There are as many recipes for tomato pasta sauce as there are Italian grandmothers. My Sicilian grandmother used to make her sauce every year from the tomatoes in her garden. Much of the time the sauce had meat in it but I don’t think it was ever exactly the same twice. A child of the depression, my grandmother would throw into the pot whatever she had on hand; scraps of a roast, pieces of cooked pork, sausages, rinds of parmesan cheese. You never knew what you’d find in the sauce, but it was always good.
This is really a base pasta sauce recipe, meant to adapt to whatever you want it to be. Like meat in your sauce? Add a tough cut and let it cook down to make a Bolognese. Want to keep it vegetarian? Enjoy the recipe as it is or add some diced up vegetables. Like Pasta alla Norma? Add red chili flakes and diced eggplant to the sauce. Mushrooms or meatballs, it’s all up to you.
While the photo shows the sauce in a jar, I didn’t can this sauce. There are only so many ways to photograph tomato sauce, and stacks of tupperware just don’t make that pretty of a picture. But the sauce does freeze well, so you can enjoy the taste of freshly made sauce a few months from now, once the weather turns cold.
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Basic Marinara Sauce
Printable (PDF) Recipe
2 large yellow onions, peeled and diced
2 Tbsp olive oil
5-6 cloves of garlic, minced (about 2 Tbsp)
2 Tbsp dried herbs (basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, etc)* mixed, total
1/2 cup red wine***
12 cups peeled and seeded fresh ripe tomatoes**
salt and pepper to taste
In a large soup pot, heat up the olive oil. Add the onions and cook slowly, on medium heat until they start to caramelize. They should be evenly brown and soft. Cooking them this way brings out the natural sweetness in the onions. Add the garlic and dried herbs and cook for 5 minutes. Deglaze the pan with the 1/2 cup of red wine and cook for 2 minutes more. Add the tomatoes and their juice and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer and cook on low, stirring occasionally for about 2 hours. Add salt and pepper to taste.
*Dried herbs hold their flavor much longer than fresh herbs so when slow cooking. If you want to use fresh herbs, add them at then end of the cooking process, just before serving. Use which ever of those herbs you prefer for a total of 2 Tablespoons.
**If you don’t have fresh tomatoes, you can use 2 (28 oz) cans of crushed tomatoes, 1 (28 oz) can of whole tomatoes and 1 (6 oz) can of tomato paste. When I use canned tomatoes, I always add a couple tablespoons of sugar to counteract the acidity of the canned tomatoes. I find I don’t have to add any sugar with the ripe tomatoes from my garden.
***Many of the comments below have asked “Do I have to use red wine?” The answer is no, but it does add to the flavor and if you’re going to have wine with dinner anyway, or have an open bottle, throw some in!
Yields about 2.5 quarts
Other ideas for the end-of summer-glut of tomatoes:
How to Peel and Seed Fresh Tomatoes
Fresh Tomato Soup
Slow Roasted Tomato and Fennel Soup
Grilled Eggplant and Zucchini Parmesan
Amendment:
I’ve had a few people comment (some of them not posted here because they were not nice) that the name “Marinara” refers to a tomato sauce with seafood in it. Just about every definition I could find disputes this. I hope the information below clears up any confusion.
The New Food Lover’s Companion
Even more interesting from a historical perspective was this one from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-marinara-sauce.htm
“Marinara sauce originated with sailors in Naples in the 16th century, after the Spaniards introduced the tomato to their neighboring countries. The word marinara is derived from marinaro, which is Italian for “of the sea.” Because of this, many people mistakenly believe marinara sauce includes some type of fish or seafood.
However, marinara sauce loosely translates as “the sauce of the sailors,” because it was a meatless sauce extensively used on sailing ships before modern refrigeration techniques were invented. The lack of meat and the sheer simplicity of making tasty marinara sauce were particularly appealing to the cooks on board sailing ships, because the high acid content of the tomatoes and the absence of any type of meat fat resulted in a sauce which would not easily spoil.”
Finally http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/marinara defines it as:
Main Entry: mar·i·na·ra
Pronunciation: \ˌmer-ə-ˈner-ə, -ˈnär-\
Function: adjective
Etymology: Italian (alla) marinara, literally, in sailor style
Date: 1948
: made with tomatoes, onions, garlic, and spices <marinara sauce>; also : served with marinara sauce <spaghetti marinara>
{ 188 comments… read them below or add one }
Homemade sauce is the only way to go! Love your recipe!
An online called Juliet Mae Spices makes a great Italian Herb Blend. It would go perfectly in thie sauce.
I eat a lot of pasta, but I’m usually too lazy to make my own sauce. Yet, this seems easy enough to make a lot of and store!
We had an old Italian guy come by one day when we were making sauce, and he said we should put some of our fresh brown figs (from our huge tree) in the sauce. so we did, breaking them up as they heated through. They gave a real
meaty texture to the sauce, and an intriguing depth of flavor,
Thanks I will try that one!
This is great! Have you tried canning it?
I haven’t. I don’t really have much canning experience past watching my mom and grandma do it. But it DOES freeze well.
Love the new look, keep up the great work the number of visitors must have increased?.
Written nice and clean.And a nice recipe that everyone should learn.Props
Exactly how I make it except add:
Bacon crumbs (cooked)
Sliced Green Pimento stuffed Olives
Thanks for posting!
Also, how can you be a former chef. It is like riding a bike isn’t it?
True, true, it is kinda like riding a bike. I just don’t get paid to cook any more. It’s only for fun now.
