Quick Look at this Homemade Marinara Sauce with Fresh Tomatoes
- Ready In: 3 1/2 hours
- Serves: 12
- Difficulty Level: easy, beginner-friendly
- ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ : over 90 five-star reviews!!
- Main Ingredients: fresh garden tomatoes, onion, garlic, oil, red wine, dried herbs, and fresh herbs.
- Dietary Info: Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free, and Whole30/Paleo-friendly
- Cooking Method: slow roasted in the oven for a rich, concentrated flavor!
- Best For: enjoying on spaghetti, lasagna, or meatballs. Also, great for meal prep – learn how to can marinara sauce or store in the fridge or freezer for later.
Share and summarize this recipe:
Why You’ll Love With This Homemade Marinara
- Ditch all of the canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, jarred marinara – only FRESH tomatoes here!
- No peeling or blanching required!
- So easy – toss it all in a pot and let it slow roast in the oven to perfection.
- Variety of tomatoes with fresh + dried herbs for the BEST flavor!
- Meal Prep-Friendly – make canned marinara sauce, keep in the fridge or freezer.
Key Ingredients + Substitutions
Be sure to see the recipe card below for a full listing of ingredients, instructions, and estimated nutritional information.
- Fresh Tomatoes – highly recommend using a variety of different types of tomatoes to get the most depth of flavor.
- Red Wine – use a dry red wine or substitute pomegranate juice to make this sauce Whole30/Paleo compliant.
- Fresh Herbs – option to use both sweet basil and Italian basil or just stick with one if you can’t find both.
- Olive Oil – the higher quality the better or swap it out for avocado oil.
How To Make The Best Homemade Marinara Sauce
Step 1 – Prep all the ingredients and put them in a dutch oven.
Step 2 – Mix everything together.
Step 3 – Roast in the oven for 3 hours, stir every 30-45 minutes.
Step 4 – Let the tomato mixture cool for a bit before blending.
No Blender? No Problem!
Feel free to use a food processor or simply blend right in the pot with an immersion blender for minimal clean-up!
Step 5 – Carefully transfer the mixture to a blender.
Step 6 – Blend or pulse to reach your desired consistency. Serve or store for later!
Large Batch of Homemade Marinara Sauce with Fresh Tomatoes
- This recipe for the best marinara sauce was originally born with 20+ pounds of fresh, garden tomatoes in a LARGE batch if sauce.
- It all roasts together in a large aluminum pan in the oven for about 5 hours.
- Exact ingredients and instructions are included below in the Notes section of the recipe card.
Best Ways To Serve Homemade Marinara Sauce
Bring the best flavor to any recipe that you would typically use jarred marinara sauce in, like these:
- Pasta: serve over spaghetti noodles (or zoodles), make our easy homemade lasagna, or a cheesy baked rigatoni.
- Baked Dinners: like oven baked chicken parmesan or baked eggplant parmesan.
- Meatballs: enjoy with some oven baked Italian meatballs.
- Dipping: use a little for dipping our cheesy Italian dunkers!
Marinara Sauce Storage Tips: Fridge, Freeze, Can
- Fridge: store leftover sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.
- Freezer: fully cool, transfer to a freezer-safe container (leave room for expansion), and freeze for up to 6 months.
- Can: simply follow our tutorial on how to can spaghetti sauce to keep your marinara for longer in the pantry!
Homemade Marinara Sauce FAQs
Do you need to blanche the tomatoes before making this homemade marinara sauce?
No, there is no need to blanche the tomatoes before cooking. The roasted tomatoes will be blended to smooth and I honestly think they add more flavor and authenticity to the sauce.
Can I use dried herbs instead of fresh in this homemade marinara sauce?
I highly recommend using fresh herbs for the added flavor, but if you need to substitute some dried herbs that can be done at a ratio of 3:1 (1 teaspoon dried herbs for every 1 tablespoon of fresh).
Can I make this homemade marinara sauce into a meat sauce?
