10-Minute Easy Marinara Sauce–Better Than Store Bought!
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This easy marinara sauce recipe is so simple to make and tastes amazing–you'll never need to (or want to) purchase sauce again.
Bonus, this is also happens to be a sugar-free pasta sauce so by making this, you can easily avoid all of the sugar in store bought sauces (and there's often more in them than you'd think!)
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.
When we've needed a quick meal, you can simply grab some tomatoes off the shelf (or out of your garden) and whip this sauce up—pour on top of some pasta and you're done.
Problems 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 does 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.
The Easiest Homemade Sauce Ever
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.
You'll love it, but please promise me that you won't sample it on white bread, ‘mkay?
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
Of course, you should use this on pasta with these Paleo Turkey Meatballs.
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 kinds of bread 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 Special Diet Information
- 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.
- 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 tablespoons for a “fuel pull,” assuming you will use about 1 cup of sauce per person.
FAQs and Tips
How long will this sauce last?
You can store this in the refrigerator for about four to five days. It should keep well in the freezer for up to 6 months, or possibly longer, depending on how you freeze it.
To make it last REALLY long, you could freeze-dry it. We LOVE love love our freeze dryer. We have the medium one and it's been a great size for our family. The sauce freeze-dried should keep for 25 years. Great for taking on trips, camping, etc.
Can this homemade sauce be canned?
Yes, you can (see what I did there?) but pressure canning is recommended since the temperature when water canning doesn't get high enough to kill bacteria in the sauce.
If you want to do water bath canning, you'll have to add vinegar for an acid so that the sauce is of the proper acidity for this type of canning. It's super important to know that the sauce (or anything else you want to use water bath canning for) needs to have a pH of 4.6 or lower in order to be safely canned using that method.
How to Make This Sauce Smooth
You can either use crushed tomatoes or process the sauce before or after cooking to have a smoother sauce.
Easy Marinara Sauce – no sugar added & low carb
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup oil
- 4 tablespoons dried minced onions
- 2 cloves garlic, minced (or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder)
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme
- 1 tablespoon dried rosemary
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- 1 dash stevia extract (optional–see Recipe Notes for alternatives)
- 3 1/2 pounds tomatoes, diced (can also use 56 ounces canned tomatoes)
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 approximately 2 minutes until browned.
- If desired, process the sauce either before or after cooking for a smoother sauce.
- Add remaining ingredients and cook for about 7 minutes until the sauce is slightly darkened in color.
- Serve over pasta.
Notes
- 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.
- 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 tablespoons for a “fuel pull,” assuming you will use about 1 cup sauce per person.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It may vary depending on ingredient brands, substitutions, and preparation methods. Optional ingredients are not included. Net carbs are typically calculated by subtracting fiber and sugar alcohols (such as erythritol) from total carbohydrates. This information should not be relied upon for medical or nutritional purposes.
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?
Thanks,l will make this recipe. Sounds good. As I am going sugar free, artificial sugar free, how much honey could I use in this recipe.
I will post the rating after I make it. Thanks, again.
You could use the 2 T as indicated or use none. This post has information about using honey. https://wholenewmom.com/whole-new-budget/baking-with-honey-sugar-for-baking/
I wanted to let you know that when I printed this recipe, it added your HTML tags on the ingredients list. (Amazon product links.) It is kinda hard to read, but an easy fix with a Sharpie. 🙂
Can’t wait to try the sauce! Do you food process or blend this down? It seems like it would be chunky, but I wanted to see what you do. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi there. Thanks for telling me. I know – we’re having a load of issues w/ the recipe situation. I’m working on it today. I haven’t done anything w/the sauce. I like it a little chunky but you could do either. It will add a minute or 2 on to the recipe though :). (plus cleanup)
This is delicious! I blended it all together at the end because my diced tomatoes and onion chunks were still a little too big. 😉 Trying this on white whole wheat pizza dough and I’m excited to taste it all together. =)
That sounds like such a good idea!
What is the nutritional value per serving for the sauce? How much would you consider a serving? I am curious so that I can keep up with my macros.
Hi there. Sorry but I haven’t put together nutritional information on the site yet. We’re considering it. Please try using an online calculator to determine this for your diet and I hope I can do this soon. Thanks for reading!
Hi! I didn’t want to assume, but are the herbs dried/jarred. I don’t usually have fresh herbs on hand, I hate how you have to buy so much at the store, way more than you ever need for a recipe. I don’t use them often enough to use up a big bunch. I do always use fresh onions and garlic though.
Yes – dried :)! Enjoy.
Hi Adrienne,
for some reason your recipe is not showing up on my feed?
thanks!
Thanks, Pam! We’re trying to fix a bug on the site and that happened. I think it should be up now. Please let me know if you don’t see it and thanks again!!!
Looking forward to giving this a try. Another good thing, spaghetti squash! I love it, probably more than pasta and it’s so easy to oven roast! I’m trying to eat sugar and gluten free, possibly dairy free as well in hopes of eating healthier/fresher but also seeking some possible relief from health concerns. While I’m not sure if I may or may not in the future give up meat as well, for the time being we do a 50/50 blend of ground Italian sausage and ground turkey with spaghetti. I’ve found I can’t hardly stomach beef now that we’ve made the switch to this combo. We make chicken tacos now too, beef is just not my thing personally.
That blend sounds great!
Sounds so good!
How much does this recipe make? And instead of containers of tomatoes – can I just crush some up myself? Trying to avoid everything pre bought 🙂
It makes approx 56 oz. Yes, you could do that. Enjoy!
We have a simple pasta sauce we make all the time to great reviews by all the kiddos. It is my husband’s invention from his days when he lived in Italy. We start by sautéing a few chopped garlic cloves in olive oil, then we dump in whatever meat we have on hand (chopped nitrate free ham, or hot dogs, or chicken sausage, or ground beef), then we add 2 cans of tomato sauce and 1 diced, some oregano and let is simmer a few min. It tastes amazing over pasta with parmesan on top and it takes a very short time to make. This is our emergency pasta sauce. The garlic is key for flavor.
Hi there. I should put some garlic in this recipe for sure. I think I had it out b/c I suspected that I had a garlic intolerance – so thanks for the reminder!
Claudia – you say we add 2 cans of tomato sauce and 1 dice ( what ). You didn’t finish the ingredient.
Do you ever freeze this sauce in the mason jar? How long does it last in the refrigerator?
Hello. I have never frozen it – we just eat it. I would think you could freeze it, making sure to leave some room for expansion. I can’t say about shelf life but I would be conservative with it. The shelf life in the fridge of a tomato base sauce is 5-10 days, but of course homemade could have more potential contamination issues so would err on the side of caution. I hope you enjoy it!
If you want to freeze something in a mason jar you need to use ones without “shoulders” so that they don’t burst when the liquid freezes and expands. The style pictured has shoulders – see how it gets narrower at top? Do an internet search on “freeze or can mason jars” to see what kind to use.
Thanks for the tip! Can you freeze in a jar w/ shoulders if you leave enough room for expansion at the top?
I wouldn’t freeze a liquid in a jar w/shoulders. You would have to leave quite a bit of space just to be sure, then you have a half full jar of frozen pasta sauce. And you have to thaw it entirely to get it out of the jar because of the shoulders! With the freeze or can jars you can defrost slightly and just pour the contents out into a bowl or saucepan to finish thawing quicker. I would choose a freezer bag if I didn’t have a shoulderless jar.
Thanks!