Homemade Marinara Sauce — your go-to homemade marinara sauce recipe. This slow-roasted sauce turns out beautifully every time and is a perfect way to use garden-fresh tomatoes.
Best Marinara Sauce Recipe
This homemade marinara combines multiple tomato varieties, garlic, fresh and dried herbs, and a splash of red wine (optional) to create a rich, layered sauce with excellent depth of flavor. There are no canned tomatoes here — just fresh, roasted ingredients.
Making sauce from scratch is rewarding, especially if you grew the tomatoes, basil, and oregano yourself. Store-bought jars are convenient, but fresh-roasted tomatoes produce a brighter, more nuanced sauce that your family will notice and love.
Once you make this, you’ll prefer it over store-bought. Use it on lasagna, pizza, chicken parmesan, eggplant parmesan, spaghetti, rigatoni, meatballs, or as a dipping sauce — the possibilities are endless.
Why You Will Love This Pasta Sauce
- Complex Flavor: A mix of tomato types, dried herbs, fresh herbs, garlic, and optional red wine builds deep, layered taste.
- No Blanching Required: The roasted tomatoes are blended whole; a few skins remain and add texture and character.
- Flexible Batch Sizes: The recipe works as a large batch for canning or a smaller Dutch oven batch for everyday use.
Ingredients Overview
- Lots of garlic cloves (peeled)
- A variety of tomatoes for depth — beefsteak, heirloom, orange, yellow, cherry, and Roma
- White onions
- Fresh basil (sweet and Italian preferred) and fresh oregano
- Dried oregano and dried basil
- Kosher salt and ground black pepper
- Good-quality olive oil
- Dry red wine (optional; pomegranate juice works as a Whole30/Paleo substitute)
- Optional red pepper flakes for heat
Exact measurements and a printable recipe card follow in the recipe section below.
About the Tomatoes
This recipe is forgiving: aim for roughly 22–23 pounds of tomatoes for the large batch. A colorful mix of types yields the best flavor, but exact proportions aren’t critical. Use what you have and don’t stress over perfect quantities.
No Need to Blanche
You don’t need to blanch or peel the tomatoes. The roasted tomatoes are blended whole. While some skins may remain, they add flavor and authenticity to the finished sauce.
Large Batch Overview
The large batch is roasted in a wide pan and is ideal for canning or freezing. It’s made in a large roasting pan and requires several hours in the oven so the juices concentrate into a rich sauce.
Small Batch Marinara
For a smaller batch, use a Dutch oven. The method is the same but the cook time is shorter (about 3 hours) and yields fewer jars — great for households that don’t need a large amount.
How to Make Homemade Marinara Sauce
Add peeled garlic and quartered onions to your roasting pan or Dutch oven, then add all the tomatoes. Add fresh and dried herbs, salt, pepper, olive oil, and the red wine or pomegranate juice.
Mix everything together, drizzle the olive oil and wine, then roast uncovered. Stir periodically as the tomatoes cook down and reduce and roast until the mixture concentrates and develops a deep flavor.
After roasting, allow the tomatoes to cool slightly, then blend in batches or use an immersion blender to reach your desired texture — pulse a few times for a chunky sauce or blend more for a smooth sauce.
Use the sauce right away, refrigerate for short-term use, freeze, or process for canning.
Recipe FAQs
- Roasting Pan: A wide roasting pan works best for the large batch so juices can concentrate efficiently.
- Cleaning Tomatoes: Rinse or soak tomatoes in a 50/50 water and vinegar solution for 10–15 minutes, then rinse before using.
- Peeling Garlic: Slice cloves in half lengthwise to make peeling faster.
- Tomato Weight: Aim for about 22–23 pounds (large batch). The exact mix can vary — diversity of varieties improves flavor.
- Basil: If you don’t have both sweet and Italian basil, use 2 cups of fresh basil total.
- Wine Substitute: For Whole30/Paleo, swap the red wine for pomegranate juice.
- Oven Temperature: Roasting at 425°F concentrates the juices effectively; expect a long roast time to reduce liquid.
- Yield: The large batch typically yields around 14 pint jars, depending on reduction and jar size.
- Blending Options: Use a blender in batches, an immersion blender, or a food processor to reach the texture you like.
- Storage: Store in the fridge for short-term use, freeze up to six months (leave an inch for expansion), or can according to safe canning practices.
How to Freeze Marinara Sauce
Let the sauce cool completely, then transfer to mason jars or airtight containers, leaving at least an inch headspace for expansion. Freeze up to six months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat gently in a saucepan before using.
Recipes that use this marinara
- Lasagna
- Stuffed zucchini boats
- Spaghetti squash bowls
Other recipes you might like
- Cold brew coffee
- Simple seared ahi tuna
- How to cook spaghetti squash
- How to grill chicken thighs
If you try this recipe and enjoy it, please leave a rating and share any substitutions or changes you made.
Homemade Marinara Sauce Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 3 heads garlic, peeled (approx. 32–35 cloves)
- 5 large heirloom tomatoes, cut into chunks
- 8 beefsteak tomatoes, cut into chunks
- 3 medium orange tomatoes, cut into chunks
- 6 medium yellow tomatoes, cut into chunks
- 20 cherry tomatoes
- 2 lb Roma tomatoes, quartered
- 3 large white onions, quartered
- 1 1/2 cups dry red wine (or pomegranate juice)
- 1 cup tightly packed fresh sweet basil, roughly chopped
- 1 cup tightly packed Italian basil, roughly chopped
- 1 cup fresh oregano, roughly chopped (or regular oregano)
- 1 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup dried oregano leaves
- 2 tablespoons dried basil leaves
- 3 tablespoons kosher salt, more to taste
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat: Preheat oven to 425°F.
- Combine: In a large roasting pan or Dutch oven, add all tomatoes, garlic, onions, basil, oregano, salt, pepper, olive oil, and wine (or pomegranate juice).
- Mix: Stir thoroughly to combine.
- Roast: Place in the oven uncovered and roast for about 5 hours (3 hours for the small Dutch oven batch), stirring every 30–45 minutes, especially during the final hours, until reduced and deeply flavored.
- Cool: Remove from oven and let cool for about an hour.
- Blend: Working in batches, add several ladles of roasted tomatoes to a blender (cover with a towel) and pulse to your preferred texture. Use 3 pulses for chunky or ~8 pulses for smoother sauce. Alternatively, use an immersion blender.
- Store: Serve some immediately and can, refrigerate, or freeze the rest.
Notes
- Clean tomatoes before use. A 50/50 vinegar and water soak for 10–15 minutes followed by a rinse works well.
- If you can’t find both basil types, use 2 cups of fresh basil total.
- To make Paleo/Whole30, substitute pomegranate juice for the red wine.
- The large batch yields roughly 14 pints depending on reduction and jar size. The small batch makes about three pint jars.
- Small Batch Dutch oven method: cook uncovered for about 3 hours, stirring every 30–45 minutes. Ingredients are the same scaled down.
124 kcal
Nutrition
Carbohydrates: 11 g |
Protein: 2 g |
Fat: 8 g |
Sodium: 758 mg |
Potassium: 456 mg |
Fiber: 3 g |
Sugar: 5 g
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