Simple, homemade marinara sauce should truly be simple! Made with canned San Marzano tomatoes, this is a quick, 5-ingredient sauce deep with flavor that’s ready to serve in under an hour.
Course Condiment
Cuisine Italian
Keyword classic marinara sauce
Prep Time 5 minutesminutes
Cook Time 35 minutesminutes
Total Time 40 minutesminutes
Servings 6
Calories 989kcal
Ingredients
1(28 oz)can whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes, with puree
½cupextra-virgin olive oil
4garlic cloves , peeled and smashed
1tablespoontomato paste
1teaspoonkosher salt
½teaspoonfreshly ground black pepper
2sprigsfresh basil or oregano, plus more for garnish
Instructions
Crush the tomatoes. Pour the tomatoes and purée into a bowl and crush with your hands or the the back of a spoon, then set aside.
Infuse the olive oil. In a large cold skillet, add the extra-virgin olive oil and garlic cloves, and bring to medium heat. As the garlic begins to sizzle, stir occasionally, and cook until fragrant and golden, about 5 minutes. Monitor the heat so the garlic doesn't cook too quickly or burn.
Brown the tomato paste. Very carefully stir the tomato paste into the garlic and oil — take care so the oil doesn't splatter and burn you as the paste is added — and cook for 1-2 minutes.
Add the tomatoes and seasonings, then simmer. Carefully spoon the tomatoes into the pan with the oil and paste and season with salt and pepper. Add the basil sprigs and bring to a boil. Reduce to a bubbling simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes. Stir to mix the oil that rises to the top, then discard the basil sprigs and garlic.
Notes
Canning instructions: This sauce recipe makes enough for several servings. If making it to can or freeze for later, double, triple or make more times the recipe. To can this sauce, sterilize glass canning jars and lids before adding the marinara sauce plus ¼ teaspoon citric acid or 1 tablespoon bottled lemon juice per pint (double quantities for quarts). Process in a water bath with sealed lids for 35 minutes.To freeze: Ladle the cooled sauce into gallon freezer bags. Lay the bags flat in the freezer then for easy storage, stack upright like envelopes. Freeze the sauce for up to 4 months.