Yes, feel free to serve over easy baked Italian meatballs or brown a pound of ground beef in a skillet and then add your desired amount of sauce.
Other Italian-Inspired Recipes You Might Like
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Our incredible Homemade Marinara Sauce with Fresh Tomatoes is slow roasted with garlic, fresh herbs, onion, oil, and red wine for a marinara sauce that is full of flavor and naturally sweetened for your pasta, lasagna, or freeze for later!
Video
Ingredients
- 6-7 pounds fresh tomatoes, cut into chunks (mixture of heirloom, beefsteak, orange, yellow, and roma)
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes
- 1 large white onion, peeled and quartered
- 1 head garlic, peeled and separated into cloves
- ½ cup fresh oregano
- ½ cup fresh sweet basil, roughly chopped and tightly packed
- ½ cup dry red wine
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup fresh Italian basil, roughly chopped and tightly packed
- 2 tablespoons dried oregano leaves
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt, more to taste
- 1 tablespoon dried basil leaves
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat: Preheat oven to 425℉.
- Combine: In a large dutch oven, add all of the tomatoes, onion, garlic, ½ cup fresh oregano, ½ cup fresh sweet basil, ½ cup dry red wine, ⅓ cup olive oil, ¼ cup fresh Italian basil, 2 tablespoons dried oregano leaves, 2 tablespoons kosher salt, 1 tablespoon dried basil leaves, and 1 teaspoon ground black pepper. Mix everything together to combine.
- Roast: Place in oven, uncovered, and let roast for 3 hours, stirring every 30-45 minutes. After 3 hours, remove from oven and let cool for an hour or so.
- Blend: Carefully transfer the roasted tomato mixture to a blender or food processor (alternatively, you could also use an immersion blender in the dutch oven). Cover and pulse a few times for a more chunky sauce or blend on high for 1-2 minutes for a smoother sauce.
- Serve or Save: Serve some immediately or fully cool and store for later.
Notes
- Aluminum Pan: you will need a large aluminum roasting pan for this recipe
- Clean Tomatoes: be sure to clean tomatoes before use. I soak them in a 50/50 vinegar and water mixture for about 10-15 minutes and then rinse clean.
- Cutting Garlic Tip: dreading peeling a ton of garlic – simply cut each clove in half lengthwise and you can peel them so much easier!
- Total Pounds of Tomatoes Needed: don’t get hung up on the exact tomatoes used. You just need about 6-7 pounds of tomatoes, using a variety of different types and colors (for better depth of flavor).
- Basil: If you can’t find both Sweet AND Italian Basil, just use 3/4 cup of fresh basil and don’t worry about the type.
- Red Wine: I don’t use any particular brand and really any red wine you have will probably be fine, but you will get the best flavor with a dry red wine.
- Paleo/Whole30: simply use pomegranate juice in place of the red wine.
- Is 425°F Too Hot?: I promise it isn’t too hot! Once those tomatoes start cooking down there is going to be A LOT of liquid that needs to be cooked off.
- How much will it make: This recipe resulted in about (3) 1-pint jars. The large batch noted below will make about (14) 1-pint jars, but it will vary a little. Feel free to use larger jars – we use smaller ones because that seems to work for a family of 4 making spaghetti and if we stored them in larger jars we would open them and not all of it would get used. Personal preference!
- Eat, Freeze, Can: Feel free to use some right away, store some in the refrigerator for a week or so, freeze it or can it! I have a great post on How to Can Spaghetti Sauce 101 that can answer a lot of questions!
