Easy Marinara Sauce
Aug 15, 2016, Updated Jan 02, 2018
Easy Marinara Sauce for all your pasta and pizza recipes! This gets done in 15 minutes from start to finish!
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Really quick and easy marinara sauce, which takes around 15 minutes from start to finish! Enjoy it over your favorite pizza or pasta!
Start off a new week and it’s also India’s Independence Day! Wishing all my Indian readers a very Happy Independence Day! Needless to say I really miss home on these days. It’s a different feeling being there! My husband really misses flying kites with his friends. Flying kites on Independence Day is quite a thing, especially in Delhi and around. So that is something he misses terribly. He actually once got the kite and manja (the kite string) from the Indian store and tried flying it too but somehow it didn’t work out. And not to forget, it’s no fun flying kites alone, the real fun is when you cut each other’s patang! (patang is hindi for kite). If you are in Delhi on 15th August, you would surely see lots of kites flying high in the sky! I did share a tricolor treat over the weekend to celebrate the occasion so don’t forget to check out the Indian Tricolor Macarons.
This weekend we didn’t do anything special. For a change it was super hot (and thank god for that, at least we get to use our air conditioner!!) and we simply enjoyed the weather doing nothing. Of course I made this easy marinara sauce and then enjoyed homemade pizza. Nothing like pizza over the weekend, they go so well together!
This is how I make my homemade marinara sauce. Now I don’t know if it’s authentic or not but it sure tastes delicious. I love making marinara sauce at home because it’s so super simple and homemade tastes so much better than the store bought. Most of the marinara sauce recipes call for either canned or fresh tomatoes, I like to use both. You can use only canned or only fresh tomatoes too but I just like the taste of both together. You really need only 15 minutes to make this and then your easy marinara sauce is ready to be used over pizzas, pasta and so much more! So next time, you have little extra time in the kitchen, do consider making your own marinara sauce, it will be worth it, I can promise that!
Method
Heat oil in a pan on medium heat. Once hot, add chopped garlic.
Saute garlic for few seconds (don’t let it change color) and then chopped fresh tomatoes and canned diced tomatoes. Mix till well combined. Cook for 2 minutes.
Add salt, black pepper, dried oregano, red chili flakes, sugar and mix. Cook for a minute or so.
Remove pan from heat, take your immersion blender and blend the sauce. Or wait for the mixture to cool down a bit and then blend using your regular mixer.
Put pan back on medium heat again. Add fresh basil leaves and let it simmer for 4-5 minutes.
The marinara sauce is now ready, sprinkle Italian seasoning on top, mix and remove from heat.
Enjoy this homemade marinara sauce with your favorite recipes!
* Adjust seasoning to taste. You can always add more oregano, red chili flakes as per taste.
* If you wish to use only fresh tomatoes, use around 6 in total. If using canned, use one 28 oz can of tomatoes.
* Store unused marinara sauce in a glass bottle and keep it refrigerated.
Easy Marinara Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 5-6 garlic cloves finely chopped, around 1 heaping tablespoon finely chopped garlic
- 2 large tomatoes chopped
- 1 x 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes
- 1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- salt to taste
- 3-4 basil leaves
Instructions
- Heat oil in a pan on medium heat. Once hot, add chopped garlic.
- Saute garlic for few seconds (don't let it change color) and then chopped fresh tomatoes and canned diced tomatoes. Mix till well combined. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Add salt, black pepper, dried oregano, red chili flakes, sugar and mix. Cook for a minute or so.
- Remove pan from heat, take your immersion blender and blend the sauce. Or wait for the mixture to cool down a bit and then blend using your regular mixer.
- Put pan back on medium heat again. Add fresh basil leaves and let it simmer for 4-5 minutes.
- The marinara sauce is now ready, sprinkle Italian seasoning on top, mix and remove from heat.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Easy Marinara Sauce
Loved to see this recipe. Can you please tell how to use this in pasta or pizza. Thanks
spread on your pizza base like you would spread any pizza sauce, then top with cheese, veggies and bake!
Hi Manali
Can you tell how much gm total tomatoes to take if we are using only fresh tomatoes and not diced tomatoes..
thanks in advance
this is difficult since I haven’t tested the recipe with fresh tomatoes, sorry will have to make again with fresh tomatoes before commenting
I miss India too a lot more around Independence day time! Especially missing Delhi now – all that food, the surroundings, the shops! Can’t wait to go back home soon!! Love homemade marinara sauce Manali and this looks amazing!
You just can’t beat a homemade marinara sauce. We make it in huge batches and then freeze it for quick and easy meals in the week.
Wow. I’d love to see all the kite flying! I was on the beach yesterday so I saw a lot of kites in the air, but I’m not sure it was for Independence Day.
This sauce looks perfect. I’d love to make some pizza to go with it!
Happy Independence day to you! I wish flying the kites would satisfy your craving for the festivities. You will just need to plan a trip back to India to celebrate next year! I really love this sauce…it looks thick and full of flavor. I can’t believe it’s only 15 minutes! Hooray for fast sauces! 🙂
Love homemade marinara sauce! Need to try this asap! Pinned!
Happy India Independence Day, Manali! Homemade marinara sauce is my favorite! Love how easy yours is, it looks SO delicious!
Happy India Independence Day, Manali! Good marinara sauce is a staple for me — I use it for so many things. Homemade is so much better than store bought and this looks delicious!
Thanks Marcie 🙂
I could seriously eat marinara sauce with a spoon, so this is looking mighty delicious to me, Manali! LOVE that it only takes 15 minutes! Now I’ll be eating marinara sauce for dinner. hahaha! 😉 Cheers, girlie!
Thanks Cheyanne!
Ahh marinara sauce is my favourite! This looks so delicious Manali. I can’t wait to try your recipe. Yum!
Thanks Harriet, hope you like it!
Love marinara sauce! Homemade pasta sauces are always so much tastier than anything you can buy. Definitely going to give your recipe a try next time I’m having pasta or pizza! 🙂
Thanks Jess!
Happy India Independence Day! I love this marinara sauce recipe! It’s so funny. . My husband and I had a little argument yesterday when I was making an easy sauce. . he wanted me to throw in a bay leaf and I was like, you don’t use bay leaves in marinara sauce! he proceeded to google it and found a Bobby Flay recipe where Bobby does use a bay leaf! haha .. anyway, your recipe is definitely in line with what I would consider a delicious and easy to whip up marinara sauce! love this!
Oh my god you won’t believe this – I actually wanted to add bay leaf to my marinara sauce , just that I ran out of it else would have definitely added it! That’s such a coincidence. haha! I definitely think it would impart good flavor to the sauce. Authentic or not, doesn’t matter because food is all about improvisation!
I love homemade marinara sauce! It tastes so much cleaner than the store-bought versions. I’m saving your recipe for the next time I make pizza!
Thanks Jen 🙂
What a pretty sauce, Manali! I’ve only made my own marinara sauce once before, and it was a long process, so I’m loving how easy this is!
Thanks Gayle, this is super easy!
Marinana is one of my favourite sauces. I need to make a huge batch soon too.
Thanks Angie!