Thanks for the recipe. Being a lover of pasta, this marinara sauce will go a long way for me! If you don’t mind I’d love to direct our Foodista readers over to your blog. Just add your choice of widget to this post and you’re all set!
Sounds delicious.
This sounds like a recipe that might work for me. I have canned gallons of tomato juice simply because I haven’t found a good tomato sauce or marinara that sounded good. This one sounds like my hubby will like it very much! Thanks!
Nauri-
Is it just juice or have you canned whole tomatoes? You really need whole or chopped tomatoes for the right texture. If it’s already pureed, you might try making my tomato soup recipe with it.
I’ve always resorted to juice because I could never find a sauce-type recipe I thought I’d want to try. Now, I am going to try this recipe. If it’s a hit with hubby, I’ll be making this and seeing how well it cans. We use a lot of the juice, but he wishes I’d make marinara sauce – now, I can =)
Simple classic marinara recipe. Thanks for posting this!
I love making pasta sauce to keep in the freezer. The one I usually make uses canned tomatoes since I end up making it in the winter months. I really do need to use some of the fabulous tomatoes that are available this time of year for sauce. Great recipe and love your blog.
I’m in the process of simmering down my sauce so I jumped online to find a recipe to double check if what I was doing (without a recipe) was correct. . . oh goodie I’m doing it right and now I’ll print this out so I’ll remember for next time. I appreciate the star note about dried herbs vs. fresh. Ciao
cool beans. thanks for the easy home made marinara sauce recipe. Now I’m off to go cook it.
From your basic marina sauce, you get so many ways to use it. I was one of the first things I taught my kids to make. With that tool in their belt they can make just about anything. This version is very close to mine.
Thanks
Doug
That marinara sauce looks good! It is a great way to enjoy the perfectly ripe tomatoes!
This is a great marinara sauce recipe! We all know that everyone should have a great recipe for sauce in their recipe file.
I smiled when I read your blogpost about wanting your food blog to be successful and watching every comment, every hit, etc. I can totally relate!
You have a great blog. I will be back.
Glad to see that someone else sees the absolute value in caramelizing the onions for a good marinara — totally worth the effort. And so timely… with all those great tomatoes out there on the vine!
Yes, caramelizing is worth it! When I was a chef, we used to make the sauce in a giant stock pot, caramelizing about 5lbs of onions at once. It took forever, but it made all the difference.
for soup bases too!
Wow! Thank you! I have always always wanted to make my own marinara sauce! This is so helpful I could eat this all of the time!
Thanks everyone for the nice comments! Please let me know how the sauce turns out if you make it.
great recipe. i live in bologna, and love the bolognese ragu. your recipe helps, cheers,,
I love cooking and experimenting, rarely follow recipes and people always rave about my cooking. In all that time, however, I have never made marinara sauce from scratch…for some reason, I found the thought intimidating. I would instead buy something like a 5-cheese jarred sauce and dress it up the way I wanted. I’m going to use your recipe this weekend, however – not only does this sound simple, but your matter-of-fact approach in your writing gave me just the boost I needed to get off my duff and do this. So thanks! Btw, I arrived here through the StumbleUpon network, and I’ll definitely be thumbing this up and passing it on to others. Great site!
Thanks so much! Yes, it’s very easy and you can still “dress it up” any way you want! Let me know how it comes out and thanks for “stumbling” my blog!
Great sauce recipe! I love how it’s highly adaptable to personal preferences!
Wow, i love your blog. this basic marinara sauce sounds great. I’ll have to try it. If only i had a garden…
Please correct your post
this is a Napoli or napolitana sauce (Italian tomato based sauce)
Marinara refers to a sauce with seafood in it (usually tomato but not always. Often served as a pasta marinara)
I’ve put an addendum at the bottom of the post. I’ve never seen Marinara sauce served with seafood, but yours is the second such comment I’ve received so I thought I’d do a little research.
The term marinara came to mean a tomato sauce (in America at least) quite some years ago
hence your not having seen it served with seafood
My self and many other chefs are trying to revert back to using the original meanings
of the terms “Marinara: Seafood” and “Napoli/Napolitana: Italian Tomato based sauce”
It kind of irks me when i order a Pasta Marinara, expecting seafood, and don’t get it
I appreciate your help in re-educating the food industry
formerchef – unfortunately it obviously irks some people… don’t let them bother you, this marinara recipe looks awesome! Personally I’d be totally disappointed if I ordered marinara and found seafood in it ’cause here in America when we order marinara the vast majority expects a tomato and herb based sauce. Keep on keeping on, formerchef, and I look forward to eating my marinara sauce tonight
De-lish! My mouth is watering.
RE: Amendment: while studying abroad and visiting Venice with a large group of students, we hit a local restaurant and our vegetarian friend ordered marinara. Sure enough, it came loaded with seafood. “Sorry– I thought marinara was plain red sauce,” she said. “Why does it have seafood in it?”
The proprietor scolded her. “Marinara! Mare means sea! Of course it has seafood in it!”
So be forewarned if you ever go to Italy– order marinara, get seafood, like the other commenter Chef noted. Order Napoli.
Interesting! I’m actually going to Rome next month and had already planned on trying to resolve this debate while there. I’m still not sure there is a “right” answer. I have a feeling it just comes down to what it means to you in your experience.
great!! will have to try it and jar some up.
I read your comments. I was looking at this recipe to see how to make this sauce and leave out the seafood! So…thanks! I for one, am glad to see it! Thumbs up in Stumble upon!
