Marinara Sauce

Learn how to make marinara sauce from scratch, with a few simple staple ingredients, and in just the time to boil the pasta.

Our homemade marinara sauce recipe is a fast and easy way to give your meals a fresh kick; you can use it as a pasta sauce, pizza topping, on top of veggies, or as a delicious and versatile dip.

And you know what? What's great about this marinara sauce recipe is its versatility. I'll tell you a secret: you can use this easy marinara sauce as the base recipe for any tomato-based sauce you can think of. Try adding:

• red pepper flakes and chopped flat-leaf parsley to make a spicy arrabbiata sauce,
• roasted eggplant cubes to make a Sicilian pasta alla norma,
• lentils to turn it into a quick version of our earthy lentil bolognese,
• beans to make a fulfilling and nutritious Italian bean stew to serve with pasta or polenta,
• tofu meatballs to make a meatballs sub or spaghetti with meatballs,
• sautéed mushrooms to have a quick irresistible mushroom sauce.

The list could go on, but you get the point. Marinara is the one sauce you've got to master to become a tomato-sauce ninja! Check out the "serving suggestions" chapter below to get more ideas.

Tomatoes

The best tomatoes to make marinara sauce are canned tomatoes, more specifically Italian imported canned whole peeled tomatoes. If you can find San Marzano tomatoes, it's even better.

There are many brands of imported Italian tomatoes in US and western supermarkets; finding one won't be a problem.

Other valid alternatives are diced tomatoes or crushed tomatoes, but in this case, we recommend adding a tablespoon of tomato paste to thicken up the sauce.

We don't recommend tomato passata or puree because they are too smooth for marinara.

Can you make marinara sauce with fresh tomatoes? Not really; you can make an excellent fresh tomato sauce, but it won't get as rich and creamy. It'll taste great but different from authentic marinara sauce.

Water

We use water to rinse the can of tomatoes and add it to the sauce. Nothing gets wasted in traditional Italian cooking.

Olive oil

Extra virgin olive oil is best for this sauce. It's richer and more aromatic. We use it to fry the garlic and onion and build a delicious flavor base (soffritto in Italian).

Onion and Garlic

Fresh garlic cloves are a must, finely chopped or minced. Onion is optional, but we recommend it to add extra sweetness and flavor to the sauce.

Dried oregano

When you eat homemade marinara sauce, you should be able to taste the oregano.

Marinara sauce originated in southern Italy, either around Naples or Sicily. In both those places, big bouquets or dried oregano are a pantry staple and are used copiously in most recipes.

If you don't have dried oregano at home, a good alternative is dried thyme or Italian seasoning as a last resort.

Fresh basil

Fresh basil is optional and most probably a modern addition to the sauce.

The original recipe was invented by Italian Sailors - "marinai" in Italian - hence the name marinara. Being at sea for many days, they only had dried herbs on board, so there's no way they could add fresh basil.

However, we like to add a few basil leaves as they infuse even more aroma to the sauce and are an integral part of modern Italian home cooking. We don't recommend other fresh herbs for this recipe.

Salt and pepper

Tomato sauce needs salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Red pepper flakes

We like to add a pinch of red pepper flakes or one small dried chili pepper to the sauce.

However, don't add too much of it, or you'll turn marinara into an arrabbiata sauce, another delicious but spicy Italian tomato sauce.

Add olive oil and finely chopped onion to a large, wide nonstick, or stainless steel skillet. Fry on medium heat for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In the meantime, finely chop the garlic and add it to the pan. Fry for another minute.

Optionally you can add a pinch of red pepper flakes to make the sauce a little spicy.

Tip: use a large skillet as opposed to a narrow and tall pot. The sauce will cook faster, splash less, and build more flavor.

Add the canned whole peeled tomatoes. Rinse the can with a cup of water and add it to the pan.

Crush the tomatoes with a fork, then season them with salt, pepper, and dried oregano.

Simmer on medium heat for 15 to 30 minutes or until you reach your desired consistency. Stir the sauce occasionally.

Tip: You can boil the water and cook the pasta while the sauce simmer.

A few minutes before turning the heat off, add the basil. Tear it up with your hands, stir and turn the heat off. Taste and adjust for salt and pepper. Your marinara sauce is ready.

You can make this two ways. First, drain the pasta, transfer it to a plate, and apply a generous ladleful of sauce on top. This is a great way to use it as a quick spaghetti sauce. We don't think adding (vegan) parmesan cheese on top is necessary, but feel free to do so if you like.

The second way is to drain the pasta very al dente, then finish cooking it in the pan with the marinara sauce for another minute, adding a ladleful of reserved pasta cooking water. This is how pasta is generally served in Italy.

Yes, with our tofu meatballs, you can have meatballs without the meat. This recipe is quick and easy to make with very simple ingredients. It's cozy, incredibly tasty, and satisfying.

This meatballs sandwich is perfect for a quick lunch, and you can make it with our tofu meatballs and marinara sauce leftovers. We make this with freshly baked baguette (the one you can get frozen and bake at home). I have no words to describe this.

Breaded eggplants are tasty, crunchy, and easy to make, perfect with this marinara sauce. You can serve the sauce drizzled on top of the eggplants and add pasta to make this a complete meal.

Eggplant parmigiana

Use this sauce to make our delicious eggplant parmigiana. We use oven-baked eggplants instead of fried ones. Parmigiana is a classic eggplant Italian recipe served as a starter, main, or side dish.

There are so many ways you can level up your meals with a good marinara sauce! You can also use marinara as a base sauce for other delightful meals:

• To make meatless lasagna paired with our vegan white sauce.
• Use as a dipping sauce for breadsticks and crunchy crostini.
• As a pizza sauce for homemade mini pizzas, focaccia, eggplant pizza, or flatbread pizza.
• To make a zucchini sauce for pasta, by adding air-fried zucchini or roasted zucchini.
• Instead of pizzaiola sauce for this delicious pan-fried tofu with tomato sauce.

Or as a starting recipe for any other tomato-based sauce.

If you're loving this marinara sauce, you will also like our other favorite sauces:

• Vegan carbonara sauce
• Easy basil pesto
• Basil tomato sauce
• Romesco sauce
• Tahini sauce
• Chipotle sauce
• Sweet and sour orange sauce with tofu

Or try any of these 25 top vegan sauces, they're perfect for salads and pasta.