This spaghetti or marinara sauce is out of this world good. You can make it with either canned or diced tomatoes and the classic flavor will have you coming back for more.
Jump to Recipe
Hello, my friends!
This spaghetti or marinara sauce is one of my very favorites. My friend Megan shared the original recipe with me after she served it with an amazing dinner she made.
Since I love having recipes to use my home-grown tomatoes in, I adapted this one to be able to use with fresh or canned tomatoes. I changed up a few ingredients to make them more accessible and to adjust the flavor to our liking just a little more.
The result is a classic, delicious flavor that wins me over every time, my friends. Are you ready to dive into the recipe?
Here’s how to make this sauce
I like to use a Dutch oven, but I’ve also made this sauce in a large heavy, bottom stockpot with success.
Heat the pot over medium heat and brown the sausage, breaking it up as you stir. We like to use sweet Italian sausage, but you can use any Italian sausage that you love the flavor of, being aware that all Italian sausage is not created equal.
When the meat is almost completely browned, add diced onions and cook until softened. Stir in minced garlic and cook until aromatic.
Finally, add the tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, water, basil, parsley, brown sugar, salt, crushed red pepper, and black pepper. Stir well and bring to a boil. Turn down heat to low and simmer, stirring frequently for an hour.
And that’s it my friends. Isn’t it a beauty?
Can I simmer the sauce for less time?
Yes, if you’re in a hurry this sauce can be cooked faster.
The full hour of simmering (or more) will give you the best flavor, but you can use less water in the recipe if If you need to simmer less time.
If you want to simmer more time, you will want to add additional water, if needed and watch the sauce closely so it doesn’t scorch.
Can I make this meatless?
Yes! This sauce is good with or without meat. For a meatless marinara sauce, omit the sausage and sauté the onions and garlic in a little olive oil.
Using fresh tomatoes
Garden fresh tomatoes make this sauce even better. If you want to try it, use 28-ounces of fresh tomatoes in place of the canned diced tomatoes and increase the salt in the recipe to 1 ½ teaspoons.
I normally just wash, core, and stick the tomatoes (peels and all) in the blender a pulse a few times, but you can blanch them, remove their skins and dice them if you want.
Sometimes in the middle of the tomato harvest season (and I’ve got tomatoes coming on like crazy) I will make this recipe using 48 ounces or 6 cups fresh tomato puree in place of the cans of tomato sauce. To make tomato puree: core the tomatoes, and blend them, skins and all, until pureed. If using fresh tomato puree, omit the water in the recipe and cook the sauce longer until the liquid cooks down (maybe 1 ½ to 2 hours). Adjust the salt, to taste at the end.
Another thing I do during tomato harvest is dehydrate tomatoes and then blend them into tomato powder. To do this, blend cored, washed tomatoes into tomato puree, pour them on fruit leather trays and dehydrate at 135 degrees until dry and brittle (12-24 hours). Then I break that into pieces and add to a dry blender and blend until powder. I substitute ½ cup tomato powder + ¼ cup water for the tomato paste in this recipe and increase the salt to 2 teaspoons (I will omit the extra water in the recipe if I am using tomato puree for the tomato sauce).
Can I use fresh herbs in place of dried?
I haven’t tested it yet, but I’m sure you can! Fresh herbs add an amazing flavor to sauces like this one.
I plan to start with 3 tablespoons freshly chopped basil and 2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley and adapt that amount if needed. Let me know if you try it.
Serving & freezing suggestions
We like to serve this sauce over pasta or zoodles. It’s also delicious over this chicken Parmesan. Add a salad like the best Caesar salad on the side and you’ve got yourself a meal.
It’s easy to double the recipe and freeze it in freezer bags. The frozen sauce will keep up to six months.
Who doesn’t love having an easy, delicious dinner ready to warm up for later?
This one is a huge winner. Enjoy, my friends.
Spaghetti or Marinara Sauce {with canned or fresh tomatoes}
This spaghetti or marinara sauce is out of this world good. You can make it with either canned or diced tomatoes and the classic flavor will have you coming back for more.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds sweet Italian sausage casings removed, see note for meatless option
- 1 cup diced white onion
- 4 large cloves garlic minced
- 1 28-ounce can (or 2 14.5-ounce cans) diced tomatoes see note for fresh tomatoes
- 1 12-ounce can (or 2 6-ounce cans) tomato paste
- 4 8-ounce cans (or 2 15-ounce cans) tomato sauce see note for fresh tomatoes
- 2 cups water adjustable, see note
- 1 tablespoon dried basil see note
- 2 teaspoons dried parsley see note
- 4 teaspoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt see note for fresh tomatoes
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- ¼ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
- hot cooked pasta for serving
- fresh basil, parmesan cheese optional
Instructions
-
In a large Dutch oven or heavy stockpot over medium heat, brown Italian sausage, breaking up meat as you stir.
-
When meat is almost completely browned, add diced onions and cook for an additional 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until softened. Stir in minced garlic and cook for a minute until aromatic.
-
Add tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, water, basil, parsley, brown sugar, salt, crushed red pepper, and black pepper. Stir well and bring to a boil. Turn down heat to low and simmer, stirring frequently for an hour. Follow recipe notes for a shorter or longer simmer time, keeping in mind that sauce will develop a richer flavor the more time you let it simmer.
-
Serve marinara over hot, cooked pasta, if desired. This sauce also freezes well for 6 months. To freeze, cool sauce and pack into quart sized freezer bags.
Recipe Notes
1. For a meatless marinara sauce, omit the sausage and sauté the onions and garlic in 2 tablespoons of olive oil (heated first).
2. Use 28-ounces of fresh tomatoes in place of the canned diced tomatoes and increase the salt in the recipe to 1 ½ teaspoons. I normally just wash, core, and stick the tomatoes (peels and all) in the blender a pulse a few times, but you can blanch them, remove their skins and dice them if you want.
3. The water in the recipe is adjustable based on how long you will be simmering the sauce. If you will be simmering for a full hour (for the best flavor), use the full 2 cups. Adapt that amount if you are in a hurry and need to simmer less time. If you want to simmer more time, you will want to add additional water, if needed and watch the sauce closely so it doesn’t scorch.
4. Sometimes in the middle of the tomato harvest season I will make this recipe using 48 ounces or 6 cups fresh tomato puree in place of the cans of tomato sauce. To make tomato puree: core the tomatoes, and blend them, skins and all, until pureed. If using fresh tomato puree, omit the water in the recipe and cook the sauce longer until the liquid cooks down (maybe 1 ½ to 2 hours). Adjust the salt, to taste at the end.
5. Another thing I do during tomato harvest is dehydrate tomatoes and then blend them into tomato powder. To do this, blend cored, washed tomatoes into tomato puree, pour them on fruit leather trays and dehydrate at 135 degrees until dry and brittle (12-24 hours). Then break into pieces and add to a dry blender and blend until powder. I substitute ½ cup tomato powder + ¼ cup water for the tomato paste in this recipe (I will omit the extra water if I am using tomato puree for the tomato sauce). Increase the salt to 2 teaspoons.
6. I haven’t tried it yet but I plan to substitute fresh herbs in place of the dried. I will start with 3 tablespoons freshly chopped basil and 2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley and see how that goes.
Recipe Source: Heather @ The Cook’s Treat, adapted from this recipe shared with me by Megan C.
All images and text ©The Cook’s Treat
Disclaimer: post contains affiliate links for items on Amazon.
