How to Make Homemade Marinara Sauce
This fresh, flavorful homemade marinara sauce recipe is a cinch to make with just three ingredients: tomato paste, olive oil, and water, plus a handful of Italian herbs. Of course, the best reason to make your own marinara is that it tastes so much better than store-bought!
When I say that this is the EASIEST homemade marinara sauce, I mean it! Instead of peeling and chopping pounds and pounds of tomatoes and standing over the stove while they simmer, I’m sharing a time-saving shortcut.
I make this marinara recipe from tomato paste, olive oil, and water. With a few simple herbs and seasonings to boost the flavor, it’s done in a matter of minutes and ready to use for lasagna, pizza, or dipping arancini.
Reasons to Love This Quick Marinara Sauce Recipe
- No peeling, chopping, or slow cooking. I love homemade tomato sauce and pomodoro sauce made from fresh tomatoes. But on nights when time isn’t on my side, this quick version is ready with a fraction of the effort.
- Three ingredients. The base of this sauce is only tomato paste, olive oil, and water. After that, I add Italian herbs, like oregano, basil, and parsley, to complement the tomato.
- Versatile. This homemade marinara sauce is ideal for pairing with spaghetti and meatballs, pizzas, and vegan chicken parm sandwiches. It packs in all the flavor you want in a classic marinara and goes well with so many recipes. It also freezes beautifully, so you can keep it on hand for whenever you need it.
Notes on Ingredients
Please note that this is important information on the ingredients and instructions. The full recipe, including amounts and details, can be found below (scroll to the recipe card) for your reference.
- Tomato paste – You know how so many recipes only call for a tablespoon of tomato paste, and then you have a whole can left over? This marinara sauce recipe is a great way to use up leftover tomato paste!
- Olive oil – Choose a good-quality olive oil, as the flavor counts.
- Herbs – Oregano, basil, and parsley. I recommend fresh herbs as they have more flavor. If you’re using dried herbs in a pinch, you’ll need one-third of the amount.
- Garlic Powder – In addition to salt and pepper. You could use freshly minced garlic (about 2 fresh cloves) or onion powder will work here, too.
How to Make Homemade Marinara Sauce
Seriously, it doesn’t get any easier than this. In about as much time as it takes to open up and heat a jar of store-bought marinara, you can have your own homemade sauce instead! I like to make a big batch and keep it in the freezer for pasta dinners and pizza.
- Start the tomato base. Heat a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the tomato paste, water, and olive oil and stir to combine. Bring to a boil for about a minute, then season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Add the seasonings. Stir in the rest of the ingredients, setting aside some of the parsley for garnish. Reduce the heat to low and cover; simmer for 5 to 8 minutes.
- Finish. Add more water by the tablespoon if you’d like a thinner sauce, then garnish with the parsley.
Recipe Tips
- Use a high-quality tomato paste. Since you’re using paste instead of tomatoes, you want to make sure you buy the best tomato paste you can find. (Tubes of tomato paste are generally more flavorful than canned, although they’re not sold everywhere.)
- Make sure you use a stainless steel or other non-reactive saucepan. Aluminum, cast iron, and copper react with the acid in tomato sauce, so they’re not the best choice.
- Add a pinch of sugar if you need to. Taste the sauce, and if you need to cut the acid a bit, a pinch of sugar helps.
Ways to Use Marinara Sauce
With a batch of this easy homemade marinara sauce ready in 15 minutes, these are some of my favorite ways to put it to use in recipes.
- Pizza. Homemade marinara sauce makes an excellent pizza sauce for classic pizza or French bread pizza recipes.
- Pasta recipes. Toss spaghetti or your favorite pasta with savory marinara sauce and meatballs, or add this sauce to vegan gnocchi, lasagna, or baked ziti.
- As a dipping sauce. Serve marinara sauce as a dip with breadsticks, low-carb pizza bites, or crispy polenta fries.
- More Italian-style dishes. Use this marinara sauce to make vegan chicken parmesan and stromboli.
How to Store
- Refrigerate. Store your homemade marinara in a jar or an airtight container for up to a week in the refrigerator.
- Freeze. Marinara sauce is great for freezing! I like to transfer it to freezer bags and freeze them flat for easy storage. Then, when you’re ready to use it, you can place the bags in a bowl of hot water until they thaw, then heat the sauce in a saucepan on the stove. Marinara will last up to 3 months in the freezer.
Enjoy friends! If you make this homemade marinara recipe, please snap a photo and tag #jessicainthekitchen on Instagram! We’d also love it if you would leave a comment below, and give the recipe a rating! Thanks so much!
More Easy Homemade Sauces
How to Make Homemade Marinara Sauce
Ingredients
- 6 oz. of tomato paste
- 6 oz. of water
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 teaspoons of oregano
- 1 teaspoon fresh basil, chopped
- 1 tbsp of fresh parsley, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon of pepper
Instructions
- Heat a medium pot over medium-high heat. Add the tomato paste, water and olive oil to heat. Using a spatula or spoon, stir ingredients together frequently until incorporated and begins to boil a little for about 1 minute.
- Add salt and pepper to taste and incorporate. Then add the rest of the ingredients, leaving a little parsley behind. Stir ingredients and lower heat to low. Cover the pot and leave to simmer for about 5 minutes to 8 minutes, checking to make sure the basil and parsley don’t burn. If it’s too thick for you, you can add more water by the tablespoon.
- Garnish with remaining parsley.
Notes
Disclaimer: Although jessicainthekitchen.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, kindly note that these are only estimates. Nutritional information may be affected based on the product type, the brand that was purchased, and in other unforeseeable ways. Jessicainthekitchen.com will not be held liable for any loss or damage resulting for your reliance on nutritional information. If you need to follow a specific caloric regimen, please consult your doctor first.
I’m Italian so I LOVE a homemade marinara recipe! This one looks like perfection!
and yay-so happy you went for a swim!
I love homemade marinara sauce and this one looks perfect! Love all the fresh basil and parsley in here.
So glad you went for a swim – hope your foot is healing well 🙂
So good you could eat this by the spoonful (I may or may not have done this..) This was perfect on the pizza I made with your pizza dough recipe, but Im also looking forward to making again to put on top of pasta. YUM!!
This is the ultimate pizza sauce! So full of flavour and it literally takes seconds to throw the ingredients into the pot.
Thanks so much Ame!!
All the things I needed: quick, easy and delicious! Thanks Jessica. 🙂
Thanks so much Bridgette and you’re so welcome!!
What a lovely recipe. Tomato paste is highly underrated!
Pizza sauce is just as simple , quick, and tasty!
Thanks so much for sharing Chris!! So happy to hear!!
I didn’t have a marinara sauce so came here looking for recipe. Absolutely amazing taste. I will definitely be making this for every recipe that calls for marinara
Made this but I didn’t have any fresh parsley and it came out so delicious !!! Added a little more oregano than called for and I loved the flavor so much