Super Simple Marinara Sauce

Name: Super Simple Marinara Sauce
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 50 min
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 1 large can (28 ounces) whole peeled tomatoes*; 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and halved; 2 large cloves garlic, peeled but left whole; 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil; 1 teaspoon dried oregano; Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional, omit if sensitive to spice); Salt, to taste (if necessary); Optional, for serving: Cooked pasta, grated Parmesan cheese or vegan Parmesan, chopped fresh basil, additional olive oil

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Meet the marinara sauce recipe of my dreams! I’ve always been intimidated by marinara, maybe because I love it so much that I was afraid of messing it up. I finally faced my fears and tried making marinara every which way. This version is my favorite, no contest.

This homemade marinara sauce offers rich and lively tomato flavor. You’ll need only five basic pantry ingredients to make this delicious marinara sauce: good canned tomatoes, onion, garlic, dried oregano and olive oil. That’s it!

This marinara is exceptionally easy to make, too, so it’s perfect for busy weeknights. You don’t even have to chop the onion and garlic. Yep, that’s right—just crank open a can of tomatoes, halve an onion and peel some garlic. You’re ready to go!

This sauce offers lovely, authentic Italian flavor after a 45-minute simmer. I tried to take shortcuts to make it even faster, but no amount of tomato paste, spices, salt or sugar will make up for lost time.

Bottom line: It’s impossible to achieve enchanting, long-simmered marinara flavor in under 45 minutes. So throw those ingredients in a pot, pour yourself a glass of wine and boil water for pasta. Dinner is almost ready.

After trying many variations on marinara sauce, I adapted this recipe from Deb’s tomato sauce with onion and butter, which was originally sourced from Marcella Hazan’s 1992 cookbook, Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking.

I love that tomato sauce, but it doesn’t pass for marinara since it’s missing herbs, garlic and olive oil. So, I added dried oregano and two whole cloves of garlic (which you’ll smash against the side of the pan at the end).

I traded a reasonable amount of olive oil for the butter (you really don’t need to use a ton of olive oil here for rich flavor). I also added a pinch of red pepper flakes for a little kick, but those are optional.

Why is this the best marinara sauce?

Six reasons to love this recipe:

This marinara sauce recipe requires 5 basic ingredients and yields rich, authentic marinara flavor.
It’s super easy to make—no chopping required.
Unlike most store-bought sauces, this marinara is free of added sugar.
You can load up your pasta with as much of this wholesome sauce as you’d like. Tomatoes are good for you!
The recipe yields two cups of sauce and freezes well, so you might as well double the recipe. Just cook it in a bigger pot.
This marinara also makes an incredible pizza sauce. I made pizza with it and my friend remarked that it tastes like real-deal Italian pizza.

Please let me know in the comments how you like this sauce! It’s a new staple in my kitchen, and I hope it becomes a go-to recipe for you as well.

Craving more classic Italian recipes? Don’t miss these:

Watch How to Make Marinara Sauce