Best Homemade Marinara Sauce (with Fresh Tomatoes)
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!
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.
Video
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
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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