Marinara Sauce

Marinara sauce is a rich, vibrant, flavor-packed tomato sauce from Southern Italy.

You can make authentic Italian marinara sauce with simple ingredients like canned tomatoes, onion, garlic, herbs, and olive oil in less than 30 minutes.

Italian marinara sauce is a beloved tomato sauce thanks to its bright and rich taste, versatility, and ease of preparation.

It makes a quick and easy pasta recipe when served with al spaghetti; a comforting 30-minute Italian dish that everyone loves.

You’ll love how easy and versatile this marinara sauce recipe is. You can make it with a handful of pantry staples and have it in a million different ways.

For example, try it with our tofu meatballs or lentil meatballs on pasta or in a sub. You’ll be blown away by how delicious vegetarian meatballs can be.

Or use it for eggplant parmigiana, eggplant pizza, or Sicilian pasta alla Norma. Buonissima!

It’s excellent as a pizza sauce on our easy flatbread pizza recipe and even better as a dip with fried zucchini, breaded eggplants, stuffed zucchini with ricotta, zucchini fritters, risotto cakes, rice balls, and fried eggplants.

Best of all, you can use our marinara sauce as the base recipe for any tomato-based sauce. For example:

• Add more chili and fresh parsley to make a spicy arrabbiata sauce for delicious rigatoni arrabbiata.
• Stir in olives and capers to make a tasty puttanesca sauce.
• A can of lentils to turn it into a quick version of our hearty lentil bolognese.
• A can of your favorite beans to make a fulfilling and nutritious Italian bean stew to serve with pasta or polenta.
• Mix it with sautéed mushrooms to have a quick, irresistible mushroom sauce.

The list could go on, but you get the point. This marinara recipe is the one sauce you’ve got to master to become a tomato sauce ninja!

Quantities are in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.

Canned tomatoes

The best tomatoes to make the marinara sauce are Italian imported whole peeled tomatoes.

If you can find San Marzano tomatoes, it’s even better.

There are many brands of imported Italian tomatoes in the US and Western supermarkets; finding one won’t be a problem (Mutti, Cirio, and Cento are all great options).

Other valid alternatives are diced tomatoes or crushed tomatoes.

Still, in this case, we recommend adding a tablespoon of tomato paste to thicken the sauce and a teaspoon or two of sugar to balance the acidity.

Tomato passata or tomato puree are not the best options because they are too smooth for marinara.

Can you make marinara sauce with fresh tomatoes?

You can make an excellent fresh tomato sauce that will taste amazing but different from marinara sauce.

Water

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

Olive oil

Extra virgin olive oil is best. Its flavor enhances that of the tomatoes, garlic, and herbs.

Onion and Garlic

Fresh garlic cloves, finely chopped or minced. Garlic powder won’t add the same freshness and aroma.

Onion is optional in marinara sauce, but we recommend it to add extra sweetness and flavor.

There is no celery or carrots in marinara 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 pantry staples used liberally 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, but we love it!

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 it’s unlikely they could add fresh basil.

However, we recommend adding 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 sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Red pepper flakes

We like adding a pinch of red pepper flakes or fresh red chili pepper to the sauce.

Don’t add too much chili; you’ll turn marinara into an arrabbiata sauce, another delicious and spicy Italian tomato sauce.

US cups + grams measurements in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.

Start by finely chopping the onion and mincing the garlic.

Add the whole canned peeled tomatoes to a mixing bowl. Rinse the can with 1 cup of water and add that too.

Chop the peeled tomatoes with scissors, crush them with your hands, or blend them with an immersion blender.

Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a large skillet. Add the chopped onion and sauté for 4 minutes on medium heat until translucent. Stir often, and don’t let the onion brown.

Add the minced garlic and red pepper flakes (or finely chopped red chili), and sauté until fragrant for about 1 minute.

Tip: use a large skillet instead of a narrow pot. The sauce will cook faster, splash less, and build more flavor in a wide skillet.

Add the chopped canned whole peeled tomatoes. Season with salt, pepper, and dried oregano.

