Name: Quick And Easy Marinara Sauce
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 1 - 28 ounce can of whole peeled tomatoes; 1 shallot; 5 cloves of garlic (or 1 teaspoon garlic powder); 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil; 3 sprigs of Basil (or 1 teaspoon dried basil); 5 sprigs of oregano (or 1 teaspoon dried oregano); Optional:; 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes; salt & pepper to taste

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It’s thought that Marinara sauce originated in Italy, most like the area around Naples. Marinara, meaning “sailor-style,” is a classic Italian tomato-based sauce. Marinara is made with only a few ingredients – tomatoes (preferably San Marzano), onions, garlic, herbs, and extra virgin olive oil.

When you need a quick and easy dinner to impress some unexpected guests, Marinara sauce with your choice of protein and pasta is the way to go.

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You Probably Have The Ingredients For Marinara Sauce In Your Pantry

Marinara sauce is a complete 180⁰ from a Bolognese or even my version of Spaghetti Sauce. With a meat-based sauce, you simmer the sauce for hours to develop the rich, hearty flavors.

Marinara cooks quickly to retain the zest and brightness of the tomatoes. The sauce is simple and sophisticated at the same time.

Most homemade Marinara starts with canned tomatoes. San Marzano is the Italian tomato of choice, but any canned tomato will do. I recommend using a product with no salt added. You want to be able to add salt to your taste.

The remaining ingredients are garlic, basil (and other herbs if you choose), onion, and extra virgin olive oil.

If you have fresh tomatoes, you can use them. But blanch them first to remove the skins. (See a quick tutorial on this below.) You don’t want errant pieces of tomato skin in your Marinara Sauce.

The herbs can be fresh or dried. I have a little herb garden outside my kitchen, so I use fresh herbs in season. I harvest my little crop in winter, dry the herbs, and bottle them up.

Dried herbs have a more concentrated flavor and are a bit spicier. You may find you want to add a more generous helping of fresh herbs later in the cooking cycle to bump up the flavor.

How Spicy Do You Like Your Marinara Sauce?

Garlic will spice up the Marinara. For a 28-ounce can of tomatoes, I use 5 – 6 cloves. You can use garlic powder (not garlic salt) instead of fresh. The ratio is about ¼ teaspoon of garlic powder for each clove you use.

My husband likes things a bit on the spicy side, so I add in a somewhat non-traditional ingredient of red pepper flakes. I also like to use shallots instead of onions for their milder flavor.

Once my Marinara sauce is done, I give it a quick blend with my immersion blender for a slightly smoother consistency. I’ve had this blender for years. But now you can buy a cordless immersion blender which is even easier to use.

Red & White Immersion Blender (Hand Blender)

Storing Your Homemade Marinara Sauce

Assuming you have any leftover sauce, you may wonder how to keep it for later use.

My husband thinks I’m a little obsessive about keeping jars. You know, the ones that contain the pickles or olives you buy at the store.

I’m not particularly eager to use plastic containers for many reasons. But these little jars are the best for keeping things fresh and totally reusable.

Important Note: I do not recommend you use these types of jars for actual “Canning.” Canning is a heat process that regular jars may not be strong enough for.

You can store the Marinara sauce in a jar in the refrigerator for up to three days. But the fantastic thing is that you can freeze the sauce and have it on hand for up to three months.

When freezing the sauce in a jar, do not fill it to the top leave about an inch. As the sauce or any liquid freezes, it expands in size. Also, leave the top of the jar loose until your sauce is frozen. This way, the expanding sauce won’t break your jar.

So go ahead and make a double recipe. Then when the urge to make a quick chicken parm hits, you’ll have Marinara sauce on hand and ready to go.

How To Skin And Seed Fresh Tomatoes

To skin and seed fresh tomatoes, you need the following:

A large pot or Dutch Oven filled with boiling water

Enameled-Cast-Iron-Dutch-Oven — ***Check Prices Now!***

One Sharp knife to score the tomatoes

Pairing Knife Stainless Blade and Black Handle

A large bowl filled with ice water

First, clean the tomatoes and remove any stems or leaves. Next, cut an “X” in the bottom of each tomato just through the skin, not into the flesh.

Once you have the tomatoes ready, drop them into the boiling water when the skin of the tomato begins to separate from the flesh (near the “X” you made). This should only take about a minute.

blanched tomatoes on plate, ready for peeling — ripe tomatoes in a pot of water

Remove the tomato and drop it into the ice bath you have ready to stop the cooking. When the tomato is cool enough to handle, remove it from the ice bath and gently remove the skin by pulling away from the “X” on the bottom.

If you want to seed the tomatoes, you can simply cut them open and gently squeeze them to remove most of them.

4 Servings