This homemade Marinara Sauce is simply the best. Made with a handful of ingredients, this tomato sauce is thick and rich, and tastes so much better than anything you’ll find in a jar. Ready in about 30 minutes, you can cook up a simmering pot of this marinara sauce from pantry staples anytime you want turn a dish into something truly special. This wholesome sauce with rich tomato flavour makes enough for dinner tonight, with enough leftover for another busy weekenight. Be sure to save this Marinara Sauce recipe as you’ll want to come back again and again for pastas, chicken parmesan, meatball sandwiches, pizza sauce and more.
So….who is Sarah? Oh hi, that’s me! I’ve given this Marinara Sauce recipe out to many, many friends, and over time it has come to be known as “Sarah’s Marinara” – but, I actually want it to become your Marinara. It’s one of those recipes that I go back to time and again and I hope you will too. Bookmark it, Pin It, print it – do whatever works for you to make sure you have this tomato sauce on hand for adding delicious flavour and signature style to everything from pastas to sandwiches. Marinara Sauce is the foundation of many Italian dishes (and Italian-inspired dishes), so if you’re learning to cook, or working towards becoming a better cook, Marinara sauce one of the first recipes to master. This tomato sauce is rich and fresh, because it’s made from good quality ingredients, without added sugar or preservatives. It contains just a short list of good ingredients that simmer into something truly special.
What goes in Sarah’s Marinara Sauce (Italian Tomato Sauce)?
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil: For richness and deep flavour, use a good quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil to gently cook the onions and garlic.
- Onion: The onion in this recipe is the first step in building the layered flavours in this tomato sauce. In the first step, it’s important to gently cook the onions until soft and tender, before adding the wine. Don’t worry, you’ll get there in about 7 minutes. The technique is called “sweating” and it means to gently cook a food in oil until soft, but not brown. Once you add an acidic ingredient, such as wine or tomatoes, the onions will stop cooking. If they were still a little crunchy when you added the wine, they will remain a little crunchy in your finished marinara sauce. No amount of simmering of the sauce will change that, so don’t rush the first “sweating” step. Let the onions get nice and soft before proceeding.
- Garlic: There’s LOTS of fresh garlic in this tomato sauce! For maximum fresh flavour, be sure to buy a head of garlic and mince it up, instead of buying the jarred pre-minced stuff.
- Red Wine: I’ve received lots of questions about which type of red wine to buy for this Marinara sauce over the years, and the answer is – it depends. You can use any type of dry, medium to full bodied red wine that you have on hand. The recipe only needs 1/2 cup, so if you already have an open bottle of dry red wine, then that’s the bottle to use. On the other hand, if you’re buying wine to specifically make the Marinara sauce and plan to drink the rest of the wine with dinner, then I’d recommend picking up a bottle of Chianti or a Pinot Noir.
- Passata: Sold in bottles in better grocery stores or at Italian Grocers, Passata is simply puréed, strained, uncooked tomatoes. Sometimes a little salt is added, but nothing else. Unlike crushed tomatoes sold in cans or cartons, passata is smooth and makes a lovely, thick, tomato sauce.
- Canned Diced Tomatoes: Diced canned tomatoes are added to the sauce to add appealing pieces of tomato throughout the sauce.
- Fresh Basil: Whole sprigs of fresh basil are added to the simmering Marinara sauce to impart a subtle but delicious flavour. Remove the sprigs before serving and discard. Toss the finished sauce with fresh pasta and sprinkle additional chopped basil over top for a simple but satisfying meal.
- Parmesan or Pecorino Romano rind: Don’t throw out your Parmesan and Pecorino rinds! Keep a resealable bag in the freezer to collect the rinds so you’ll always have some on hand for adding to simmering soups and sauces. The rinds impart so much flavour, and will last in a sealed container in the freezer for 3-6 months.
- Butter: A knob of butter stirred in at the end lends a subtle creaminess and a silky texture.
- Salt and Pepper: Add salt and pepper to taste in this tomato sauce. Keep in mind that the cheese rind and the tomatoes are already fairly salty, so you may not need to add much.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
SERVING SUGGESTIONSThis marinara sauce will be the subtle reason why a dish you’ve made a thousand times suddenly tastes so much better. Keep it on hand to instantly elevate a store bought rotisserie chicken into quick Healthier Chicken Parmesan Casserole or Easy Cheesy Beans on Toasted Garlic Bread. Add this tomato sauce to pastas, pizzas and meatball sandwiches or use it as a dip for mozzarella sticks or grilled cheese sandwiches.
DRINK PAIRINGS
DRINK PAIRINGSThe recipe for this marinara sauce contains red wine, so the best drink pairing is red wine from the same bottle. If you’re buying a bottle with the purpose of adding it to the sauce and drinking it with your meal, I’d suggest picking u a Chianti Classico or Pinot Noir. A Pinot Nero from Italy would be lovely, if you can find it!
Sarah's Marinara Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup chopped yellow onion (from about 1 medium yellow onion)
- 1 heaping Tbsp minced fresh garlic (from about 6-8 cloves)
- 1/2 cup dry red wine
- 680ml/23 oz Passata
- 796ml/28 oz canned diced tomatoes
- 2-3 sprigs fresh basil
- rind from a wedge of Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese
- 2 Tbsp butter
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- In a large, heavy-bottomed, non-reactive saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the chopped onions and cook, stirring frequently, until soft and translucent, about 7 minutes. Don't rush this step!
- Have the red wine ready and close at hand. Add the garlic to the pot and stir just until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Immediately pour in the red wine and stir, scraping up any bits on the bottom of the pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the red wine has almost evaporated.
- To the saucepan, add the passata, diced tomatoes, basil springs and cheese rind. Stir to combine. Reduce the heat to medium low and allow the sauce to barely simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 25-30 minutes. Turn off the heat and remove the basil sprigs and cheese rind. Stir in the butter and add salt, to taste. Note that the tomatoes and cheese rind are already fairly salty, so you may need very little or no extra salt. Serve warm or cool to room temperature then refrigerate in a covered container for up to 5 days. Can also be frozen for up to 6 months.
RECIPE NOTES
- Passata, or Passata di Pomodoro, is pureed and strained tomatoes, that is most often sold in bottles or cartons. Look for it in the canned goods section or Italian foods section of your grocery store. It can also be purchased on Amazon by clicking here
- A Parmesan or Pecorino rind adds so much flavour to this marinara sauce. Save your rinds in a resealable bag in the freezer so you’ll always have some on hand. Be sure to squeeze the air out of the bag to ward off freezer burn and they will last in the freezer for 3-6 months.
- If you like your tomato sauces a little spicy, feel free to add 1/4-1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes at the same time as the garlic.
- In the first step, it’s important to gently cook the onions to the texture that you’d like them to be in your finished sauce, before adding the wine. The technique is called “sweating” and it means to gently cook a food in oil until soft, but not brown. Once you add an acidic ingredient, such as wine or tomatoes, the onions will essentially stop cooking. If they were still a little crunchy when you added the wine, they will remain a little crunchy in your finished sauce. Don’t rush the first “sweating” step. Let the onions get nice and soft before proceeding.
- In the second step, it mentions that you should have your wine at the ready before adding the garlic. The reason for this is that garlic cooks very fast, and the flavour changes from delightfully pungent to downright bitter when it starts to brown. Once you’ve added the garlic, things will move quickly, so that’s not the time to start searching for the corkscrew. Have it ready and pour it in as soon as that gorgeous garlic smell has been released. It literally takes just 30 seconds.
- Making it ahead: Any marinara sauce not being used right away can be cooled and transferred to a covered container to be stored in the fridge for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