~Beth
I made this Marinara this weekend using tomatoes from my garden and my family really enjoyed it — especially the kids, since they were eating sauce made from the tomatoes they planted by seed.
Out of laziness, I didn’t peel them. Those little skins were a pain to eat — will not make that mistake twice.
I’ve also enjoyed the historical perspective on the name “Marinara.” Food history is fascinating.
Thanks!
Thanks Myra! Next time, if you do peel the tomatoes, get the kids involved. It’s easy, slippery, and messy, but fun!
This recipe looks delicious.. and so easy! I’m going to give it a whirl and look forward to the results.
Thanks for sharing,
Pieter
I’ll be trying this recipe next time I can.
Regarding the marinara debate, I don’t know where these guys are coming from, but Marinara does NOT refer to a seafood based dish. There was a sailor who’s name was Marinaro or something like that and he typically added shrimp and clams to his recipe, however those were addendum’s to the original recipe.
Hope that clears up some of the drama that you’re receiving!
I enjoy cooking and finding new methods and recipes to try.Thanks
Hello Former Chef,
Your sauce looks and sounds delicious. Do you know if I need to modify the cooking time if I am planning on “canning” it (25 min @11lbs pressure)? I just finished picking my toms off the vine – another successful garden season!
Cheers, CG of Washington
I wish I knew but I have no experience with pressure cooking, sorry!
You are spot on – authentic marinara is a meatless sauce – this includes sauce devoid of fish. It is purely vegetables and herbs.
You are right about this sauce, and people who thinks it must have seafood in it is wrong, cmon… just because of the name mar-inara?.
As you note at the beginning of your post, this is the very basic foundation of a marinara sauce. From here people can enhance it in whatever direction desired and create their own versions depending on what it will be served on.
Hi, Looks yummy! Could you please tell me if I can make this without the wine? Thank you.
Yes, you can leave out the wine no problem.
Good ideas, glad to use them. To reduce the acid in my sauce, I use 1/4 tsp baking soda. Also, rather than white sugar, try brown sugar. I have also tossed in 1 whole large carrot (peeled).
I am so glad i found your blog and recipe, it looks better than a lot of the other recipes I found. It’s cooking on my stove as I write this and will be used on pizza tomorrow night. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for letting me know! Enjoy!
I always a dd a dash of good-quality balsamic vinegar to my sauce – it really brings out the flavor!
Wonderful stuff… Made over 1lb (enough for a lasagne dish I was trying to create), using canned chopped tomatoes and a small can of paste (or puree as we call it in England..lol..).
I couldn’t help myself, I just had to add a teaspoon of chilli powder to the mix which certainly gave the lasagne a little bit of ‘bite’.
Still used around 4 fl oz of good Italian wine though – and I must confess that considerably more ended-up inside me….
Will definitely make 2 maybe 3lbs next time, use some and freeze the rest….
Thanks for sharing this great recipe.
Best wishes, John
Thanks for the recipe I sought… love your pictures! (Marinara Sauce)
Just wondering – would this sauce be suitable for use as a pizza sauce too… maybe if blended to make it smoother? Thanks for the recipe – I’m planning on using it this week!
Yes, it would be great on pizza. I’ve used it myself before on home made pizzas. I don’t even puree it, just leave it a little chunky.
I’m glad to hear that, I was reading this and wondering if it would be good as pizza sauce as well. I think I’m going to try this tomorrow afternoon and take it to my sister’s house (they make pizza practically every weekend). From the sound of it, it makes great marinara sauce. I hope it makes an equally wonderful pizza sauce.
When you say add 2 Tbspn of dried herbs is that 2 Tbspn of each dried herb you add or 2 Tbspn total?
That’s 2 Tbsp of dried herbs total. But feel free to add more if you want!
One more question – and maybe a dumb one. I’m not too familiar when it comes to cooking with alcohol – or alcohol in general. We have some Burgundy left over. Could I use that in place of the Red Wine????
In reality, you could use any kind of wine, but the Burgundy is red, no? Even if it’s a white burgundy, go ahead. Just don’t use anything labeled “cooking wine.” Those are loaded with salt and are horrible.
Great, thanks for all the help. I will be making this one tonight or tomorrow.
In the middle of pasta making I noticed I was completely out of Marinara – I followed these simple techniques as explained in this blog and to my suprise the final product come out fantastic. I will propabably never ‘buy’ a canned marinara product again!
Thank you, Former Chef, for the great “How to Peel Tomatoes” process, as well as the Marinara recipe! My Mom was a wonderful cook and used to core and peel tomatoes, and cook a wonderful marinara sauce, but I couldn’t remember how she did it! My mother in law gave us a bunch of fresh tomatoes…some not so pretty, and a few nibbled on!…and I was worried about how to use them. Your photos of the very pretty and some not-so-pretty tomatoes from your garden, and how to core and peel them…and then use them in sauce was just what I needed! Thank you so much! Instead of dreading the process, now I am looking forward to the peeling, sqishy seeding, and making the sauce! Thank you! I plan to freeze the sauce in Ball Freezer containers. Should I refrigerate the sauce to cool it before putting it in the freezer containers? Thank you for a very helpful blog!
Maria-
You are very welcome. Yes, you should always cool whatever you want to freeze before putting it in the freezer. I’m not sure about the Ball containers, but you might let the sauce cool just a bit (so it’s not boiling hot) and then put it in the containers and put them in the refrigerator. It will cool faster in smaller containers than in a large pot.
Thank you for your helpful response!
