Homemade Marinara Sauce Recipe

Our easy 30-minute Homemade Marinara Sauce Recipe is simple to make, doesn’t use any hard-to-find ingredients, and is a great way to have a fresh, homemade meal on the table fast!

Homemade Marinara Sauce Recipe

Marinara sauce is one of my favorite ways to eat pasta, but it is hard to find a good jarred sauce these days. I grew up on Ragu, and that’s where I developed my deep love of spaghetti, but it isn’t really my favorite these days.

I did find a couple of brands of jarred marinara that are definitely passable (Hellllo Rao’s and Victoria), but they are also pretty expensive at around $8 a jar in our local grocery stores. It takes 2-3 jars to feed our family, so not the most economical meal when we’re talking spaghetti.

Homemade Marinara Recipe Shopping List

Whether you need to hit your local grocery or get over to your favorite online food source, this is what you’re going to need in order to make this sauce. I like to put most of them on an auto-delivery so I’m stocked up!

See my recommendations for which brands and styles are my favorites in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.

• Olive Oil
• Onion
• Garlic
• Red Red Wineeeeee
• Canned Whole Tomatoes
• Canned Crushed Tomatoes
• Italian Seasoning

How to make easy homemade marinara

For this recipe, we aren’t starting with a bunch of fresh tomatoes. That is a thing you can do, but it isn’t generally a thing I do. I’m using canned tomato in this recipe, fresh onions and garlic, a decent red wine, and good olive oil.

Step 1 – Chop, Saute, & Simmer

Chop up your onions and garlic and heat some olive oil in your pan over medium heat. Saute the vegetables for 5-10 minutes, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are soft.

Next, add in the red wine and let the vegetables and wine simmer until most of the wine is cooked off.

Step 2 – Add the whole tomatoes

Start with the whole San Marzano tomatoes. I have these ones on Subscribe & Save from Amazon. We make a lot of marinara and bolognese sauce here.

Break them up in the pan. I use this sweet multi-chopper thingamabob that is my new go-to kitchen tool for chopping meat and also works GREAT for this as well. Get one, you won’t regret it!

Cook for about 5 minutes to cook out some of the liquids

Step 3 – Add in the crushed tomatoes

Right in the pot, along with the Italian Seasonings. Let it all simmer for another 15 minutes or so and you’re done!

Serve by tossing with cooking pasta over low heat in a pan with a touch of the pasta water. Simmer and top with Parmesano Reggiano before servings.

What kind of pasta is best with Homemade Marinara Sauce?

This sauce works well with the following types of pasta:

• Spaghetti
• Bucatini (pictured here)
• Linguine
• Rotini
• Penne

How long will this sauce keep in the fridge?

The marinara sauce should be used within 3-5 days of preparation. It is so easy, you really don’t need to make it beforehand at all. If you want to make a giant batch or are just a person who likes to cook things ahead of time, I’d throw it in freezer bags and freeze it until you are ready to use it.

What kind of recipes can you make with homemade marinara?

This sauce is really versatile! You can use it all on its own or as a base for so many different recipes. Check out some of these, for ideas!

(These links are all from my other website, OrWhateverYouDo! This is Pasta Recipes Daily’s FIRST post, so as we add more to our catalog here, we’ll include more recommendations on this site too.)

• Shrimp Marinara
• Traeger Meatball Sub Casserole
• Meatball Stuffed Shells
• Veal Parmesan
• Farfalle and Meat Sauce
• Tortellini and Meatball Soup
• Air Fryer Ravioli
• Bison Bolognese
• Homemade Meatball Subs
• Traeger Smoked Meatball Rigatoni

What are some good things to serve alongside this red sauce?

• Caesar Salad Dressing Recipe
• Homamde Garlic Bread Sticks with this Easy Homemade Garlic Butter