Marinara sauce and how to make it are one of those things that spark vigorous debate, which you may read as, “Yelling, throwing dishes and using as many Italian curse words as possible”, in many households. Everyone has an opinion about what a good tomato sauce is, myself included.
Don’t even get me started on the whole, “red sauce vs. gravy” thing. I’ll just say this; marinara is meant to be easy, light and bright tomato-y, thinner and quick to come together, thus, a red sauce. If your grandmother gets up at 5am to start cooking and by dinner time you have a thick, deeply flavored, brownish red and meaty sauce, you have traditional Sunday gravy.
Marinara sauce made simple
This marinara sauce recipe yields a bright, clean and zesty sauce that’s nearly effortless to make. It’s a tomato-forward sauce that can be prepared within 30 minutes. In fact, the most laborious thing here is chopping garlic.
Good marinara does not come from a jar!
No, you can’t argue with me on this! I have plenty of throwable dishes on hand and I’m not afraid to use them to make my point! My peeve, and thus the inspiration for sharing this week’s recipe is jarred sauce. I hear it all too often, people cut corners with jarred sauce to make cooking Italian dishes easy.
This recipe is so easy, you won’t believe it’s so quick and doesn’t come from a restaurant. It tastes exceedingly better and it’s almost as easy as opening a jar and heating it up. Trust me, put down the jar and pick up a can of crushed tomatoes. As an added bonus, you add your own flavors and seasonings to your taste. Oh, and, it’s cheaper that that jarred chemistry experiment by more than half.
Marinara sauce Tracy style
I’m sharing how I make my marinara but customize yours as you like. My family enjoys a tangy, zesty, bright tomato-flavored sauce without an overabundance of herbs, just enough to enhance the tomato flavor. We’re also not fans of sweet sauce so there’s no sugar in it.
Customizations
During the summer when fresh herbs are in abundance, I most definitely use those in lieu of dried herbs. I use about 2 tbsp of chopped basil and 1 tbsp chopped oregano. Add these spices towards the end when you’re tasting your seasonings. The oils from the herbs really pop when just heated. You can even sprinkle some more fresh basil on the pasta when you serve it.
If you like a sweeter marinara sauce, or if your crushed tomatoes taste a bit too acidic, add ½ teaspoon of sugar to taste and adjust accordingly. Another common customization is the addition of crushed red pepper flakes for a bit of a kick. Again, start with ½ teaspoon and go from there.
Important note:
Use pure crushed tomatoes. Avoid the crushed tomatoes with added herbs and seasonings and don’t use canned pizza sauce. You want pure crushed tomatoes, not pureed, not diced. Crushed. Whole tomatoes are also great if you can find them, again without additional herbs and seasonings, especially if they’re whole D.O.P. certified San Marzano tomatoes. Crush them by hand and go from there.
Interestingly, the best supermarket brands, according to the NY Times, are Bianco DiNapoli (which are generally sold in most Whole Foods), or in a pinch, Cento Italian Style whole peeled tomatoes are available at most grocery stores. Since I live in Brooklyn, I get my canned tomatoes from the famous Pastosa Ravioli. You can’t beat the tomato-y bright and tangy flavors of these. Yes, I’m lucky and spoiled.
I hope you give this recipe a try. I think you’ll love it. It’s one of the easiest and tastiest foundational recipes. It goes with practically everything. I’ll be covering more recipes like Dad’s Famous Beef Braciole With Roasted Garlic, using this marinara sauce to give you all sorts of delicious ideas.
Try homemade, be happy and dance a happy food dance!
Tracy
Quick and Easy Marinara Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- 1/4 cup white wine Pinot grigio
- 1/3 cup chicken broth
- 1/4 tsp basil, dried
- 1/2 tsp oregano, dried
- 1/2 tsp table salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 28 ounce can peeled, crushed tomatoes
- granulated sugar (optional if you like some sweetness in your sauce.) **see note
- red pepper flakes (optional) (optional if you like some spicy heat in your sauce.) ***see note
Instructions
- Peel and mince the garlic.
- Heat olive oil and garlic in large saucepan over medium heat until garlic is fragrant but not browned, 1 minute.
- Add wine and chicken broth and bring to a low simmer for 2 minutes.
- Add the crushed tomatoes.
- Add the oregano and basil, salt and pepper. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to simmer.
- Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until slightly thickened, about 20-25 minutes, stirring every few minutes.
- Taste the sauce and adjust your seasonings with salt and pepper. ***See note regarding seasonings ***
- Serve hot.
This is so delicious and simple. Thank you! The San Merican brand of crushed tomatoes is a very good option too. Makes a nice sauce.
Thank you and thanks for the tip on the San Merican crushed tomatoes as well!