(I was going to attempt to can the sauce, but when I was at the store to buy the glass jars, etc., I saw the plastic (BPH-free!) Ball Freezer containers and thought they would be easier. They look like Tupperware, but are taller and round, like a tall cottage cheese/ricotta container, and I thought they might work well for sauce. )
Again, thank you! I look forward to reading your blog as I continue to learn to cook!
In an earlier comment you said you could leave the wine out, but would you replace it with something?
No, it enhances the flavor, but I don’t think there is anything which really could replace it.
I will be attempting to make this with fresh roma tomatoes from my garden and canning it to enjoy the freshness throughout the fall. I hope it turns out well, the recipe sounds easy enough.
If I have a food mill, can I run the tomatoes through there to remove skin and seeds? I’ve always done that with the canned ones but, as you know, they are already cooked a little and peeled, so maybe I’m barking up the wrong tree here.
You can put it through a food mill, but if your tomatoes aren’t really ripe, yes, it might be harder to do. I prefer not to use the food mill because you end up with something more like tomato juice than sauce and I like my marinara to be chunky and have some texture to it.
Good point. You’re right, it does wind up more like tomato juice. I am going to try it your way. I’ll let you know how it turns out. Might add some crushed red pepper but otherwise I’ll stay true. Thanks.
I wanted to use this sauce for a pizza, and ended up thickening it with some tomato paste. It was the very best pizza I and my boyfriend have ever had! I think caramelizing the onions really intensified the sweetness.
Hello! I found this blog in Foodista and followed it here. This is actually a cool Basic Marinara Sauce recipe. Keep it up and I may see you on Food Network one day. By the way you can place more Foodista widget in your past and future blogs so that other Foodista readers can follow and see your blog too. Just search for a related recipe or food in Foodista and use its widget. I hope to read more from you. Cheers!
Thank you for the receipe. Two times now that I have made it and I love it.
I have tried so many different marinara recipes, but this is The One! Thank you for sharing it.
Ok, I have this recipe simmering on the stove top right now. It was easy and I’ll let you know about taste later. Thanks. I enjoy your blog. I also used your “how to peel a tomato instructions”…very simple.
Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe. I made a smaller version of it and posted about it here: http://comfortofcooking.blogspot.com/2010/09/marinara-sauce-how-to-peel-seed.html
It was so delicious, and definitely a keeper for years to come! Thanks again!
I made this sauce today…. my house smells amazing right now! I’m not much for whole tomatoes (on a sandwich, salad, etc) but this is REALLY good. My 6 year old loves spaghetti, so thats what I am making tonite. This was very easy to do, especially after reading the “how to peel tomatoes” article. Thank you!!!
Hi there! I came across your site while searching for marinara sauce recipes. I loved reading about your Sicilian grandmother and what she threw into her sauce! I’m especially interested in the rinds of parmesan. Did she throw them in like a bay leaf to be removed later? And did it give a salty taste to the sauce?
Thanks. She left them in there. They would partially melt into the sauce and yes, I think they did add a small amount of salty flavor.
I’d appreciate opinions as to the best sauces to make for:1)meat filled raviolis 2)crab/cream cheese filled raviolis, 3)ricotta/spinich filled raviolis 4) lasagna with meat sauce filling thanks,don
I think when you have meat or seafood filled pastas, simples sauces are best. A meat sauce with a meat ravioli is overkill. With the seafood I would probably go with a cream sauce or a butter sauce. On the other hand, a meat sauce with the ricotta/spinach ravioli is wonderful. With lasagna, it’s a matter of taste. I prefer a marinara sauce but some people like a bechemel.
This is a bit off the topic of Marinara sauce but still in line with cooking . . . I see that you were using a stainless steel pot to make your sauce in. Can you talk about stainless vs. nonstick? Which do you prefer? Is there a particular line of pots and pans you love? Thanks so much for the recipe and advice! My sauce is currently simmering . . . Yum. Looking forward to trying it on pizza tonight!
For almost everything, I prefer stainless steel. I have a set of All Clad pots which I’ve had for over a decade and they are holding up beautifully to hard use. Yes, they are expensive, but I believe they are worth it. Look for sets on sale with bonus items around Christmas as they usually have really good deals then. I actually don’t have any non-stick pots or pans right now, but I’m thinking I need a good non-stick egg pan for omlettes and such. In general, I don’t like them because once they are scratched, they start to become useless. Plus you have to be careful not to get them too hot because the teflon will release toxins over a certain temperature. I used to have a non-stick wok I liked very much, but tossed it after it get too scratched up.
Finally, I have a cast iron pan which belonged to my Grandmother which I’ve been cooking in a lot lately and I love it.
My question….if I use 3 (28oz) cans of WHOLE San Marzano tomatoes (instead of 2 crushed/1 whole) and the 6 oz paste…do I need to adjust any of the other ingredients ? In other words…is a 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes equivalent to a 28 oz can of whole tomatoes- crushed????? FYI, I plan to use a food processor to address the texture issue….if “all things are equal”!!! Thanks for your help (and your site)!!!
I think it will be fine. The texture may be different, but once it cooks for a while the whole tomatoes will probably break down.
Thanks for your super QUICK reply…Now, I will start the sauce and then post my results! Take care.
Oh wow! That looks absolutely delicious, I love how you took an old favorite and added your own twist. You also did an amazing job with the pictures, I will definitely try this recipe over the weekend.
