Perfect Homemade Marinara Sauce

How to Make the Best Homemade Marinara Sauce

This. Sauce. This marinara sauce is guaranteed to make your house smell like an Italian grandmother moved in and started cooking for you.

This recipe for marinara sauce includes a bit of red wine, garlic, onions, crushed red pepper, Italian herbs, and plenty of fresh basil and parsley. The sauce requires only about 15 minutes of hands-on time, but should simmer for at least 2 hours, even longer if you wish.

I know of no better way to draw my family (and probably at least a couple of my neighbors) to the dinner table than with a big pot of this marinara sauce simmering away on the stovetop. It will make your house smell so, sooooo good.

It’s incredibly rich and thick, and packed with flavor that’s both complex and comforting. While a long simmer is highly recommended, making this homemade marinara sauce is super simple.

How to Make Homemade Marinara Sauce

Simply add some onion, garlic, Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper, sugar, salt, and pepper to the bowl of a food processor, and process it into a paste.

Cook the herbs and vegetables in some olive oil to release all their flavors and soften the garlic and onion. Then add some of the crushed tomatoes, cooking them down until they are rich and concentrated before adding some red wine, Worcestershire sauce, and and more crushed tomatoes.

Let the sauce simmer away happily on the stovetop for about an hour until it looks like this….

Dishes that use Homemade Marinara Sauce:

• Indian Shrimp and Rice
• Eggplant and/or Chicken Parmesan
• Homemade Pizza
• Meatball Sandwiches
• Homemade Meatballs and Marinara
• The {BEST} Classic Lasagna with Italian Sausage
• Chachouka (North African tomato and pepper stew)

Useful for this recipe:

• Dutch Oven

If you give this recipe a try, let me know! Leave a comment, rate it, or take a picture and tag it #alittleandalot on Instagram.

Perfect Homemade Marinara Sauce

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★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

• Author: RebeccaBlackwell
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 1-2 hours
• Total Time: About 2 hours
• Yield: 11 cups of sauce

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Ingredients

• 2 large yellow onions, peeled and cut into quarters
• 12 cloves of garlic, peeled
• 4 tbsp dried Italian seasoning
• 1 – 2 tsp crushed red pepper (depending on how spicy you want your sauce to be)
• 1 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar
• 2 tsp salt (more to taste)
• 1 1/2 tsp ground black pepper (more to taste)
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• Four 28-oz cans crushed tomatoes (I like to use fire roasted tomatoes)
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 3/4 cup chopped fresh basil

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Instructions

1. Add the onion, garlic, Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper, sugar, salt, and pepper to the bowl of a food processor fitted with the chopping blade. Pulse until the ingredients form a paste.
2. Heat olive oil in a large, heavy bottomed sauce pan or dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion mixture to the hot oil and cook, stirring constantly for 5 minutes.
3. Add one of the cans of crushed tomatoes and cook, stirring frequently, until thick and darkened in color – 5-10 minutes.
4. Stir in the wine, the rest of the crushed tomatoes, and the Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a boil and cook, partially covered to avoid splatters, over medium low heat for an 1-2 hours, stirring occasionally. Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary. Stir in the fresh parsley and basil.

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