Homemade Marinara Sauce with Fresh Tomatoes
This homemade marinara sauce with fresh tomatoes is a simple and authentic Italian recipe made in under 1 hour. Using fresh, ripe tomatoes instead of canned gives it the best flavor and texture. Perfect with pasta, pizza, meatballs, or even stored in the freezer for busy nights.
For me, a homemade marinara sauce is one of those things that always has to be in the freezer. I usually make a double batch and portion it out, so I’ve always got marinara, tomato, and pizza sauce ready to go. It freezes beautifully and keeps for about three months — and honestly, I panic a little if I ever run out.
And because I’m a big believer in fresh produce, I almost always make my marinara sauce with fresh tomatoes. I only reach for canned when I have to. When I see all those beautiful ripe tomatoes in the market, I just can’t resist — fresh is fresh, and nothing beats the authentic Italian flavor you get from them.
Ingredients and substitutes
- Tomatoes – use ripe Roma or San Marzano for the best authentic Italian flavor. If you only have canned, try my easy 20-minute marinara sauce with canned tomatoes.
- Herbs – fresh basil and parsley are classic, but dried works too.
- Sugar – helps balance the acidity of the tomatoes.
- Olive oil & garlic – the base of any authentic Italian sauce.
Step-by-step: How to Make Homemade Marinara Sauce with Fresh Tomatoes
- Blanch tomatoes – Mark an X with a knife on the bottom of the tomatoes and put them in hot water for 3 to 5 minutes. Take them out with a slotted spoon and put them in cold water. Drain and cool the tomatoes until barely warm.
- Tomato puree – Peel the skin with the edge of your knife. Deseed the tomatoes using the easy method shown in the video. Place the seeds in a colander to collect all the juices. Pulse the tomato pulp and juices in a bowl or food processor until smooth. Set aside.
- Sauté – Add oil, garlic, chili flakes, and onions in a Dutch oven or heavy-bottom sauté pan. Sauté until onions are translucent. Then, add the dried herbs, oregano, thyme, and rosemary. Followed by brown sugar. Sauté for 2 minutes until the sugar caramelizes.
- Simmer – Next, add the prepared tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper, and add the basil leaves. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer on medium-low for 30 minutes to an hour or until the sauce is thicker and you see some oil on the surface of the sauce. (looks shiny) The sauce will thicken and deepen as it cools.
- Serve over pasta or use in any recipe that calls for marinara sauce.
Homemade Marinara Sauce with Fresh Tomatoes
Marinara sauce is a simple tomato sauce with just a few additional ingredients for flavor. Today, we make this Italian sauce with fresh tomatoes in under one hour. I also show you my cool trick to getting a nice deep red color on homemade tomato sauce.
Video
Ingredients
- 2 lbs (1 kg) Tomatoes (about 8 med or 10 small)
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- ½ – 1 tsp Chily flakes to taste
- ½ cup Onions chopped finely
- 2 large Garlic cloves sliced
- 1 tsp Oregano dried
- 2 sprigs Basil
- 3 sprigs Thyme
- 2 sprigs Rosemary
- ½ tbsp Brown sugar
- ½ tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Pepper
Method
- Blanch tomatoes – Mark an X with a knife on the bottom of the tomatoes and put them in hot water for 3 to 5 minutes. Take them out with a slotted spoon and put them in cold water. Drain and cool the tomatoes until barely warm.2 lbs Tomatoes
- Tomato puree – Peel the skin with the edge of your knife. Deseed the tomatoes using the easy method shown in the video. Place the seeds in a colander to collect all the juices. Pulse the tomato pulp and juices in a bowl or food processor until smooth. Set aside.
- Sauté – Add oil, garlic, chilly flakes, and onions in a Dutch oven or heavy-bottom sauté pan. Sauté until onions are translucent. Then, add the dried herbs, oregano, thyme, and rosemary. Followed by brown sugar. Saute for 2 minutes until the sugar caramelizes2 tbsp Olive oil, ½ – 1 tsp Chily flakes, ½ cup Onions, 2 large Garlic cloves, 1 tsp Oregano, 2 sprigs Basil, 3 sprigs Thyme, 2 sprigs Rosemary, ½ tbsp Brown sugar
- Simmer – Next, add the prepared tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper, and add the basil leaves. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer on medium-low for 30 minutes to an hour or until the sauce is thicker and you see some oil on the surface of the sauce. (looks shiny) The sauce will thicken and deepen as it cools.½ tsp Salt, ½ tsp Pepper
- Serve over pasta or use in any recipe that calls for marinara sauce.
Notes
Tips for success
- Use ripe Roma or San Marzano tomatoes for authentic flavor.
- A Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot prevents burning.
- Caramelize the sugar slightly to enhance color and depth.
- Simmer low and slow for best texture.
- If sauce is too thin, simmer uncovered; if too thick, add water.
- This homemade marinara freezes beautifully for up to 3 months.
What can you do with this marinara sauce?
- Pasta sauce – Simmer 2 cups marina sauce, add 1/4 cup cream, 1/4 cup Parmesan sauce, and fresh basil – serve over boiled pasta.
- Quick pizza sauce – If you thicken the marinara sauce it works perfectly as a pizza sauce. Add some topping and some cheese before baking. See all my pizza recipes here.
- Mushroom Pasta – Saute 1 lb mushrooms, then add 2 cup marinara sauce, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, and some fresh basil. Add 1 lb boiled pasta.
- Quick spaghetti bolognese – brown 1 lbs ground beef, add 2 cups marinara sauce, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup fresh cream, and fresh basil. Serve over boiled spaghetti pasta.
Equipment you will need
Nutrition
Tried this recipe?
Mention @veenaazmanov_kitchen or tag #veenaazmanovkitchen!Tips for Success
- Use ripe Roma or San Marzano tomatoes for authentic flavor.