First, thank u times 100! I made your sauce tonight and it was amazing. I have been searching for a simple, no fuss sauce that is delicious enough to take me back to Italy(my family is from Venecia and Milano.). I also should mention that I have not enjoyed red sauce in 4 years. I have Celiac Disease and didn’t realize it until a few months ago. With that has come many tummy issues and horrible acid reflux. I had given up red sauce completely and it was so hard for this Italian girl! Since going gluten free, though, I am slowly getting better and just began trying tomato soup again. With no bad results, I set out to find a red sauce recipe to tackle and founding that required too much fuss. After stumbling upon yours I was thrilled! I was not, however, completely prepared. I had bought a pack of vine ripe tomatoes that were small(about 15 of them.). I love tons of onions so I decided to keep ur recipe exaclt but only had 1/3 of the tomatoes. I used a great 2004 dry red wine and left the seeds in b/c I need to buy a strainer! No matter, it was still delicious! I used tarragon as my green spice and about 2 tspns of sugar… Perhaps a little extra garlic b/c it wasn’t fresh but pre diced. I made al dente angel hair and after I removed it from the heat and strained it, I folded in an egg and topped with 2 medium sized serving spoons of sauce and a large handful of spinach. I was so famished (especially after sharing the rest of my wine with my lovely other half) that I forgot the fresh Parmesan. It was so amazing that I wont complain a bit… Just something to look forward to nxt time; which will be very soon. I can’t wait to make it a meat sauce and to try it on pizza and to mix a bit with white sauce too! Sorry to be so lengthy but I adore food, love to cook, an am so happy rt now. Thank u so much for sharing!! : ). If u know a way to make gluten free gnocchi I wouldnlove to hear about it!
Wow, what a great story! Glad you enjoyed the recipe. Thanks for letting me know!
I made your recipe today, the sauce is wonderful! Thanks for the recipe!
An absolutely delicious and authentic tasting recipe! I used it for the spaghetti I made for dinner tonight, using Roma tomatoes, and I added some ground turkey. Fabulous, and so simple… Thank you!
Hi Former Chef,
I’ve been looking for a go-to marinara sauce and cannot wait to try this one this weekend! Just wondering if you can specify the dried herbs. What do you usually add? A combo? Would italian seasoning work? What do you prefer? Thanks!
Lisa- If you only have Italian seasoning, yes that would work. Otherwise I would include any other typically Italian dried herbs you might have like Basil, Oregano, Rosemary, etc. That’s what I usually do.
Thank you!
2 Tbsp dried herbs (basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, etc)*
Do you mean 2 Tbsp each of these herbs?
Recipe looks great and I can’t wait to try it tomorrow. thanks
Jon
Two tablespoons total, with whichever herbs you prefer. Of course, you can add more or less if you like.
I am going to buy some Roma (or “Plum” as theyre called at my store) tomatoes to make this sauce. Your recipe calls for 12 cups of peeled and seeded tomatoes. About how many tomatoes would you estimate that as?
John- That is a tough question because tomatoes can vary a lot in size and weight, even Roma tomatoes. If I had to guess, I would get about 4 lbs of tomatoes, maybe 16-20 depending on their size.
The other issue is making sure that they are nice and ripe. Tomatoes aren’t in season where I live now, so I would hesitate to make the sauce with any I could buy in the store right now because they are likely to have very little flavor.
Thanks for your reply. I bit the bullet and tried out the recipe with Roma tomatoes I got from my local Shoprite. I tried to pick out the best 16 tomatoes I could find (bright, firmer to the touch). In the end, I feel like my sauce came out more salsa-like than marinara. There was too little liquid (I did keep the liquid after de-seeding the tomatoes). I think it boiled down to a couple factors – maybe since the Roma tomatoes werent in season, there wasn’t as much liquid in them. Also I think the two large yellow onions in my case were too large – they probably amounted to 4 cups easily after dicing.
John- If you can, please try again in summer with truly ripe tomatoes. I don’t think commercialy grown roma tomatoes are right for home made marinara unless they are very, very ripe. They’ve been grown to hold up to transport and picked unripe. They may look red, but they have very little flavor and an unpleasent texture. Try with ripe tomatoes in season and I think you will be more pleased with the outcome.
I will try again when they are in season, I look forward to it! Thanks for the quick replies.
Just made it! Can’t wait to try it. It’s simmering on the stove. They aren’t quite garden fresh tomatoes that’s for sure, but we had a school cook out and had a ton of left over tomatoes from Sam’s. They certainly aren’t the best quality tomatoes, it’s hard to even call them a tomato really but I’m hoping this sauce will be the perfect thing to give these bland guys some flavor!
Oh Gosh, just read John’s comment, sounds exactly like what I did. Hmmm, all that trouble I just went through! I wonder if there is any way to salvage it? Maybe adding a jar of store bought marinara or tomato sauce to it?? Mine were not very juicy either.
Well I Normally Dont Trust Stuff Ouff The Internet ,But I Tried The Marina Sauce It WAs So Good.! *:) LOl… I Will Be Tring This Website More Often.!
Very cool, I am hoping to have a ton of tomatoes out of my garden this year so this recipe will come in handy!
I recently experimented with my own homemade marinara and used this as a guideline, it came out great! Although– dare I say it?– I think I actually used a little too much garlic. Anyway, I cited your article on our website so that others can use your recipe as a reference also. Keep up the good work, I love the beautiful photographs also
The recipe was amazing. However, I was taught to do it a little differently. We, my family and I, follow an old italian recipe passed down by my grandfather. We put in about 2 cups sweet peppers, 1tsp cinnimon, and about 1/2tsp of chili powder. It gives the sauce a unique smooth taste and the cinnimon makes it smell sooooo good.
