The Perfect Marinara Sauce Recipe

To make the Marinara you should start with a good quality canned tomato. If you need some suggestions on what brands are the best to use check my canned tomatoes page to see my comparison.

I use two 28oz cans of San Marazano canned tomatoes

You also need:

½ cup of olive oil
4 cloves of garlic crushed
4 cloves of garlic thinly sliced
and
10-12 fresh basil leaves torn or coarsely chopped

Kitchen Tools:

Garlic slicer. I can't live without mine
Garlic press
Measuring cup
Wooden spoon
Large pot
Cutting board and chopping knife
Large saute pan or ceramic pot

Marinara Sauce Recipe Preparation:

Coat the pan with the olive oil and heat on medium. Then add the sliced garlic to the oil and stir until translucent and tender.

See how the garlic is becoming tender and golden brown?

Now add the crushed garlic and stir a couple of more minutes. Splash with white wine if necessary.

Pour in the san marzano tomatoes and the rest of the olive oil. Stir together and simmer uncovered for about 15 to 20 minutes.

In 20 minutes you should see how the sauce has evaporated to about half. When the sauce is ready remove from the heat and stir in the freshly chopped basil.

It's very customary to put the freshly made pasta into the pan with the sauce and saute, or you can spoon a little over a some pasta for yourself with grated parmigiano cheese.

You can taste the fresh flavor.

Italian food is all about fresh, simple, quality ingredients put together in a way that tastes delicious. Do you see how simple it is to cook good fresh Italian food?

For a Large Batch of Marinara Sauce Recipe:

I recently found a great deal on Nina Whole San Marzano canned tomatoes at Costco that can't be beaten.

If you're cooking pasta for a crowd, this is the way to go. A small can of 28 ounces of San Marzano tomatoes, is usually about three to four dollars a can. At Costco you can buy the number 10 tin (a food wholesale industry term) for less then four dollars. That can of Nina San Marzano tomatoes is 106 oz or 6 lbs 10 oz. It might just be worth the membership to get this deal.

This should make 10 to 12 cups of marinara sauce.

When I make a Marinara I like to use crushed tomatoes rather then puree or whole tomatoes because of the texture. Having a few small pieces of tomato in the sauce is part of the difference between a pomodoro sauce, which is a little thicker and has a smoother consistency, then a marinara sauce.

So if you do buy the can of Nina tomatoes you can simply take a potato basher or masher and crush the tomatoes yourself. Do it right in the pot your cooking the marinara sauce recipe in, to the consistency you like.

Marinara Sauce Ingredients Large Batch:

1 #10 tin Canned tomatoes
8 cloves of garlic finely sliced
8 cloves of crushed garlic
20 basil leaves, sliced
1 cup of olive oil
Salt to taste

Kitchen Tools:

Garlic slicer
Garlic press
Measuring cup
Wooden spoon
Extra Large pot
Cutting board and chopping knife
Potato basher or masher

Large Batch Preparation:

You basically repeat all the steps listed above for the smaller batch of marinara sauce recipe except each step will take a little longer because of the volume of sauce you're making.

I open the can of Nina San Marzano tomatoes, which can be a little awkward since the can is so big. Be careful with the lid. It's sharp. Pour the tomatoes into a large pot. Mash them a few times with your potato masher and set aside.

Slice your garlic with the garlic slicer. This kitchen tool comes in super handing when your making a large batch of pasta sauce like this!

Now you'll need a fairly large saute pan. Heat about ¼ cup of the olive oil in the pan on medium and then add the sliced garlic. Saute until golden brown. Then add the crushed garlic, splash with some white wine if desired and saute a little longer.

Remove the saute pan from the heat and pour the garlic mixture into the large pot with the tomatoes. Pour in the remaining olive oil, salt and simmer uncovered for approximately 35 to 45 minutes.

There is a common misconception that you should cook the family recipe for pasta sauce "all day". Not this marinara sauce recipe!

When the sauce has reduced to the thickness you like, remove from heat and add the freshly cut basil and stir.

This is plenty of sauce for you to jar and refrigerate for up to 1 month or you can share with friends, family and neighbors. They will love it, I promise you. All of my friends told me I should jar this sauce and sell it. If they only knew how simple it was!

:o)

If you want to have this delicious marinara sauce recipe with a batch of homemade pasta, be sure to see my "how to make pasta" page!