This smooth and spicy marinara sauce is easy to make with only pantry ingredients. It's perfect for pasta, pizza, and many other dishes.
Ingredients: 9 | Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 50 minutes | Servings: 10 | Difficulty: Easy
Making your 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...
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Recipe ingredients
Canned tomatoes: 3 cans of about 400 g/ 14 oz each. Or you can use passata and skip the blending step.
Tomato paste - it helps thicken the sauce and add extra tomato flavor.
Herbs: Fresh basil for the basic marinara. But you can add other herbs, too. 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 determined by 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.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to make spicy marinara sauce?
Step #1: Saute the onions until translucent, then add the garlic.
Step #2: Add tomatoes, tomato paste, herbs, and seasoning. Cook on medium-high heat for 20 minutes.
Step #3: Turn the heat down and simmer for 15 minutes.
Step #4: Blend, adjust the taste, and add basil, garlic, and olive oil for extra flavor.
Tips
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 everywhere. I usually do this over the sink.
When it starts to cook, the sauce might bubble too much. 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 sauce?
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 it with Parmesan. You can also fry some bacon cubes with the onions and continue with the recipe.
Potatoes: Stew some potatoes in tomato sauce, a delightful, easy, and healthy recipe.
Pizza: This is my go-to sauce. For pizza, I double the oregano and often reduce the chili if kids other than mine are eating - mine love it spicy. When making this sauce just for pizza, I use only one can of tomatoes and scale the other ingredients.
How to store or can?
The spicy marinara can be stored in the fridge for up to one week. I usually keep it in jars.
Freeze the sauce for up to 6 months. If using jars, leave enough headspace and donโt screw the lids on tightly - just place them on top. The sauce expands as it freezes, and tight lids or full jars can cause breakage. Once fully frozen, you can tighten the lids. Defrost in the fridge or at room temperature.
Can the jars in a water bath canner. Check the seals and let them cool completely before moving. Canned marinara sauce keeps well for at least six months in a dark, cool place.
Spicy Marinara Sauce
Equipment
- Large saucepan Note 1
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion
- 3 large garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoons olive oil Note 2
- 3 cans whole or chopped tomatoes 400 g/ 14 oz each, Note 3
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- ยฝ teaspoon red chili flakes more or less to taste
- 1 tablespoon dried herbs Note 4
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ยฝ teaspoon fine sea salt + more to taste
- ยผ teaspoon ground black pepper
For extra flavor at the end:
- 1 -2 garlic cloves
- 3 -4 basil leaves torn
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- Chop the onion and the garlic cloves finely, but keep them separate.1 medium onion + 3 large garlic cloves
- Saute: Heat the oil in a large pan and cook the onions until translucent. Add the garlic, stir it briefly in the pan.2 tablespoons olive oil
- Add the canned tomatoes, and if they are whole, crush them roughly. I do that with my hand, take them in the hand, squeeze and break them, taking care that the juices inside them won't splatter all over the place.3 cans whole or chopped tomatoes
- Cook: Add tomato paste, herbs, bay leaves, sugar, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil and cook on a medium-high flame for about 20 minutes.2 tablespoons tomato paste + ยฝ teaspoon red chili flakes + 1 tablespoon dried herbs + 2 bay leaves + 1 teaspoon sugar + ยฝ teaspoon fine sea salt + more to taste + ยผ teaspoon ground black pepper
- Thicken: Turn the heat down and continue cooking for about 15 minutes until the sauce thickens slightly.
- Adjust the taste with salt, pepper, or a bit more sugar, if necessary.
- Blend: Remove the bay leaves and puree the sauce with a blender; according to your preference, you can make it as smooth as you like.
- For extra flavor, add 1 -2 garlic cloves, 3 -4 basil leaves, and 1 tablespoon olive oil.
Notes
- The recipe makes about 2 jars, depending on their size. They will keep it in the fridge for about one week. To keep longer, freeze the jars.
- Butter: You can add 1 tablespoon of butter. It is less Italian, but it adds extra flavor.
- Tomatoes: You can make the marinara sauce with passata, too.
- Herbs: You can use dried summer savory, thyme, oregano, Italian herbs, Herbs de Provence, and so on.
Rosa says
Hi Adina! I just made this sauce ... delicious!! I can't wait to try your eggplant dish!!
Adina says
I am so glad you liked it, Rosa. Thank you for the feedback! ๐
Kathy @ Beyond the Chicken Coop says
Adina, Your pics look lovely and this sauce sounds delicious! Your recipe isn't showing on this page....maybe double check. I'd love to give it a try!
Adina says
Sorry, Kathy. I fixed it!
Nammi says
yummm... gng to make pizza for dinner will make this for a sauce!!! yummm enjoy your weekend
Anu - My Ginger Garlic Kitchen says
This tomato sauce looks so vibrant and luscious Adina. I don't make my own sauce often, but this one sounds easy, so will give it a go sometime. ๐
Anca says
I make my own tomato sauce too, it's sugar free and so much better than a shop-bough one. I've added chocolate in one for nachos and it was amazing. It's much more versatile than the ones in the supermarket.
Angie@Angie's Recipes says
Being a parent is not easy, huh? Your family is really lucky to have you cook for them, Adina. The tomato sauce looks very fresh and packed full of flavour.