Allison, would you share your ‘old italian recipe’ with us???
Perfect marinara! I bought 15 pounds of tomatoes from my co-op group and was determined to make a good marinara. I looked high and low trying to get a basic fresh tomato recipe that matched what I had grown up on! I live in Idaho now and its safe to say there isn’t much Italian food to pick from. So unless I wanted to wait a few years to head home I had to figure it out at home. Thanks for a perfect recipe and thanks so much for walking me through peeling and seeding …I would have chopped the entire tomato up had I not viewed your directions. Wonderful website..will pass on to friends and family!
Jen, thank you so much, I’m glad you found it helpful!
Another way to counteract the acidity is by sprinkling small amounts of baking soda (I just do a little bit at a time through the cooking process until I get it where I want it. I like my sauce quite tart anyway).
This doesn’t just mask the acidity as the sugar does, it actually lowers the pH without the added carbohydrates or sweetness. It is a bit strange as you stir it in, however. It will bubble just like your grade school volcano science fair project.
-After cooking and stirring however the bubbles disappear.
My girlfriend is a sugar-o-holic however, so I typically only use this method when I’m cooking for myself. =)
Traditional marinara sauce has white wine not red wine in it.
That’s the nice thing about “traditions”; everyone has their own.
Is there any particular type of wine that you would reccomend for this sauce? We tend to drink alot of French Reds. Would Italian wine be better for the sauce?
Any decent red will be fine. Doesn’t have to be expensive or Italian.
how much sauce to you end up with?
It makes about 2.5 quarts.
This was the first time I made homemade sauce from my garden tomatoes. I only made half the recipe because that was all the ripe tomatoes I had. Turned out REALLY good, probably the best marinara I’ve ever tasted!!
Hi Kim- Thanks for letting me know! Glad you enjoyed it.
This is a good spaghetti sauce recipe but it is not a marinara. A marinara is only cooked for about 20 minutes – the tomatoes are chunky, they are not mushy. It is typically used as a sauce for shrimp. My grandmother, a Sicilian, uses it as a sauce for everything, except pasta. Keep up the good work!
Stacy, thanks for the comment. There are as many “true marinara” sauces as there are Sicilian grandmothers. I had my own Sicilian grandmother and her sauce was very different from the one you describe and even different from mine.
I made this recipe today with fresh tomatoes, basil, oregano and parsley from my local farmer’s market. It was the most amazing marinara I have ever eaten.
Wow, thanks Janet! Glad you enjoyed it. I’m going to make some with tomatoes from my garden tomorrow.
Just wondering if I there was a substitute for the red wine. Thanks for sharing, have fresh tomatoes and want to try your recipe.
Not really. The wine just enhances the flavor a little, but you can leave it out if you want.
Thanks for the recipe. I have 7 nice sized tomato plants in my garden this year & i have to pick them when they’re not quite totally red, still red/orange because the bugs and wild life start to eat them if i let them ripen on the plant. I didn’t want to use pesticides this year and i probably should have. Anyway, i let them ripen on my counter & window sills until really nice & red. Peeled them & seeded them. I caramelized the onions plus fresh basil that came from the garden and just a few cloves of garlic as well. Then proceeded as per your instructions. I cooked the “batch” for a whole day! The whole house smelled great!
In short, The best Sauce, or some say, “Gravy” I’ve ever had! Never attempted to cook my own from scratch. I have so many more tomato’s coming in and plan on making as much as i can & freezing to use all winter long!!
Thanks Again!!!
Terrific recipe! I am a firm believer in less is more. When you are using fresh top quality ingredients (especially home grown San Marzano tomatoes) there is no need to over compensate a recipe with dozens of ingredients. The key here is to use locally grown tomatoes (organic if possible) or a top quality canned tomato with minimal processing and few ingredients. If your hesitant about adding red wine, try a shot of vodka. I was told by a chef friend of mine, a bit of alcohol added during the cooking process extracts certain flavor profiles from the tomato not normally realized. Anyway, this recipe is wonderful in its simplicity and the absolute best I’ve come across! Thanks former chef for bringing it down to earth.
I am so glad I found your website. I’m a bit of a foodie and search the internet high and low for great recipes and “how to’s”. Your website is not only informative and well written, but beautiful. Thank you for posting your blog. I’m currently in the process of making my own marinara and can’t wait to try your recipe.
Do you know roughly how much sauce this recipe makes? And when you say 2 Tbs of dried herbs, do you mean 2 Tbs of each of the dried herbs?
It yields about 2.5 quarts. Two tablespoons of herbs total.
Perfect. Exactly what I was looking for and now my kitchen doesn’t look like a farmers market anymore. Thanks for sharing!
I had about 20lbs of tomatoes from my garden waiting to made into sauce! This will be my first attempt o make spaghetti sauce…ever! Wish me luck.
Good luck!
I let it simmer for about 7 hours and it is so rich and wonderful! Even my kids like it and they usually only want butter on their pasta. Thank you!
do u need to have red wine or can u substitute with something else
Red wine only adds depth to the flavor. If you want to leave it out, you can.
I’m looking forward to trying this recipe. I do have a question, would it be alright to combine different types of tomatoes? I don’t have enough of any one variety from my garden right now, but combining the romas and other varieties I probably have what the recipe calls for.
Rhnee-Absolutely! You can use any kind of tomato from your garden. That’s not to say that different tomatoes might not yield different results (depending on water content for example), but I’m sure if they are ripe it will be fine.
