Spicy Marinara Sauce

Smooth and spicy marinara sauce, easy to make with only pantry ingredients. Perfect for pasta, pizza, and many other dishes.

Making your own spicy marinara sauce is easy, cheap, and delicious, nothing you can buy comes close to the homemade version. And the best of it, you can make a large batch, and either freeze or can it. I used to can it, but lately, I prefer to freeze the one or two extra jars, it means less work for me...

What do you need?

• Canned tomatoes, 3 can of about 400 g/ 14 oz each
• Olive oil. Not traditionally Italian, but very delicious is to add one tablespoon butter. The buttery flavor is just amazing!
• Tomato paste - it helps thicken the sauce and add extra tomato flavor.
• Onions and garlic
• Spices: dried chili flakes, bay leaves, dried herbs, salt and pepper. When it comes to herbs I love using summer savory, but if that is not available thyme adds great flavor as well.
• When cooking the spicy marinara for topping pizza, I always use dried oregano or a mixture of oregano, rosemary, and thyme.
• The amount of chili flakes is according to taste. If you don't have any dried chili flakes, you can substitute them with chopped dried chilies (with or without seeds), fresh chilies, pure chili powder or cayenne pepper. The amount is always to taste.

Tips for making marinara sauce

• You can use the same amount of already pureed tomatoes. Plain pureed tomatoes, not tomato sauce or paste. This way, you will not have to blend the sauce anymore.
• Don't bother chopping the whole tomatoes, crush them roughly with your hand, it is much quicker. Just be careful, some tomatoes might burst in your hand and distribute their insides all over the place. I usually do this over the sink.
• The sauce might bubble too much when it starts to cook. If so, keep it covered leaving a crack open, turn the heat down a bit, and stir often. Adding a small splash of water might help as well. After the initial splattering, it will calm down a little.
• For extra flavor, stir in 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1grated/crushed garlic clove, and 4-5 torn basil leaves at the end of the cooking time.

How to use marinara?

• Pasta: the first thing that comes to mind is pasta with marinara sauce. Keep the dish vegan by serving it as it is or sprinkle with Parmesan.
• You can also fry some bacon cubes with the onions and continue with the recipe.
• For a super healthy, super skinny dish try some zucchini noodles with marinara sauce.

• Potatoes: stew some potatoes in tomato sauce, a delightful, easy and healthy recipe.

• Pizza: this is the sauce I always use when making pizza. In this case, I make it with about the double amount of dried oregano and I might cut slightly on the chili, especially if children, other than mine, are eating. My kids eat the spicy version like there is no tomorrow.
• If I know I need the marinara specifically for pizza, I usually make the recipe using only one can of tomatoes and adjusting the remaining ingredients accordingly.

How to store or can?

You can store the spicy marinara in the fridge for up to one week. I usually keep it in jars.

Freeze it for at least 6 months. If freezing it in jars, leave enough headspace and don't screw the lids very tightly, they should only cover the jar.
The sauce will expand slightly when frozen and the jars might break if there is not enough space. Once the sauce is completely frozen, you can screw the jars properly. Defrost in the fridge or on the counter.

Can the jars in a water bath canner. Check the seals and let cool completely before moving. Canned marinara sauce keeps well for at least six months in a dark cool place.

More sauces:

Sauce Hollandaise

Whole Egg Mayonnaise

German Frankfurter Sauce

Green Tomato Salsa Verde

Sweet Chili Dip