The BEST Authentic Italian Marinara Sauce from Scratch!

The best marinara sauce recipe—NEVER buy a jar of marinara sauce again!

This Authentic Italian Marinara Sauce from scratch recipe is so delicious and EASY to make! Impress your family and friends with your rich homemade marinara sauce that you made in less than 30 minutes.

This quick marinara sauce is the only tomato sauce recipe you need—perfect for pasta, pizza, and meatballs! Just like my Nana (or nonna) used to make! Whether you want to make homemade marinara sauce from fresh tomatoes or canned, chunky-style or smooth, we’ve got your marinara from scratch covered!

Traditional marinara sauce with spaghetti

What Is Marinara Sauce?

In simple terms, traditional marinara sauce, one of the quintessential sauces of Italian cuisine, is tomato sauce.

Or what Americans sometimes call spaghetti sauce, and Italian-Americans sometimes call “gravy.” This is what my family called it when I was a kid. Well, my mom’s side of the family, anyway—the ones who actually made Authentic Italian Marinara Sauce from scratch.

However, it wasn’t that simple. Sometimes gravy meant the traditional meat sauce from Bologna in the region of Emilia-Romagna. That of course, is Bolognese Sauce. It didn’t really matter because it was all delicious and it was all homemade. And now I’m sharing my family secrets with you!

What is the difference between pasta sauce and Marinara?

Now that we’ve answered the question “What is marinara sauce?” we know that it is an Italian tomato-based sauce. This classic Italian sauce can be a pizza sauce, or a sauce for pasta and a slew of other Italian dishes. So, it is a pasta sauce, but by no means, the only pasta sauce.

Some of the best pasta sauces aren’t even red sauces. One of our most popular Italian recipes is this Bucatini Cacio e Pepe. And one of my all-time-favorite Italian sauces that’s just as versatile as marinara sauce is this Genovese Pesto recipe.

Homemade Authentic Italian Marinara Sauce from scratch

Homemade Marinara Sauce From Scratch

Italian food, and particularly marinara sauce from scratch, is near and dear to my heart. I was raised on homemade Italian spaghetti sauce and all sorts of traditional Italian dishes.

I still have a hard time going to an Italian restaurant because my Nana made the best Italian marinara sauce (and meatballs)! Of course, this doesn’t apply to Italy—I could dine in Lucca every day, or I’d be happy to frequent the restaurants in Rome. Yes, please!

How do you make scratch marinara sauce?

I remember being quite surprised that Authentic Italian Marinara Sauce is actually quite quick and easy to make! It also requires just a few simple ingredients.

Growing up, there was always a mystery behind Nana’s scratch marinara sauce. The one thing I knew early on as a little girl was that we would never ever have store-bought marinara sauce!

Part of the mystery was that there was no actual authentic Italian tomato sauce recipe, or I should say written recipe. Everything was in my Nana’s head and before that, it was in her mother’s head. Which means it really is an Authentic Marinara Sauce from Italy!

Marinara Sauce From Fresh Tomatoes or Canned

To be clear, you can make marinara sauce from scratch with canned tomatoes. In fact, you can make Authentic Marinara Sauce from canned tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, or even from tomato puree. It’s all real Italian Marinara Sauce!

One thing Nana was a stickler about was using high quality ingredients. Do not assume making marinara sauce from scratch with fresh tomatoes will make the best marinara sauce. It really depends on the tomatoes.

San Marzano tomatoes are the pride of Italy and the best tomatoes for making the best tomato sauce.

So, if you don’t have in-season, low-acid tomatoes like San Marzano, a high-quality canned tomato, preferably San Marzano tomatoes, will probably taste more like a true Italian Marinara Sauce.

Tomatoes that most closely resemble the characteristics of San Marzano are Roma (sometimes called plum tomatoes) or cherry tomatoes.

First, you should decide if you want your homemade marinara sauce to be chunky or smooth. If you don’t have a strong preference one way or the other, it may come down to what you’re using it for.

Marinara sauce for lasagna, I prefer chunky. Most other pasta with marinara, I prefer smooth. Meatballs, I prefer smooth. Marinara sauce for pizza, I prefer chunky. These are my preferences for when I prefer smooth marinara sauce vs chunky, not Italian “laws.”