I just loved the simplicity of this marinara recipe. I had so many tomatoes from my garden, and was tired of making salsa. So I used this recipe, and to my surprise it was fantastic. I did add one very tiny habenero pepper, which I know is really hot for most people. But the amount of tomatoes (about 13 big ones), some sugar, a pinch of baking soda here and there, and a generous amount of romano offset the heat. It took me about 2 1/2 hours to boil down, but it was all worth it. I added some meatballs. Simply awesome over a bed of capellini. Thanks, Former Chef.
I used your peel and seed fresh tomatoes to make this marinara sauce. This was absolutely delicious! I will definitely plant more tomatoes next year so I can make more of this sauce. Thank you
Hi! Made a small batch of this yesterday, and it tasted so good that I decided to make several batches today! I do have a question.. When you say “salt and pepper to taste”.. Any suggestions on where a good starting point would be?
Thanks for sharing!
Nicole-First, I always cook with kosher salt which isn’t as harsh tasting as regular iodized table salt. There’s a big difference between a teaspoon of one or the other; a teaspoon of iodized salt with make something taste much saltier than kosher salt.
I would start by adding about half a teaspoon of kosher salt (less if using iodized), stir it in and then taste the sauce. Does it taste good to you? Could it use a little more? When in doubt, stop. You can always add more salt later, but it’s realy hard to fix something which has been over-salted!
Hello!
I have been making marinara sauce like this my whole life. Having been lucky enough to have a first generation Sicilian mother there was not another option. Like your grandmother we always ” clean out the fridge ” , putting leftover meat in the pot and we always save the rind from the parmesan cheese for the sauce. Many people put pork in and we do as well…..but my mother always used smoked pork neck bones or smoked ham hocks. Put them in as soon as you put the tomatoes in, they add a wonderful smokey flavor. Just remember to cut back on the salt until the end when you can taste it. Also, hocks can take 3 to 4 hours to cook. Just another example of the many ways to personalize this sauce.
Made this tonight and it was fantastic! Added shrimp at the end and served over angel hair pasta. Oh man, I am so glad there’s leftovers… Thanks so much for this recipe – it’s a keeper for sure!
After searching for days for a website with a marinara sauce that didn’t look like a chemistry experiment, I found your page – so glad I did! It was my first try at making marinara, and I was fortunate to be able to use delicious tomatoes, onions, and garlic from our garden. I love how versatile the recipe is and can see in the future different variations I’d like to try. Thank you for an excellent recipe – the whole house smelled just amazing for the 4-5 hours I was simmering that pot of sauce. I am always very appreciative for those who are willing to share their ideas and expertise.
Thanks Joss! Glad to hear you enjoyed it and that it was easy to make. I’ll be making more today myself with my garden tomatoes!
YUM!! I was looking for an easy but delicious recipe using fresh tomatoes and a friend told me your about site. I’m so glad she did! This sauce is simmering on my stove right now–it’s only 11 am but I’m ready for dinner!
I look forward to making more of your delicious recipes!
It probably also helped prevent scurvy on ships. Much preferable to chowing down on lemons and limes like the British did; probably kept longer than citrus fruit too.
Thanks for your recipe for marinara sauce with fresh tomatoes. Just picked 8 lbs off our vines today and will make a batch and freeze cartons for the winter use as we have in the past. Our recipe is basically the same as yours in content but the pulp treatment is different. Will try it. Along with the red tomatoes we have a couple of pounds of the small gold marble sized fruit and want to make a gold marinara sauce. The small size does not lend well to hot water bath and peeling. Plus a lot of the flavor of these tough skinned little guys is in the skin!!! Will try cooking them down with carmelized onion and garlic, Itaslian herbs and pinot grigio. Then the hand blender will chop up the gold tomatoes, seeds, skin and all, and simmer for the flavor. Any thoughts on this? Other than the batch will end up like thick gold tomato juice .
No, I think the small gold tomatoes will be just fine with what you’ve planned!
Thanks for the response. The small gold tomato marinara sauce turned out fine – smooth and thick and the flavor is wonderful. Used varigated basil to keep the color neutral and followed your suggestion on the Italian herb seasoning and pinot grigio. Thanks for your advice.
Don
I had chopped and seeded some ripe tomatoes from my garden thinking about cooking some salsa today, but then changed my mind to marinara. I had to think of a way to get the skins off now without a blender or strainer! I used my egg beaters and a potato masher. Then used my salad crisper to separate. I think it worked! I liked you marinara recipe because of it’s simplicity. Funny, I always thought that Marinara was a sweeter type sauce than the regular spaghetti sauce in the stores. I thought it had something to do with sugar content! I did take a suggestion of another guest and put a spash of really good balsamic vinegar. I did notice thought between the wine and the balsalmic it turned to a darker red, than the bright red tomato sauce. I am cooking it down now, and it has wonderful flavor. Thank you for your posting on this, and help. The reader comments are very helpful too.
I love your recipe! No more store bought sauce for us! I was wondering though, what would you suggest I add when the sauce comes out with too much liquid? I prefer it not to roll off the plate. Thanks
MamaBelle- if it’s too watery (and sometimes fresh tomatoes can be, the best thing is to let it cook down more, with no lid on the pot. That way some of the water will evaporate.
I’m making your recipe at this moment. I had so many extra tomatoes from my garden and wanted to make something really yummy with them. This smells awesome!! Whatever we don’t eat tonight will be frozen for other meals. Thanks! By the way, I put a hot pepper in the sauce. We like a little kick!