- Large Batch Recipe: If you are looking to make A LOT of sauce or have an abundance of tomatoes (makes approx. (14) 1-pint jars). Cook in a large aluminum pan for 5 hours, stir every 30-45 minutes (especially the last 2 hours). Cool and blend as noted in the recipe card:
- 3 heads of garlic, peeled
- 22-23 lbs of tomatoes with a mix of
-
- 5 heirloom tomatoes – cut into chunks
- 8 beefsteak tomatoes – cut into chunks
- 3 orange tomatoes – cut into chunks
- 6 yellow tomatoes – cut into chunks
- 20 cherry tomatoes
- 2 pounds roma tomatoes – quartered
-
- 3 large white onions – quartered
- 1 cup tightly packed fresh sweet basil, roughly chopped
- 1 cup tightly packed Italian basil, roughly chopped
- 1 cup fresh oregano
- 1/4 cup dried oregano leaves
- 2 tablespoons dried basil leaves
- 3 tablespoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 cup olive oil
- 1 1/2 cups dry red wine
Calories 54kcal
Nutrition
Calories: 54kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 0.4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 506mg | Potassium: 299mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 948IU | Vitamin C: 18mg | Calcium: 39mg | Iron: 1mg
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Original post published on 8/20/2020. New photos added and retested on 8/3/3026.
Robin says
We have reached the point of summer where Harvest 2026 has begun which means it is time to break out this Best Marinara Sauce (for garden tomatoes) recipe. This is my go to recipe. I’ve used it for years and it is a winner. I’m never a fan of reviews that include all the changes people do, however I do prep my tomatoes the day before by removing the skins and squeezing out as many of the seeds as I can. I don’t do that to the cherry tomatoes. Other than that, I follow this recipe as is and freeze the sauce. Nothing better than pulling a bag out of my freezer on a cold winter day. Thanks for such a good recipe.
Bridget Montag says
So happy to hear that Robin – we love it too! And thank you for coming back to write a review.
karen says
Made this last summer and my grandson won’t eat any other sauce and he is 4 1/2.
Judith says
My husband and I will be making this again this summer. This will be the third time for us. We have always been pleased. We now make it in our 3 qt Nesco cooker and it works great.
Carol Drutowski says
I made the small batch and followed the directions, it burned in the last 20 minutes. Disappointing.
Trisha says
I made this last summer, but did so without all the bells and whistles. Tomatoes, onion, garlic, basil, salt and pepper. It turned out incredibly delicious and was so simple to make. I roasted it in a Le Creuset dutch oven. I used a mix of various garden fresh summer tomatoes. Love that you don’t need to remove the tomato skins. Making it again this summer!
Debby says
Makes the best marinara sauce and is so easy to make and VERY flavorful!
Suzanne says
This looks so good! Homemade is the best!
Argia says
This may be a silly question, but on your small batch instructions, it doesn’t say what temperature to set the oven on. Does that mean that the small batch is made on top of the stove? I really want to make this tonight, but I want to do it right. Thank you.
Kerri S says
THANK YOU! Literally THE ONLY marinara recipe to make with your garden harvest! We look forward to doing this every year! I just made my first half batch for this year.. since it was half I added some lemon juice to be safe (it only cooked for 3.5 hrs). Do you recommend adding lemon juice to the small batch?
Erin says
So happy to hear you are loving this recipe! Yes, you can also add in some lemon juice if you want!
Britta says
Loved this tomato sauce. Loved having the sauce on hand all winter! Used all my garden produce for this recipe.
Holly says
The best! This is such an easy, delicious recipe you can enjoy for months. I even tested it with Italian friends and they fully approved! It’s a must, definitely.
Emma says
This is a very delicious recipe but how are people fitting 22 lbs of tomatoes in any type of cookware? I am using a giant Turkey pan and it is almost full of tomatoes at 11 lbs
Wendy Pearson says
I had two HUGE aluminum pans and still just got 20lbs of tomatoes in each. Mine ended up cooking over a little because of all the liquid so I scooped some juice out of each pan and was good after that. I did have more canning tomatoes than anything else so next time I will have more Roma tomatoes. Mine only made 6 quarts and 1 pint and that was with a double batch. It is the best thick sauce so I will for sure make this again to stock up for winter!
Bridget Montag says
So glad you liked it and thank you so much for coming back to leave a review!
Laura says
This is a great recipe! It’s been helping me use up all of my leftover tomatoes from this summer. It has great flavor and is easy to make!