara Sauce

Servings: 1 1/2 quarts

Calories: 180kcal

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup Olive oil
• 5 cloves garlic minced
• 1/2 cup onion diced
• Salt & Pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 2 - 28 ounce cans crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes more or less depending on how spicy you want it to be
• 1 Tablespoon fresh Italian parsley chopped
• handful of fresh basil leaves about 18-20 leaves torn

Instructions

• In a medium sized pot, add Olive oil and heat over medium high heat.
• Add in onion and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until onion becomes translucent. (about 5 minutes or so) Add in red pepper flakes, and oregano and give it a sprinkling of salt and fresh cracked pepper.
• Add in crushed tomatoes, stir in fresh basil and fresh Italian parsley.
• Cover and simmer on low for one hour, stirring occasionally.
• Serve over pasta, on meatball subs or in your favorite baked Italian dishes.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 180kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 8g | Sodium: 543mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 13g