Homemade Marinara Sauce
This easy homemade healthy marinara sauce recipe is so full of flavor and so much better than jarred tomato sauce because you made it and you know what’s in it! It’s a great way to use up fresh tomatoes from your garden, but it’s also easily made with canned tomatoes if gardening isn’t your thing. Bonus - the recipe is also naturally vegan and gluten-free.
Ingredients
- 3.5 lbs fresh tomatoes roughly chopped / cores removed
- 1 6-oz can tomato paste
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 medium onions small diced
- 8-10 large cloves garlic minced
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 cup fresh basil roughly chopped
- 1 28-oz can diced tomatoes
- 1/4 cup vegan chicken bouillon powder
- 4 cups water
- 1/3 cup dry white wine
- 2 Tbsp coconut sugar
- 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes omit if you want less spice
Instructions
- To a high-powered blender or food processor, add the fresh tomatoes and tomato paste. Blend on high until the mixture is smooth and tomato seeds / skins are pulverized. Set aside.
- Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan on medium high heat. Add your onions, garlic, and salt. Stir to coat and saute for 5-7 minutes, until the onions are translucent.
- Stir in the basil to coat. Then, add your tomato mix from the blender, can of crushed tomatoes, wine, bouillon, and water. Stir, cover, and bring to a boil.
- When boiling, remove the cover and stir in the remainder of the ingredients. Turn heat to medium low and allow the sauce to simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally for about 40 minutes.
- At this point, if you'd like the sauce to be smoother, use an immersion blender to blend all the ingredients together now! I like to use mine just a little, so the marinara is a nice mix of creamy and chunky. Stir again after you blend and continue to cook, stirring and scraping the bottom periodically, for 2-4 hours or until the sauce reaches your desired consistency.
- Before serving, taste and adjust the seasonings as you see fit. If it's too tart, you can add another Tbsp or two of coconut sugar. I know it seems weird, but this totally balances the sauce out!
- Serve this sauce over pasta dishes, in any recipe that calls for marinara, or as a dipping sauce for breadsticks and the like! See leftover instructions in the notes section below. Enjoy!
Notes
Storage Instructions
- In the fridge: Store leftover marinara sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Make sure you let the sauce cool entirely before transferring to the fridge.
- To reheat: Reheat carefully and slowly on the stove or in the microwave before using.
- In the freezer: You can freeze marinara sauce in an airtight container or freezer-safe bag for up to 4 months. Make sure you allow the sauce to cool completely before freezing and leave an inch or two of space at the top of the container to allow the sauce to expand while it freezes.
- Souper Cubes: We love freezing marinara sauce in our 1-cup or 2-cup Souper Cubes, so we can defrost only what we need and keep the rest fresh in the freezer!
- To Defrost: Transfer the marinara sauce to the fridge until completely thawed through, about 24 hours, depending on the serving size you froze.
Wine Options
We love using Ziobaffa Pinot Grigio for this recipe. You can also use a dry red wine for a different vibe. For that, we love Ziobaffa’s Toscana or any Chianti / Sangiovese.Nutrition
Serving: 1cupCalories: 78kcalCarbohydrates: 11gProtein: 2gFat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gSodium: 702mgFiber: 2gSugar: 7g
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!