Simmer on medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes or until you reach your desired consistency.

The longer you let it simmer, the thicker and richer the sauce gets. Stir occasionally.

Tip: if you serve it with pasta, you can cook it while the sauce simmer.

A minute before turning the heat off, stir in chopped fresh basil.

Taste and adjust for salt, and your marinara sauce is ready.

Quick and Easy Pasta

You can make this two ways. First, boil the pasta al dente, drain it, transfer it to a plate, and apply a generous ladleful of sauce.

This is a great way to use it as a quick spaghetti sauce. You can add grated parmesan or our non-dairy parmesan on top.

You can use marinara sauce with any pasta, including spaghetti, ziti, rotini, fusilli, penne, rigatoni, gluten-free pasta, and even zucchini noodles.

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 to make it creamy.

Plant-Based Meatballs

With our tofu meatballs, you can have delicious plant-based meatballs that you can make with simple ingredients in less than 30 minutes.

They are the perfect protein addition to marinara sauce.

Check out our tofu meatball recipe.

Meatballs Sub

This meatball sandwich is perfect for a quick lunch, and you can make it with our tofu meatballs and marinara sauce.

Make this with a freshly baked baguette (the one you can get frozen and bake at home). It’s the perfect lunch!

Breaded eggplants are tasty, crunchy, and easy to make, perfect with this marinara sauce.

You can drizzle the sauce on top of the eggplants and even serve the eggplants on top of pasta to make this a complete meal.

Check out our breaded eggplant recipe.

Eggplant Parmigiana

Use this sauce to make our delicious eggplant parmigiana. We use oven-baked eggplants instead of fried ones, so the recipe is lighter yet delicious.

Parmigiana is a classic eggplant Italian recipe served as a starter, main, or side dish. It’s a sure crowd-pleaser; we are sure you’ll love it, too.

Check out our eggplant parmigiana recipe.

Sicilian Pasta alla Norma

Pasta alla Norma is an easy and flavorful eggplant pasta dish from Sicily and is a must-try for pasta lovers.

You can make it with roasted or air-fried eggplant cubes coated in a marinara sauce.

Check out our pasta alla Norma recipe.

Marinara sauce is excellent as a dip. Try it with:

• Zucchini fritters
• Stuffed zucchini with ricotta and sundried tomatoes
• Risotto cakes made with leftovers from our tomato risotto or mushroom risotto
• Fried rice balls
• Fried eggplant
• Fried zucchini
• Crunchy crostini

Other Uses of Marinara Sauce

You can level up your meals in many ways with a good marinara sauce! You can also use marinara as a base sauce for other delightful recipes:

• To make a vegetarian lasagna paired with our roasted vegetables and vegan white sauce.
• As a pizza sauce for homemade mini pizzas, focaccia, eggplant pizza, or flatbread pizza.
• To make a zucchini sauce for pasta, add air-fried zucchini or roasted zucchini.
• Instead of pizzaiola sauce for this delicious pan-fried tofu with tomato sauce.

Make Ahead: this marinara recipe is excellent for meal prep because it keeps well in the fridge, and its flavor gets richer on the second day.

Refrigerator: store in a bowl, covered with plastic wrap, or in an airtight container in the fridge for 4 days.

Freezer: marinara freezes well. Let the sauce cool down completely, transfer it to a freezer-friendly container (we use a small mason jar), and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge or the microwave.

Reheat: warm the sauce on the stovetop or in the microwave. We recommend adding fresh basil as you reheat the sauce.

Italian food lover? Here are some delicious plant-based Italian recipes for you:

• Baked Ziti
• Pasta al limone
• Cauliflower Alfredo sauce with tagliatelle
• Mushroom Ragu
• Gnocchi alla Sorrentina
• Roasted red pepper pasta
• No-Knead Focaccia with rosemary

For more ideas, look at our 40+ Italian vegetarian dishes roundup.

Breads

Focaccia

Pasta

Cauliflower Alfredo (no Heavy Cream)

Pasta

Red Pepper Pasta

Pasta

Gnocchi alla Sorrentina