- A Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot prevents burning.
- Caramelize the sugar slightly to enhance color and depth.
- Simmer low and slow for the best texture.
- If the sauce is too thin, simmer uncovered; if too thick, add water.
- This homemade marinara freezes beautifully for up to 3 months.
Troubleshooting: marinara with fresh tomatoes
| Problem | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Sauce too watery | Tomatoes too juicy | Simmer uncovered longer |
| Sauce too thick | Too much reduction | Add a splash of water or stock |
| Sauce too acidic | Tomatoes not ripe | Add a pinch of sugar |
| Sauce sticks to the pan | Thin pot or high heat | Use a Dutch oven, stir often |
| The sauce lacks flavor | Not enough herbs/garlic | Adjust seasoning, add basil |
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Frequently asked questions
This sauce will keep in the fridge for 4 to 5 days. You can portion it and freeze it in freezer-safe bags for about 3 months.
Yes! If fresh tomatoes aren’t available, you can absolutely make marinara with canned tomatoes. In fact, I have a separate recipe for that — my Easy Marinara Sauce with Canned Tomatoes (ready in 20 minutes). It’s quick, convenient, and perfect for busy nights, while this recipe focuses on authentic marinara made with fresh tomatoes.
Blanch, peel, and deseed fresh tomatoes, then simmer with garlic, herbs, and olive oil.
Both are tomato sauce. However, marinara sauce is best made with crushed and strained San Marzano or plum tomatoes.
Roma or San Marzano, ripe and meaty.
Yes, just cook it a little longer so it’s thicker.
Yes, up to 3 months. Store in airtight containers.
Yes, the base is the same. Pasta sauce is usually simmered over low heat until it thickens. The slow cooking makes the tomatoes sweeter, richer, and deeper in flavor. Often, other ingredients are also added. Sometimes, a sprinkle of Parmesan, cream, or sour cream can be added as well.
Marinara is a lighter tomato-based sauce; spaghetti sauce often includes meat and extra seasoning.
The main purpose of the brown sugar here is to caramelize it so it adds a touch of brown to the red. Do you know what happens to red when you add a touch of brown? It deepens the red. We are using the same principle here. Just add a dash of brown to the red, which is why we want to make sure we just caramelize it, not burn it.
There is so much you can do with a good marinara sauce.
– You can thicken this sauce to make a delicious marinara pizza sauce
– Brown some ground beef with a marinara sauce for a quick meat or spaghetti sauce or try my bolognese sauce and serve it with spaghetti to make marinara spaghetti bolognese.
– Add some mushrooms to make a quick marinara mushroom pasta.
– You can drop a few meatballs in this sauce to make a quick marinara meatball pasta.
– Use it over breaded chicken and top it with cheese to make a delicious chicken parmesan or over-grilled eggplant to make eggplant parmesan.
more pasta sauces you may like
- Homemade Lasagna with Béchamel Sauce
- Homemade Tomato Sauce with Fresh Tomatoes (20 Minutes)
- Easy Roasted Tomato Sauce (Oven Roasted)
- Creamy Chicken in White Sauce Recipe (Ready in 20 Minutes)
- Ultimate Recipe for Bolognese Sauce
Veena, do you remove the sprigs of rosemary and thyme when done cooking the sauce?
Yes, I usually remove them before serving. But yes, you can remove as soon as you are done cooking too.
One of the best Marinara recipes I’ve ever tried. Thank you for sharing
Thank you, Deb for the lovely feedback.
Too hot. I only used 1/2 t. of the red pepper flakes and it is still too hot. I had to add a can of tomato sauce to save it and the defeats the whole purpose of making it with only fresh tomatoes. May try it again but will completely omit the red pepper flakes or add no more than 1/4 t. Marinara sauce should taste of fresh tomatoes not chilies. I measured out everything including weighing the tomatoes, so I did follow the recipe exactly as written. My gut told me that was too much red pepper, I should have followed it.
I’m simmering the sauce right now. My only issue is, too many “Pro Tips” saturated thru the recipe. It’s hard to follow the instructions. Maybe put the at the end. It said ,add the herbs after cooking the garlic and onions which I did including the basil. I noticed the basil turning black then after another “pro tip” it said to add the tomatoes and the basil together. Other than that, it looks like a good recipe.
Don’t have sprigs of herbs all the time. Would like actual amount of dried fresh herbs.
You can use 1 tsp each of dried herbs instead of the fresh herbs
good day everyone, last night I tried to prepare a dish according to your recommendations. The whole family is delighted, friends are asking for the recipe. We enjoyed one dishes very much time. Thank you very much for the good advice!
Absolutely FANTASTC. This is soon authentic and we have been to Italy. Thank you for an amazing recipe!
Sauce was entirely too spicy
Spicy? There is just one tsp of chilly flakes in 2 lbs of tomatoes. Also, if you don’t like spice just omit the chilly.
This marinara sauce turned out great! I sautéed it in the instant pot and then cooked it on slow cook mode for 2 hours. It was perfect for my pasta!
Thank you, Robin, for the lovely feedback.
Hi Veena, the directions include rosemary and thyme, but they’re not listed in the ingredients. Can you tell me how much to use of each? Thank you.
Hey Heidi, Just a few 2 or 3 of each would work. Thanks
I brought this to work with chef john’s meatballs from food wishes and my head chef asked for my recipe
Thank you so much, Chase, for the lovely feedback. You must be so proud.
Can this recipe be canned?
Yes, Donna. You can use the canning method to can this sauce.
My mom would add a tablespoon of olive oil to each bottle on the top over the sauce before adding the parchment and cover.
This will ensure no sauce comes in contact with anything.
We used to take the canned stuff with you to our boarding school.