This easy marinara sauce recipe is so simple to make and tastes amazing–you’ll never feel the need to purchase pasta sauce again!
You’ve had those “Yikes! What’s for Dinner?!?” days too, right? When it’s just about dinner time and you forgot to plan anything.
Well, this sauce is what you need for those nights. It’s saved us many times.
Our Love of Pasta
We love pasta, and though we went gluten free years ago, and lean grain free now, we still love it.
Years ago, I would eat regular refined flour pasta, and a lot of it.
Then, when I got a little healthier, we moved to whole wheat pasta.
Then came the move to gluten free.
Instead of the discount bin white flour pasta, we moved to gluten-free pasta, as inexpensively as we could get them, which typically meant brown rice pasta.
And we loved it.
These days, we have gone grain free to some extent, but we don’t adhere to that diet all the time, so we do eat Brown Rice Pasta occasionally.
For the most part, after moving more towards going grain free, we didn’t eat much pasta, but in recent months we found some lovely Black Bean Pasta that we were introduced to at Costco. If you haven’t had it, you should check it out.
We got a great deal on this pasta and stocked up. We have been enjoying pasta more over the past few months than we have in a long time.
And my family is loving it.
One problem, however, is what goes on top.
There are all kinds of sauces that are great on pasta, and even salad dressings taste great on pasta. In fact, this Ranch Dressing / Dip tastes amazing on just about everything and I have been known to put a little bit on my pasta from time to time. Yum.
However, there is something special about marinara sauce.
Pasta and marinara sauce just go together.
The Problem with Store-Bought Marinara Sauce
Of course, if you are hankering for spaghetti, you can grab a box and cook it up quickly and using not that much water. See this post on Saving Time and Money when Cooking Pasta for the details on that.
And the easiest path is to get store-bought pasta sauce and have it on hand for when you need it.
Just open a jar, pop it in a pan, heat it up, and you’re done.
But the ingredients in jarred pasta sauce aren’t always the best for you, and if you are on a low-carb diet or are eliminating refined sugar, then you might be hard pressed to find a suitable sauce. And if you are prioritizing organic for your food, then the price of these sauces really do add up.
This Organic Marinara Sauce is a case in point. $12.87 for just 23.5 ounces.
That’s a lot of money for not a lot of sauce. Our family easily goes through almost 2 of those jars for one meal, so we’re talking more than $25 for a stay at home pasta meal?
I don’t think so.
In any case, look at the ingredients in Ragu Old World Style Traditional Sauce.
Tomato Puree (Water, Tomato Paste), Vegetable Oil (Contains One Or More of the Following: Soybean Oil, Corn Oil), High Fructose Corn Syrup, Salt, Dried Onions, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Romano Cheese (Cow’s Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes), Spices, Natural Flavor.
First of all, there are vegetable oils that are almost for sure sourced from GMO soy and corn. Then there is, of course, corn syrup. Which is just plain not a good thing, regardless of the fact that it is likely derived from GMO corn. And we would have to do research on the Natural Flavors to know what is really in there, for it might not be ingredients that you want to be eating.
And even if you source out a quality pasta sauce, you are likely going to end up with added sugar. Even if it’s as wholesome as organic cane juice crystals, many of us are trying to avoid added sugars (see my post on Candida and the Beginning of my Sugar-Free Life).
So it gets hard to buy a sauce that has quality ingredients, fits the bill for those of us who are avoiding added sugars, and that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.
Enter every busy pasta-loving mom’s solution —
My Easy Marinara Sauce.
About this Easy Marinara Sauce
But most homemade pasta sauce takes a lot of time.
I have very fond memories of my mother simmering homemade pasta sauce for hours, and hours, and hours at home.
The house smelled wonderful and it was such a treat to get to sample the pasta sauce ladled on a piece of bread (yikes – it was seriously white bread, as in VERY white bread). Yum.
It was lovely.
But hours and hours this busy mom doesn’t have.
Instead of slaving over a hot stove for hours, you can have delicious homemade easy marinara sauce in minutes.
And it tastes great.
And if you can memorize the ingredients, it’s easy peasy to recreate this easy marinara sauce because I made the measurements the same for the spices across the board.
