A little while back, I posted about making homemade marinara sauce to go with our dinner one night, and so many people told me they’d never made their own sauce!
I used to be one of them. I used to just use sauce out of a jar, and still do occasionally, but I have to tell you – making your own sauce is the best there is. It tastes so much better, and you can customize it to what you like! It’s cheap, pretty easy, and makes a ton… so into the freezer it goes (in fact, I have two bags of frozen sauce in mine right now). Plus, there’s wine in it!
Here’s my basic recipe, but you can add/subtract whatever you like. We’re big garlic and onion fans, so we use a lot of that, but you can use less/more to your liking! Other options are to add veggies when you’re sautéing your onions (carrots, bell peppers, celery, etc) and to add different herbs. I make this in a 6 qt. cast iron dutch oven, and find that works really well.
- 1-2 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 3-5 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 28 oz cans crushed tomatoes
- 1 6 oz can tomato paste
- 1 cup of red wine (any kind you like!)
- Salt, Pepper, Italian seasoning, and parsley to taste (we like a LOT of parsley) – dried or fresh!
- Heat olive oil in pot on medium. Add onions and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes or so.
- Add garlic and sauté another 2 minutes or until fragrant
- Pour in the crushed tomatoes and tomato paste (quick trick on the paste – usually you can use the can opener on both the bottom and top of these cans, which allows you to push the paste right out!).
- Bring to a simmer, then pour in the wine.
- Bring back to a simmer, then reduce heat to low. Let simmer for at least an hour, uncovered. The longer it simmers, the deeper the flavors and the thicker it will get. If you find it gets too thick, I usually just add a can of plain tomato sauce (the 10 oz ones) to thin it out a little.
- Enjoy!
- You can also cook your meatballs in this sauce – golf ball sized ones usually take about 12-15 minutes with the lid on.
10 Responses
I’ve never made my own sauce, but my mom always does. Maybe I’ll attempt it this summer. It seems easy enough!
Super easy and tastes SO much better!
This sounds delicious! Pinned to make!
Aw thanks!
Oh yummy! I’ve never made my own sauce but I want to try! It looks pretty simple!
It is and so yummy!
This looks absolutely delicious and I think I must make it immediately.
You absolutely do!
Uh….YUM! I’m so picky about my marinara sauce, so this is PERFECT! Thanks for sharing! xoxoxo, Kayla
Oh good! It’s so great because you can customize it!