Homemade Marinara Sauce

Making your own Marinara sauce is super easy, and I love that you can control the ingredients by making your own! I always make this in large batches. Sometimes I freeze it in freezer bags/containers and sometimes I can it, depending on my available time.

Today I am making it with fresh garden tomatoes, but I will also give you some alternatives for canned tomatoes which I make when I run out of my homecanned tomatoes.
Printable Recipe
Homemade Marinara Sauce
Makes about 2 1/2 quarts

Ingredients:

1-2 onions diced. 

2 Tblspoons olive oil

5-6 cloves of garlic, minced (about 2 Tbsp)
2 Tbsp  Italian Seasoning or handful of fresh herbs chopped: (basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, etc)

For Fresh Tomatoes:
12 cups peeled fresh ripe tomatoes (about 4-5 lbs. which was about 30 Roma tomatoes for me)

For Canned Tomatoes:

2 (28 oz.) cans of crushed tomatoes, whole can, DO NOT DRAIN

1 (28 oz ) can of whole tomatoes, drained

1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste

Jan’s Tip: You may want to add about 2 Tablespoons sugar to the canned tomato version to help cut the acidity level that they have. Fresh ones don’t always have this same problem. I Do NOT add the sugar, however, as my husband is diabetic. I don’t add sugar substitute either,  We just go for fewer sweeteners in our sauce.

Directions:

In large pot over medium heat, cook onions , minced garlic and olive oil till onions are transulent and caramelized.

Add in tomatoes , herbs and the optional sugar.  Blend well, and crush tomatoes to desired chunkiness.

Jan’s tip: I love to pour either the fresh or canned whole tomatoes into a bowl  and hand crush my tomatoes.  I get to control the chunkiness of the sauce this way, and plus it’s really fun! You can always use a potato masher and just go for it too! (which I did today, cause me, tomato covered hands and a camera is not a good idea!)

Simmer low and slow to get the best concentrated flavors. I usually simmer for about 2 hours over low heat.