One Tablespoon of each spice.
Easy Peasy Marinara Sauce Squeasy.
Just one thing — as I mentioned, you can easily memorize this recipe, so it’s easy to remember, but just don’t put something like cinnamon or ginger in there. ‘Cause then I’m not responsible for the outcome :). Just sayin’.
And also please promise me that you won’t sample it on white bread, ‘mkay?
I think you will love this sauce.
You will love that it’s easy, you will love that it is a great frugal option, and you will love that it tastes great.
And if you want meatballs with your pasta, you can try these Grain-Free Meatballs that actually hold together without eggs.
How to Serve This Sauce
Of course you should use this on pasta, and I know you will be doing that and loving it.
But it’s also a great topping for pizza on this Grain-Free Pizza Crust, or in this Grain-Free Zucchini Lasagna, and it’s great as a dip for all kind of breads including this Flax Bread.
Personally, I love Marinara on veggies too. And on chicken.
In fact, this sauce would be the perfect thing to dip these Gluten-Free Chicken Nuggets into.
This sauce tastes great on just about anything — including a spoon.
You won’t believe how easy this sauce is.
Depending on how long you simmer it for, it can be ready in as little as 10 minutes from start to finish.
Recipe Notes and Substitutions
- Oil: For oil, I recommend using either organic palm oil, organic light olive oil, or organic avocado oil as they have higher smoke points.
- Sweetener: You can really use any sweetener you like or omit. If using stevia, use 1 scoop (read How to Use Stevia).
- Onions: You can substitute two small diced onions for the dried minced onions if you like.
- THM: This recipe will qualify as an “S” if you are on the Trim Healthy Mama plan. Reduce the oil to 2 Tbsp for a “fuel pull,” assuming you will use about 1 cup sauce per person.
Easy Marinara Sauce – no sugar added & low carb
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup oil
- 4 Tbsp dried minced onions
- 2 cloves garlic, minced (or 1/2 tsp garlic powder)
- 1 Tbsp salt
- 1 Tbsp dried thyme
- 1 Tbsp dried rosemary
- 1 Tbsp dried oregano
- 1 Tbsp dried parsley
- 2 Tbsp low carb sweetener (optional–see Notes for alternatives)
- 56 ounces diced tomatoes (canned or fresh)
Instructions
- Place oil in pan.
- Heat over medium heat.
- Add onion and garlic. If using minced dried onion, add about 1/4 cup water to rehydrate. Cook for approx. 2 min. until browned.
- Add remaining ingredients and cook for about 7 min until the sauce is slightly darkened in color.
- Serve over pasta.
So that’s it.
Easy enough, right?
So from now on, you can skip the overpriced, sugar-laden store-bought jarred pasta sauces and whip this up in no time!
Do you usually make your own marinara sauce or buy it?
but how do you can it?
Have you done canning before? I haven’t done much. Wondering if you have a specific question about it.
Are the spices dried or fresh?
Dried – hope you like it!
I just updated the post – thanks for the good question!
Adrienne, Thank you so much for this recipe. Do you know if I make a real large batch of this can I can’t it?
I assume you mean “can I can it,” correct? The answer is yes!
Easy and delicious!! No more jarred auce for me. I added basil to the mix.
So glad you liked it! Working on another recipe as well!
Regarding your choice of gluten free pastas, have you tried the Barilla line? This is the one I have liked the best. Even my husband has liked the most. The trick that makes it taste the best is adding a LOT of salt to the boiling water, which makes it taste more like wheat pasta. I don’t know why but this works.
I haven’t tried that yet! And thanks for the tip on the salt! We don’t eat pasta that often but I will do that!
While I like your recipe for the marinara sauce, I am wondering if you have ever used sweet vegetables instead of turning to the xylitol. I have been making marinara sauce for many years and have been using carrots and celery, both of which add their natural sweetness to the sauce. I sauté them with sweet onions until they are soft and then puree them with my stick blender. Then I add canned roasted crushed or diced unsalted organic tomatoes from Muir Glen, which I find to be about the best on the market. I make a big batch and freeze in small containers to use for different meals like meatloaf topping instead of canned tomato soup, any pasta meal by extending the sauce with more of the tomatoes and adding more of the spices. I also use Swanson’s Organic broths to extend whenever it calls for thinner sauces.
