Best Italian Marinara Sauce Recipe
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How to make the best, authentic Italian Marinara Sauce recipe from scratch, with organic San Marzano tomatoes, garlic and fresh basil. Video below!
Easy, chunky, creamy, rustic, hearty, flavorful marinara sauce or as known in America “Sunday Gravy”, is made at home with a few ingredients and a little patience. This is so good you’ll never be able to buy it in a jar. Gotta make your own kids!
The secret to the classic Italian pomodoro sauce, lies in slowly simmering the tomatoes with onion, basil and garlic until thick and reduced and the natural sugars have concentrated their flavors. So thick you can literally use it as a pizza sauce as I do of course.
There’s no heavy cream, no wine and no anchovies in an authentic marinara sauce.
It’s a simple vegan and pure vegetarian tomato sauce that you can serve with bucatini, spaghetti and ricotta meatballs, clams and mussels frutti di mare, shrimp, chicken parmesan, ricotta gnocchi, peppercorn steak, fried mushrooms, eggplant, ravioli, this incredible vegan lasagna or whatever your favorite pasta is. Perfect for dipping your cheese sticks or garlic knots.
How to thicken marinara sauce?
Continue cooking on low flame until most of the water evaporated and the sauce /gravy has thickened to your liking. Careful not to let those sugars burn though so stir often.
Best Italian Marinara Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 X 28 oz cans San Marzano Tomatoes
- 1/2 yellow onion -diced
- 8 cloves garlic -minced
- 1 leaf bay
- 4 sprigs basil
- 1/3 cup fresh basil leaves - sliced or torn
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (or light olive oil)
- 1 pinch sea salt (or to your taste)
Instructions
- Heat a heavy bottom large pot on medium low flame. Add a lug of olive oil and the diced onion with a pinch of sea salt. Cook for about 10 minutes until traslucent taking good care not to burn it.4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 1/2 yellow onion
- Stir in the minced garlic and let it infuse the oil for about 30 seconds.8 cloves garlic
- Use your hands and crush the tomatoes as you add them to the pot with the onion and garlic. Rustic chunks are what we are after.2 X 28 oz cans San Marzano Tomatoes
- Add the bay leaf and the 4 sprigs of basil then bring everything to a gentle simmer. Partially cover with a lid and cook down until reduced and thick to your liking (about an hour or so). Stir a few times making sure the sugars from the tomatoes don’t stick to the bottom.1 leaf bay, 4 sprigs basil
- After the sauce has reduced season to taste with the sea salt. Discard the bay leaf and basil sprigs.1 pinch sea salt
- Finish with a drizzle of fine cold pressed extra virgin olive oil and the reserved fresh basil. Serve with your favorite pasta to transfer to jars and refrigerate up to one week.1/3 cup fresh basil leaves
Video
Notes
How to Thicken Marinara sauce? - Continue cooking on low flame until most of the water evaporated and the sauce /gravy has thickened to your liking. Careful not to let those sugars burn though so stir often.
Nutrition
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Hi! This is my first time trying this recipe- I notice in the video you use red pepper flakes but it is not listed in the ingredient list? Do you typically add them in?
Thanks!
Hi Nicole, I like to use a pinch of red pepper flakes because I like a little heat in my sauce, however I understand it is not for everyone so I leave it up to you to decide if you would like some heat or not. Enjoy the sauce ~ Florentina Xo’s
Thank you! This is the perfect marinara sauce I have been looking for – and so easy to make too! I will be making this recipe only from now on – my search is finally over – thanks so much!!
I’m so happy you enjoyed it ~ Florentina Xo’s
Can this recipe be canned instead of frozen? I like to make and give homemade Christmas gifts.
Thank you
Absolutely, just make sure to follow the canning safety guidelines https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can
Absolutely perfect recipe. I’d suggest making it a couple days before you need it. The flavors hit their peak after 48 hours or so.
This is ‘THE SAUCE’ recipe I’ve been looking for! I made it, tasted it and I was taken back to my Nana’s kitchen at 7 years old! THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH!
Hi!! Thank you for this recipe. I am planning on making this to use in lasagna. I am making 2 9×13 lasagna dishes. Should I double the recipe or will this be enough? Grazie!
Hi Kara, I would definitely make a double batch because it’s always better to have extra sauce than to have a dry lasagna. You can freeze any leftovers in a lidded freezer proof container for up to 6 months. Report back ~ Florentina Xo’s
Perfectly delicious! Didn’t realize the basil instructions until it was done. Still turned out good.
Thank you for an amazing pasta sauce!! Our family loves this and the recipe was very clear and easy to follow
I have been making this sauce for a few years along with your pizza dough. I quadruple both recipes and then divide in to smaller containers and freeze both are easy to make and on every Saturday night we pull out both depending on how many family and friends. Its everyone’s favorite pizza. I also use the sauce for many recipes. We have not ordered pizza out in over 5 years. Thank you very much.
You use a sprig basil and basil leaves ????
Yes, you use the sprig of basil to flavor the sauce then add fresh basil at the end before serving.
What’s very confusing about this recipe is the language. “Sprigs” of basil and a “lug” of olive oil. And if that isn’t confusing enough, the recipe also calls for 1/3 cup of basil leaves. Is that a redundancy or do you use basil twice? (I think of a sprig as an end shoot of indefinite size. Does the 1/3 cup of leaves come from the sprigs?). Sorry, but I won’t try this because of the confusion.
Dear Evan, under each step of the recipe you’ll see the ingredients listed that go with it. You have basil sprigs (3-4 sprigs from a bunch of basil you get at the market) listed as an ingredient which go into flavoring the sauce during cooking and then you also have 1/3 cup of fresh basil leaves that will be added in the sauce at the end to brighten up the flavor profile. Enjoy!