Easy Homemade Marinara Sauce

Better Than Store-Bought Easy Homemade Marinara Sauce

In my house, Italian food is the most common type of food cooked.  Lasagna, Chicken Parmesan, Spaghetti, Pizza, Paninis, Pasta Alfredo….you get the idea.  One of these is on the menu at least once or twice a week.  Because we eat it so much, I have really had the opportunity to experiment with different sauces and pastas, including making my own!  One of the things that I think my husband would agree that I’ve perfected is my easy homemade marinara sauce.

I began making my own marinara sauce because I found that most of the jarred sauces at the store were too sweet for my taste.  If that’s your preference, that’s cool, but I wanted something that showcased the rich flavor of the tomatoes.  After several attempts, I finally came up with the recipe that I’ve been using for quite some time now.  It’s not as simple as dumping a jar of sauce into the pasta, but it’s also not as complicated as stewing or roasting tomatoes for hours.  For me, it’s just the right amount of effort to get maximum flavor for the perfect homemade marinara sauce.  And as an added bonus, if you have picky eaters, this is a great way to add vegetables into their diet!  Many of the optional ingredients I mentioned can be added to the sauce before pureeing to hide the veggies so they kids won’t even know they’re there!

Please note that while I use my KitchenAid food processor to make my marinara sauce, you can also use a blender if you don’t have a food processor or don’t want to lug it out of storage.  I’ve used my Ninja blender before and had great results!

Easy Homemade Marinara Sauce

This easy homemade marinara sauce is easy to make and tastes way better than store-bought pasta sauces. And because it requires so few ingredients, you can easily keep the necessary supplies on hand with little effort!

Course Main Dish

Cuisine Italian

Servings 8 servings

Prep Time 5 minutes

Ingredients

Required Ingredients

• 2 Cans Diced Tomatoes
• 2 Cans Tomato Paste
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 Tbsp italian seasoning
• 2 Tbsp Minced Garlic

Optional Ingredients

• 1 cup mushrooms
• 1/4 cup diced onions
• 1/4 cup diced green peppers
• 1/4 cup diced red peppers
• 1/2 tbsp crushed red pepper
• 1 tbsp dried basil
• 1 tbsp dried oregano

Instructions

1. Empty contents of cans into food processor.
2. Add olive oil, Italian seasoning, and minced garlic to the tomatoes and tomato paste in the food processor.
3. If including any optional ingredients, add to food processor.
4. Put the lid on the food processor and begin mixing the ingredients to your desired thickness. A shorter duration will result in a thicker, chunkier sauce and mixing for longer will result in a more pureed sauce.
5. Empty sauce directly into pot of drained pasta or put in a sauce pot on the stove to warm until pasta is ready.

Recipe Notes

• This sauce also makes a great meat sauce.  To do so, simply add the sauce to a skillet of cooked hamburger meat on the stove and let simmer for 5-10 minutes before adding to pasta.