Thank you for you great tips and recipes.
That is a great tip. I have another recipe I need to get on the site (well, many actually, but this is another marinara). I did just change it b/c I don’t use xylitol any longer and truly you can omit it. Thanks for your encouragement! I will say that I avoid adding a lot of carrots due the added carbs since we didn’t tolerate them that well but as we are doing therapies and improving our health we are able to eat more. Thanks again!
I, for one, love carrots, and since I don’t really know much about carbs, use them often. They are one of the few veggies that everyone in the house will eat, which I count as a victory.
Yes, we love them! They are considered to be pretty high carb for a veggie when cooked. Roasted is the worst b/c the cooking and methods increase the glycemic load. But they are good! The sweetness is an indicator of the sugars. We just have to watch it with them, but they are great!
This recipe is easy and amazing in taste! I will NEVER buy store-bought again. Took 10 minutes to make as the recipe states, and has sooo much flavor, I couldn’t stop “taste-testing” it! I did not add the thyme as I did not have any (and am not really a fan of it either!), but it was still sooooo good! For the tomatoes, I used to no salt added Hunt’s crushed tomatoes and used fresh onion instead of the dried minced onion.
I bagged 5 cups of it to freeze for later and kept the other 2 1/2 cups out to make pizza and meatballs with later today!
Thank you for such a simple yet tasty recipe!
Thanks for coming back to share your thoughts. You made my day!!! And I get the ‘taste testing’ part! It’s hard to keep out of it. Thanks again and hope to see you around again. Working on more recipes like a really really delicious mushroom soup. You can subscribe for updates below the recipe if you’d like ;).
Can you can these in a pressure canner so you can make them ahead of time? How will they do on the shelf after canning?
Yes, I don’t see why not! Is there a reason you think it wouldn’t work well?
Hi there! How long can I store the marinara? Freezer or refrigerator?
Thank you,
Ann
Same as any other marinara. Looks like 3-5 days in fridge and 3 months in the freezer is recommended.
Have you ever canned this recipe? If so how did it do? Fo I have to add lemon to even out the ph?
I haven’t but you for sure could. I am not a canning expert at all–why do you think you would have to change the pH?
Here’s mine. Raw. I don’t use oils, sugar or sodium.
(Serves two)
Ratios are forgiving…
1 C red bell pepper, deseeded
1 Cup tomatoes or puree/crushed from a can
1/2 to 1 cup soaked sundried tomatoes
1 pitted date (or 2)
1 clove garlic as you like – I only use 1
1/4 tablespoon Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar
Italian seasoning
1 Tablespoon water as needed
1 Tablespoon tomato paste to thicken as needed – depending on the tomatoes you use
¼ cup basil (optional)
Blend in Vitamix, you may have to use tamper or use liquids first so it doesn’t get “stuck”.
I really appreciate avenues to make it easier to maintain healthy eating and simplify with techniques to make life easier at the same time! Looking forward to receiving more tips on your site! Thank you!
Thank you!!
How long does this keep for? I’m trying to meal prep so I can stick to a healthier diet but I’m not sure if this will keep for a week.
Hi there! I can’t make shelf life claims but it will depend on how you use it–stand alone or in a dish. I’m reading cooked pasta sauce is typically good for 3-4 days in the fridge.
Hi. I’m sure this works out well. As a noob I was completely screwed up with the sweetener. I used the liquid stuff and completely destroyed the sauce.
Ugh – hope it works out better next time! You could maybe do another batch or 2 and leave out the sweetener and mix them together?
How many carbs are in this??
Sorry I don’t have nutritional info at this time – we are working on it and hope to have it soon. Please use an online calculator that you trust – thanks and hope you like it!
Thanks for a great recipe! I did make a few tweaks…left out the sweetener, used fresh rosemary, and about 1/2 the amounts of each of the other spices, and then let it cook a little longer (maybe 15-20 minutes) and used an immersion blender to get the texture just right. It was a huge hit with my family with plenty for another few meals.
Thanks, Sheera! Glad to hear it! Thanks for taking the time to let me know!