This homemade marinara sauce is made ultra-simply with fresh tomatoes, garlic, and herbs. No cans here, just delicious, fresh from the garden tomato sauce!

I’m sort of posting backwards, leading up to some quite tasty little Eggplant Parmesan Poppers that you’ll be seeing tomorrow. But no eggplant parm dish is complete without a good homemade marinara sauce.

So I went to the store, gathered up what I thought should go into a homemade marinara (fresh tomatoes, basil, garlic, parsley), got home and decided “eh, better just check to see what the interwebs say about making marinara”. Well the interwebs say canned tomatoes. Almost always canned tomatoes. Canned stewed tomatoes and tomato paste and canned crushed tomato and all of these sodium-filled cans of tomatoes.

But it’s summer and tomatoes are growing and I have five beautiful ones sitting right here in front of me. So screw the cans. We’re making a fresh tomato homemade marinara.

And we’re gonna leave the skin on too! Most recipes will have you blanch the tomato to remove the skin, but I didn’t find it to be all that necessary. AND the skin has healthy insoluble fiber. Double win.

How do you make marinara sauce with fresh tomatoes?

Heat a touch of oil, toast some garlic, throw in diced fresh tomatoes and let them simmer. Not only is cooking going to break these tomatoes down into a smooth sauce and remove those sour tones, but it’s also going to increase the concentration of lycopene, one of the most potent antioxidants!

Once you’ve cooked down the tomatoes, add in your flavor makers: basil, parsley, and honey. 

What are the best tomatoes for marinara sauce?

You can use almost any tomato to make fresh tomato marinara sauce, but the best ones will be the paste tomatoes. These are meatier and have less water content, meaning you need to cook them for less time to get to that nice, thick sauce. Look for Roma or San Marzano tomatoes!

Ways to use this Homemade Marinara Sauce:

• Stuffed Eggplant Parmesan
• Ratatouille
• Eggplant Parmesan Poppers
• Shakshuka

4.89 from 9 votes

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Homemade Marinara Sauce

This homemade marinara sauce is made ultra-simply with fresh tomatoes, garlic, and herbs. No cans, no fuss!

Course Dips, Sauces, and Salsas, Pastas

Diet Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free, Paleo, Vegetarian

Time 45 minutes or less

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings 2 cups

Author Live Eat Learn

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 5 fresh tomatoes diced
• 2 Tbsp fresh basil finely chopped
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 3 sprigs of parsley

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat, then add garlic and cook about 2 minutes.
2. Add diced tomatoes and stir well. Allow to simmer, uncovered, about 25 minutes, stirring often, until mixture has thickened slightly.
3. Stir in basil, honey, salt, pepper, and parsley (stem and leaves intact). Continue simmering about 10 minutes.
4. Carefully remove sprigs of parsley with a fork.
5. You can serve it like this or puree it in a food processor/blender for a smoother sauce (good for dipping!).

Notes

Use maple syrup instead of honey to make this recipe vegan.

Thanks so much for dropping by and for making easy recipes like this Homemade Fresh Tomato Marinara Sauce possible!