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This homemade marinara sauce is made ultra-simply from scratch with fresh tomatoes, garlic, and herbs. No cans here, just delicious, fresh from the garden tomato sauce! With hundreds of five-star reviews, you can be sure this homemade tomato sauce will be a hit!
save this recipe!If it’s the peak of summer, your garden is churning out more tomatoes than you know what to do with, and you’re hungry…I have two words for you: homemade marinara.
More specifically, a homemade marinara with fresh tomatoes (no canned tomatoes or tomato paste here)! Because summer is all about celebrating that garden-fresh produce, and this marinara is the perfect way to celebrate.
Reader rating
“This is THE marinara sauce! When it was finished cooking and cooled, I tasted it and could not believe how delicious! When one of my daughters arrived for dinner I asked her to taste it just to be sure. She did but said nothing. I asked if it was all right. She said she was just savoring the flavor and didn’t want to interrupt that. Other guests said it was the best marinara they had ever eaten.” —Claudette
Most recipes will have you blanch the tomato to remove the skin, but I find that it’s unnecessary and takes too much time (plus, the skin has insoluble fiber – double win). Let’s cook!
What’s the best texture for marinara?
This homemade marinara sauce recipe is naturally chunky, but you can easily make it into a smooth and silky marinara with a quick blitz in the blender. I prefer to use a handheld immersion blender to puree it right in the pot, but you could also transfer it (carefully – hot!) to a countertop blender.
- Keep it chunky for use with your favorite pasta (like these vegetarian stuffed shells)
- Blend it smooth for use as a dipping sauce (like with air fryer mozzarella sticks!)
Homemade Marinara Sauce with Fresh Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil, 15 mL
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 5 fresh tomatoes, 1 to 1.5 lbs, diced
- 2 Tbsp fresh basil, finely chopped
- 2 Tbsp Italian parsley, flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
- 1 Tbsp honey, 15 g
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
Instructions
- Tomatoes: Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook until soft and fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and allow to simmer uncovered until tomatoes have mostly broken down, about 25 minutes. Stir often to prevent burning.
- Herbs: Stir in remaining ingredients. Continue simmering about 10 minutes.
- Serve: You can serve it like this or puree it in a food processor or blender for a smoother sauce.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information calculated by Sarah Bond, degreed nutritionist.
did you make this?Leave a comment below and tag @liveeatlearn on social media! I love seeing what you’ve made!Seasonal Tip
They say what grows together goes together, so why not use the fresh cucumber growing in your garden to make this easy tzatziki sauce? Serve it as a dip with veggies, as a side, or as an appetizer with this marinara!
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The question that I have about the tomatoes are the 5 tomatoes total to 1lb together or is each tomato 1lb each. Thank you
Together they should be about 1 to 1.5 lbs 😀
Man was this great! I’ve made plenty of marinara sauce in my day but this one is the best. I used heirloom tomatoes instead of plum only because I have to use them up. Fresh basil and a sprig of rosemary. I boiled for 10-12 minutes longer to deal with the extra water from the tomatoes. I’ve never had any sauce as good as this. I’ll be using a stick blender to make is smooth for Margherita pizza tomorrow.
I’m so happy to hear it! Enjoy! 😀
This is absolutely delicious and I will definitely be making it again
Can this be canned for later use this winter?
I haven’t tried canning this recipe so I can’t say for sure!
I made this last evening with about 12 ripe tomatoes given to me by a gardener friend. I was a tad worried about the honey as an ingredient, but decided to try the recipe as stated. It did take a bit longer to cook, probably due to the types of tomatoes, but it turned out to be the best marinara I’ve ever tasted! Thank you!!
Can you can this sauce?
I haven’t tested this recipe for canning, but it should work!
This turned out amazing, and my husband prefers chunky, so we left it that way. I’ve been having to de-seed tomatoes so they won’t curdle scrambled eggs, so in this, I get to taste the flavor of the seeds and juice, which is just amazing with the fresh basil! I want to make some and can it, but I might just keep it in the fridge, because it’s so delicious, we’ll use it up. I put it over calzones, but it would be good in many things. So delicious!
This recipe is super. A variation I tried was using bacon grease , then the onion, garlic etc. Added the crumbled bacon at the end and served over Spaghetti squash with fresh grated parmesan. Delish
Home grown veggies picked fresh this morning added a fresh minced bell pepper to give it some sweetness as I don’t like foods with sugar in them. Included about a 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes for a bit spicy and mmmmmmm.
Would this be a good recipe to make by running the tomatoes first thru a tomato strainer to remove the seeds/skin? My daughter is weird about tomatoes.
Yes I think that would work well! You could also blend it to pulverize the skin and seeds.