Quick Marinara Sauce Recipe is an Italian classic dish simmered with onions, garlic, vine-ripened tomatoes, fresh herbs, and spices. Its rich and robust flavor emanates from the sugars that remain after the reduction or slow cooking of the crushed tomatoes. This simple yet utterly delicious sauce is incredibly versatile and can be used as a pizza sauce, spooned over pasta, layered in lasagna, or in countless other culinary creations!
For all its simplicity, the Marinara is a sauce of infinite variety. You can start with the classic Marinara Sauce and then wend your way through an almost inexhaustible range of variants, by altering one or more base ingredients. It is an effortless sauce that yields the satisfaction of homemade comfort.
Origin:
The base of this easy Marinara Sauce recipe is the humble tomato. Introduced into Italian cuisine from the Americas in the mid-16th century by the Spanish Conquistadores, this devil fruit (so named because of its similarity with the mandrake fruit) became a mainstay of Italian cuisine. A couple of popular origin stories:
- Marinara is Italian for ‘seafaring’. It inherited this name because it was a mainstay of Italian merchants at sea. Its longevity and easy preparation with whatever seafood bounties they could catch made it a shipboard favorite.
- Neapolitan wives prepared this dish for their seafaring husbands because it complemented the seafood that was their mainstay.
Regardless, chef Francesco Leonardi’s 1790 publication of the six-volume L’Apicio Moderno was the first official mention of pairing tomatoes with pasta.
Tomato varieties for this sauce:
As I mentioned earlier, this simple Marinara Sauce recipe can be interpreted in as many ways as your imagination allows. As we move from spring to summer, vine-ripened tomatoes are an excellent base for the Marinara Sauce. While you can use any tomato to serve as the base, the classics are the San Marzano (the Italian heirloom tomato) or, as an alternative, the Roma. The flavor profiles are different: the San Marzano has lower acidity than the Roma, but both possess a rich texture with little to no seeds. Other varieties that are excellent choices in this recipe are cherry, heirloom, and plum tomatoes.
Frequently Asked Questions:
1. Why is my Marinara Sauce watery?
I find that marinara sauce cooked quickly on high heat is usually watery. It is important to evaporate the water content in the tomatoes by simmering the sauce pot for at least 25-30 minutes. Simmering helps thicken the sauce and concentrate the sugars, producing a robust flavor.
2. What is this Quick Marinara Sauce recipe used for?
Italians use marinara sauce as a pizza sauce or with any pasta or lasagna. Homemade sauce allows for more creativity with vegetables and/or meat to take it to the next level. I have added carrots for a rich flavor.
3. Why is my marinara sauce bland?
I like to add herbs such as basil, oregano, and, optionally, bay leaves. Spices such as red pepper flakes, paprika, and a dash of mustard powder enhance the sauce’s taste, making it tangy and savory.
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Ingredients:
- Oil – extra virgin olive oil
- Aromatics – red or white garlic, oregano, fresh basil leaves, and/or bay leaves
- Soffritto – onion red or white, carrots coarsely pureed (optional: celery)
- Tomato – fresh heirloom or on-the-vine red tomatoes
- Spices – ground black pepper, chili flakes, paprika (optional), mustard powder
Here are the step-by-step instructions for making this dish. For the measurements, please refer to the recipe card below.
How to make this Quick Marinara Sauce using my recipe:
- Heat a Dutch oven or any heavy-bottomed sauce pot, add olive oil and onion, and sauté until translucent. Then, add the crushed garlic and stir for a minute or until tender.
2. Add the grated carrots and sauté for a minute.
3. Add the crushed or coarsely puréed tomatoes and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until thickened to a sauce-like consistency. Season it with salt, herbs, and spices.
4. Turn off the heat. This Quick Marinara Sauce, made using my recipe, can be added to pasta or used as a pizza sauce.
Tips:
- The main ingredient of the Marinara Sauce recipe is tomato. Optionally, you could blanch the tomatoes in just-boiled water for 4-5 minutes or put them in boiling water for a minute and turn off the heat. Once the skin splits, strip or remove them from the water. Crush them with your fingers. If using a food processor, ensure you do not over-blitz the tomatoes; instead, pulse them to a coarse texture.
- Use fresh basil and oregano rather than dried herbs to add depth to the sauce.
- Simmer the sauce on medium to low heat for 25-30 minutes or until it has thickened to a sauce-like consistency.
Serving suggestions:
- If you use marinara sauce for pizza, thicken it for a few extra minutes. This sauce forms an excellent pizza sauce in my Four Seasons Pizza.
- Add some of the pasta water to the sauce for use with pasta.
- This recipe for the Quick Marinara Sauce can also be used as a dipping sauce with crostini or bruschetta.
- This sauce can also be used in stuffed bell pepper recipes.
- Layer it in your favorite Lasagna.
Storage:
I store my Quick Marinara Sauce in warm glass bottles or mason jars in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. It can also be frozen in airtight containers for 3 months.
Other sauce/dip recipes that you might like:
Quick Marinara Sauce Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Dutch oven or heavy bottomed pan
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
- 2 clove garlic minced
- 1 onion
- ¼ cup carrot grated
- 2 lb tomato
- ¾ tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- ¼ tsp chili flakes
- ¼ tsp paprika
- ½ tsp dry mustard powder
- 1 sprig oregano
- 4 sprig basil leaves, chiffonade
Instructions
- Prepare the ingredients.
- Heat a Dutch oven or any heavy-bottomed sauce pot, add olive oil and then the chopped onions and sauté until translucent. Then, add the chopped or crushed garlic and stir for a minute.
- Now, add the grated carrots and sauté for one minute.
- Add the crushed or coarsely puréed tomatoes and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until thickened to a sauce consistency. Season with salt, herbs and spices.
- Turn off the heat and garnish with chopped basil leaves.
Notes
- The main ingredient of the Marinara Sauce recipe is tomato. Optionally, you could blanch the tomatoes in just-boiled water for 4-5 minutes or put them in boiling water for a minute and turn off the heat. Once the skin splits, strip or remove them from the water. Crush them with your fingers. If using a food processor, ensure you do not over-blitz the tomatoes; instead, pulse them to a coarse texture.
- Use fresh basil and oregano rather than dried herbs to add depth to the sauce.
- Simmer the sauce on medium to low heat for 25-30 minutes or until it has thickened to a sauce-like consistency.
Nutrition
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