I am so thrilled to find your recipe….. I always looked for sauc recipes…no matter what I did, it tasted like jar spaghetti sauce… I can NOT wait to make your recipe….I have so many tomatoes (despite all the rain)…. I didn’t know what to do with them..thanks so much…. I will go out and pick my tomatoes right now! :0)
Wow, people really have too much time on their hands if they find it necessary to belittle over the use of a word such as marinara. Your recipe sounds fab and I will be keeping it in mind when creating my own.
I love ANY recipe that promotes making your own sauce. I great up in the kitchen watching my grandma (from Naples) making her own sauce and pasta. Thanks for this recipe, it has given me the motivation to make some homemade sauce this weekend!
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I tried the recipe my family loves it. I simmered it for 6 hrs on low and the texture was perfect. Thanks for sharing ( even the seeding and skinning was a breeze )!!
I tried this recipe recently because it looked simple enough and didn’t require any unusual ingredients (I did have to substitute rice cooking wine for the red wine). Anyway, I was perfectly satisfied with the taste, but wasn’t satisfied with the texture. Instead of being sauce-like, it came out chunky and watery, so should I just let it simmer longer? Also, a chef friend of mine said I might have better luck with Roma tomatoes, but I’m little skeptical about that making much of a difference since this recipe didn’t even indicate any preference for tomato variety.
Yes, you probably would want to cook it longer if the texture is not to your liking. A lot does depend on the ripeness of the tomatoes. Roma tomatoes would work ok, as long as they are the home grown type and not store bought ones which are often picked green and only red in color, not ripeness.
Beautiful recipe, in a day or two, I will certainly reconsider making one like this, I hope it will turn out good.
Cheers.
Do you have to use the red wine?
No, you don’t have to use the red wine, but it does enhance the flavor.
do i have to use wine? and what does it mean at the end of the spices when it says etc? what other spices goes in there
Hi,I made a marinara sauce after finding a recipe on the net last week.It had a bitter taste to it and all recipe’s I saw said do not add sugar.Well,I found your recipe so I just made it tonight and it is good.I did add the sugar and am happy with the results.Why would they all say no sugar when it obviously needs it?I used brown sugar and it even gave a better color to it. Thanks so much,I will trust a former chef any day.LOL How can you be a former chef?Once a cook always a cook.Joking,I do get it and will check out your other recipe’s.
I am the of this recipe, and i just thought of something. Many of my family members wont eat onions, however if you disguise them they love the flavor…Would it be ok to run the onion and herbs through a blender before I add the tomatoes in?
I don’t see why not. Or, just finely mince them before cooking.
Can i turn this into pizza sauce?
Yes, but you might want to puree it a little.
just curious…this is the basic recipe I use, my grandmother also put some kind of smoked meat in as well, but if you were a “chef”….I can’t believe you wouldn’t know how to can, or at least have the basic knowledge of the process (which, by the way you don’t need a pressure cooker for) that doesn’t make any sense at all.
It’s not that I don’t know how to can, it’s that I choose not to can my sauce and choose not to get into the instructions on how to do so on my blog. As for canning a meat sauce, to ensure food safety, foods with a pH above 4.6 (meats, vegetables, dairy, fish, eggs) MUST be processed in a pressure canner (not a pressure cooker) as opposed to the water bath canning method. A lot of information on canning safely at home can be found here http://nchfp.uga.edu/
Just saying, I just had a batch a had frozen 4 months ago. It’s better now than it was then!
Nothing better than a nice plate piled high with pasta and “gravy” on a cold December night!
Thanks John! I totally agree!
AHMAZING!!! Scream from the mountain tops… THIS IS DELICIOUS!!! You gave me a very simple recipe with some nice deep flavors! I love recipes like this that make it so easy for home chefs like me to make amazing dishes for my family! I made this for the sauce to my calzones. The only thing I did do was add just a little splash of Worstershire sauce ( I like the beffy flavor) and I added some diced up carrots (trying to incorporate more veggies into the children’s diet). Now I don’t drink wine but I cook a lot of recipes that call for it so I use “cooking wine” and it seemed to do the trick also. I did down size it just incase I wasnt going to like it ( you never know) but it did not disappoint!!!! On my way to the store to get more ingredients! Way to go Former Chef!!!
Debbie- I’m so glad you like it! I have one request; please, please, please don’t buy anything labeled “cooking wine” at the grocery store. Those wines are very poor quality, over priced and over salted. You’d do much better to buy an inexpensive bottle of red wine (under $5) and use that for your cooking. It will even keep, opened, in the refrigerator (for use in cooking) for a few weeks.
If you’re using canned tomatoes instead of fresh, does that shorten the cooking time? Or is it one of those situations where the longer it cooks, the better it tastes?
No, canned tomatoes doesn’t really shorten the cooking time. The longer the better (within reason of course).
thanks for an eye opening,i always thought that marinara sauce contain some sort of seafood into it.
I am a vegetarian so was looking for flavorful Marinara. When I make vegetable soup , I use about a third cup of canned tomatoes (I prefer organic like Muir Glen) then freeze the rest of the can in a Tupperware container. Having found a few of these while cleaning out the freezer, I am making your sauce. It is still cooking and already delicious. Caramelizing the onions seems to make a big difference.
This is so good. I used this last fall to use up huge quantities of fresh tomatoes. Just did a quick boil and cold bath to remove the skins. I froze batches and batches of it and we have been enjoying it all winter. Today I actually made a fresh batch with more tomatoes that I had frozen from the garden! Love it!!! We also add meat to it sometimes and mushrooms and chunks of zucchini..Thanks for sharing.
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