My Homemade Marinara Sauce Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 (28-ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes
• 1 medium carrot, minced
• 1 small onion, finely diced
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 5 tbsp canola oil
• 1/2 tbsp dried oregano (optional)
• 1 tsp black pepper (optional)
• 1 bunch fresh basil
• Sea salt to taste

Cook the Base

Add 5 tbsp canola oil to a large pot over medium-high heat. Let it heat for ~1 minute until it moves freely.

Add the onion and carrot. Cook for ~3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion goes translucent. The carrot adds sweetness without making it taste like carrot sauce.

Add the garlic and cook for another minute until it smells amazing. Don’t let it brown or it’ll taste bitter.

Build the Sauce

Dump in both cans of tomatoes, oregano, black pepper, and 1/2 cup water. The water rinses out the cans and thins the sauce a bit.

Bring to a boil over medium-high – you’ll see bubbles breaking all over the surface.

Drop the heat to medium-low and simmer for 30-60 minutes. I usually go the full hour – the flavors really come together and the sauce thickens up nicely.

Get the Right Texture

For chunky sauce: Use a potato masher right in the pot. Crush the tomatoes until they’re broken into bite-sized pieces.

For smooth sauce: Use an immersion blender in the pot, or carefully transfer to a regular blender. Blend until it’s as smooth as you want.

I like mine somewhere in between – mostly smooth with some texture.

Jar It Up

Get 2 clean quart jars ready.

Tear 5-7 basil leaves into pieces and drop them in the bottom of each jar.

Pour the hot sauce right over the basil. The heat pulls out all the basil oils and makes the whole thing smell incredible.

Seal the jars and let them cool on the counter before putting in the fridge.

Storage

This keeps for about a week in the fridge, or freeze for up to 3 months.

One batch makes enough for 4-5 meals. Way better than opening a new jar every time you need sauce.

My Homemade Marinara Sauce

This is my everyday red sauce – the one I make in big batches and keep in jars in the fridge. It's simple, tastes way better than jarred stuff, and costs about half as much. I use it for everything from pasta to pizza to chicken parm.

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Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

Cook Time: 45 minutes mins

Cooling Time: 1 hour hr

Total Time: 1 hour hr 55 minutes mins

Ingredients

• ▢ 2 28-ounce cans whole peeled tomatoes
• ▢ 1 medium carrot minced
• ▢ 1 small onion finely diced
• ▢ 6 cloves garlic minced
• ▢ 5 tbsp canola oil
• ▢ 1/2 tbsp dried oregano optional
• ▢ 1 tsp black pepper optional
• ▢ 1 bunch fresh basil
• ▢ Sea salt to taste

Instructions

• Heat oil in large pot over medium-high heat.
• Sauté onion and carrot 3 minutes until onion is translucent.
• Add garlic, cook 1 minute until fragrant.
• Add tomatoes, oregano, pepper, and 1/2 cup water.
• Bring to boil, reduce heat to medium-low.
• Simmer 30-60 minutes until thickened.
• Use immersion blender to puree until mostly smooth with some texture.
• Place torn basil leaves in clean quart jars.
• Pour hot sauce over basil.
• Cool completely before refrigerating.
• Keeps 1 week refrigerated or 3 months frozen.
• Makes 2 quarts.