Replacing your jar of store-bought marinara sauce won’t be hard after you taste this amazing marinara sauce. This recipe is simple to make and uses all healthy ingredients. Perfect for your favorite pasta dishes, pizza, spaghetti squash, or as a dipping sauce.

 My parents made everything from scratch. I didn’t even know you could buy pasta sauce in a jar until I had it at a friend’s house. When I first got married, I always made my own marinara sauce, but at some point, I started purchasing it from a jar. I guess I thought it was more convenient.

After my husband had his heart attack, I went back to making my own marinara sauce. I forgot how simple it was to make and how much better it tasted than the stuff you get in a jar. Most store-bought versions contain sugar and other unnecessary processed ingredients.

This recipe actually came from my brother who is an amazing cook. He is much better at writing down his ingredients and measurements than I am. We both learned how to make our sauce by watching our mom who never measured anything unless she was baking. I guess I take after her. 🙂

I usually make a double batch of this sauce when I’m meal prepping and store half of it the freezer. It’s perfect to pull out on a busy weeknight for pita pizzas or to add to your favorite pasta dish. I store it in small mason jars for pizza and larger jars for pasta.

5 from 1 vote

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Simply Amazing Marinara Sauce

Replacing your jar of store-bought marinara sauce won't be hard after you taste this amazing marinara sauce. This recipe is simple to make and uses all healthy ingredients. Perfect for your favorite pasta dishes, pizza, spaghetti squash, or as a dipping sauce.

Cuisine Italian

Cook Time 1 hour

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion diced
• 6-8 cloves of minced garlic
• 1 28 oz can of tomato sauce
• 1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes or whole peeled tomatoes I use crushed my brother uses whole peeled
• 1 6 0z can of tomato paste
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes optional
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil

Instructions

1. Heat olive oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and saute for a few minutes. Stir in garlic and saute for 1 minute.

2. Add crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, bay leaf, Italian seasoning, and crushed red pepper. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

3. Bring up to boiling and then turn heat to low and simmer for an hour stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and discard bay leaf. Just before serving stir in fresh basil.

Recipe Notes

If sauce is too thick, you can add water or broth to thin it out. I usually leave it thick if I'm using it for pizza sauce.

The longer this sauce cooks, the better it tastes. My brother's instructions say 1-2 hours. I have taken some out after 30 minutes and then compared it to some that has cooked for an hour. Although it was still good after 30 minutes, it was definitely better after an hour. I have never cooked it for more than 1 hour.

This recipe makes enough sauce for 1 pound of pasta. 

When I'm making the sauce to freeze, I wait until I am going to serve it to add the fresh basil.

We recommend using organic ingredients whenever possible.