If you don’t care, go with chunky—it’s easiest!

Both chunky and smooth style Authentic Italian Marinara Sauces are discussed below. Whichever you prefer, the key to a tasty marinara sauce is the tomatoes. With so few ingredients, use the highest quality tomatoes you can find.

Whether fresh or canned, taste your tomatoes. Listen to your taste buds—if they don’t taste good and sweet before you put them in the pot, they will not magically transform while cooking, and your marinara sauce from scratch may turn out to be bitter and too acidic.

If this happens, you can add a little sugar to balance out the bitterness, and no one will be the wiser.

So you’re the wiser, this post contains affiliate links. I may receive a small commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you.

Authentic Italian marinara sauce from scratch over ravioli

Authentic Italian Marinara Sauce Recipe

How to make Authentic Marinara Sauce from canned tomatoes.

This version of our homemade marinara sauce from scratch makes a delicious chunky-style sauce.

Servings: 12-16

Ingredients

½ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 small onion, diced small
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon dried oregano
2 28–32 ounce cans San Marzano tomatoes, crushed or high-quality canned crushed tomatoes
1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped

Instructions

In a deep pan or sauce pot, heat extra virgin olive oil over medium heat.
Sautee garlic and onion until onion is translucent.
Add salt, pepper, and dried oregano. If you prefer to use all fresh herbs, use 3/4 teaspoon of fresh oregano.
Add tomatoes, and bring to a boil.
Reduce temperature to low heat, and simmer for 5–10 minutes. The longer you simmer, the thicker it will be.
Stir in basil and you’re done! I told you it was an easy marinara sauce!

How to make smooth Authentic Italian Marinara Sauce

To make a smooth marinara sauce, you have 2 choices. You don’t need a separate smooth marinara sauce recipe. It just takes a couple of adjustments to the authentic Italian marinara recipe above.
1. Blend the onions before sautéing.
2. Blend the tomatoes before adding them to the sauce, or substitute tomato puree for crushes tomatoes. If you’re blending, you can also use whole tomatoes instead of crushed.

Ingredients to make marinara sauce from scratch with fresh tomatoes

How to make Authentic Italian Marinara Sauce with Fresh Tomatoes

To make Authentic Italian Marinara Sauce with fresh tomatoes and fresh basil, use the recipe above and substitute 2 quarts of fresh, diced, seeded tomatoes, and 1 tablespoon of tomato paste. I prefer not to take the skin off, so I usually blend the tomatoes before adding them to the pot. I also find this tomato marinara needs an additional 10 minutes of simmering time.

How to use Authentic Italian Marinara Sauce

Once you’ve made this simple marinara sauce, you’ll want to make it again and again. Luckily, this Authentic Marinara Sauce recipe can be used for any recipe that calls for classic Italian marinara sauce or tomato sauce. It’s much more than a just a pasta sauce recipe!

Use it on our Chicken Parm Panini (your new favorite sandwich) or Best-Ever Italian Turkey Meatballs as well as on any pasta or pizza!

If you prefer your tomato sauce spicy, once you’ve made marinara sauce, just add some crushed red pepper flakes to taste.

Storing Authentic Italian Marinara Sauce From Scratch

This authentic Italian spaghetti sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week. It also stores well in the freezer, so don’t be afraid to make a big pot! If you have a good freezer, this Italian Marinara Sauce recipe can store up to 6 months! Just defrost the sauce overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.

If you need to defrost traditional marinara sauce quickly, you can microwave it on low for short intervals, or put it on the stove top frozen. For both of these methods, defrost slowly and stir often.

When I make a big batch of homemade tomato sauce, I also like to put it in mason jars or some kind of cute airtight container and give it to friends and family.

Meatballs with Authentic Italian Marinara Sauce

Rating These Marinara From Scratch Recipes

Please let me know what you think of this marinara scratch recipe! Have any of these marinara sauce recipes made it to your meal plans? How did it compare to other recipes for marinara sauce? My hope is that these marinara sauce recipes are tastier, easier, and quicker than any other red sauce you’ve tried. And that you’ll never have to buy a jarred sauce again!

I’d love to hear what you thought in the comments below.