Look no further for the BEST Marinara Sauce recipe EVER! You won’t find a more flavorful marinara sauce. It’s easy to make and is absolutely PACKED with flavor! Canning instructions are included so you can enjoy the fresh flavor of tomatoes all year long!
What is Marinara Sauce?
Marinara sauce is a popular tomato sauce that is an essential staple in Italian cuisine. It consists of tomatoes, garlic, onions, olive oil, and a variety of herbs and spices. It’s known for its bright and fresh flavor, is highly versatile, and is a key component in many Italian dishes such as chicken parmesan, eggplant parmesan, pasta alla norma, and spaghetti and meatballs.
It’s hard to beat a simple dish of fresh pasta topped with homemade marinara sauce. Â The key is using quality products and when you have those these simplest of dishes come to life.
The Italians have relied on the best of the best tomatoes for centuries: Â Sun-kissed San Marzano tomatoes. Â They’re stronger in flavor and much sweeter than most any other variety. Â And for that reason it’s hard to replicate the flavor of the marinara sauces you find in southern Italy. Â Our tomatoes require the help of a few flavor boosts, a dash of sugar being one of them.
This marinara sauce is slow-simmered with a variety of herbs and seasonings for 2 hours.  The end result is a delicious sauce you can either eat right away, freeze or can for long-term storage so you can enjoy the vibrancy of Summer all year long! This is the BEST marinara sauce for canning!
The use of dehydrated onions is especially suited to canning as it provides a better flavor long-term.
Marinara Sauce Recipe
Select the best tomatoes you can find. Â The ideal tomatoes are ones that are very meaty with few seeds. Roma tomatoes fall into that category and are the most readily available and they, like other paste tomatoes like San Marzano’s, develop the best flavor when cooked down into a sauce. Â That said, you can use whatever tomatoes you have available and if they’re grown in your own garden so much the better.
Blanch the tomatoes for a minute in boiling water to loosen the skins. Â Peel the tomatoes and squeeze out and discard the seeds. Â Chop the tomatoes.
Place the tomatoes in a large pot with all the ingredients (except for the citric acid/lemon juice). Â Bring it to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 2 hours, stirring every once in a while. Adjust seasonings to taste. Â Discard the bay leaves.
Use an immersion blender or transfer to a blender and puree until desired consistency.
I use and recommend Cuisinart’s Immersion Blender, I’ve been using mine for 8 years and it’s still going strong.
The sauce is ready but the flavor is even better after a day or two.
You can either enjoy the sauce now, freeze it, or can it for future use.
If you want to can your marinara for long-term storage, here’s how:
Before you fill the sterilized jars with the marinara sauce, add 1/4 tsp Citric Acid per pint or add 1 tbsp bottled lemon juice per pint (double those quantities for quarts). This is per USDA guidelines as a requirement for safe canning. Â Fill the hot marinara sauce into the jars leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Â Wipe the rims of the jars with a damp cloth. Â Screw on the clean lids and rims.
Next you’ll use a water canner to process the jars. Â This complete canning set has everything you’ll need.
Place the jars in the boiling water canning and process for 35 minutes for pints and 40 minutes for quarts (wait for the water to return to a boil before you start the time). Â Turn off the heat and let the jars rest for 5 minutes before removing.
Adjustments for canning at high altitude:Â
- At 1,001 to 3,000 feet (305 to 914 meters) above sea level: increase processing time by 5 minutes.
- At 3,001 to 6,000 feet (914 to 1,829 meters) above sea level: increase processing time by 10 minutes.
- Above 6,000 feet (1,829 meters) increase processing time by 15 minutes.
Carefully remove the jars from the water canner and let them sit undisturbed for 24 hours.  Check the seals. Stored in a dark, cool place the jars will keep for at least a year but for best flavor use within six months.
Enjoy!
For more fabulous canning recipes be sure to try our:
- Pickled Pepperoncini Peppers
- Pickled Jalapenos
- Dill Pickle Relish
- Giardiniera
- Corn Relish
- Bread and Butter Pickles
- Sweet Pickle Relish
- Sweet Pepper and Onion Relish
- Pickled Onions
- Pickled Carrots
- Pickled Banana Peppers
- Dilly Beans
- Pickled Asparagus
- Pickled Turnips
- Pickled Peppers
- Pickled Beets
BEST Marinara Sauce
Ingredients
- 12 pounds ripe tomatoes
- 1/2 cup dried/dehydrated minced onion (provides a great flavor boost and is especially suited to canning for long-term storage)
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons sea salt
- 1 tablespoon dark balsamic vinegar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried rosemary
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon crushed fennel seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon dried ground sage
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 bay leaves
- citric acid or bottled lemon juice, if canning (per USDA guidelines as a requirement for safe canning)
Instructions
- Blanch the tomatoes for about a minute in a pot of boiling water to loosen the skins. Peel the tomatoes, squeeze out and discard the seeds. Chop the tomatoes.
- Place the chopped tomatoes in a large pot along with the remaining ingredients (except for the citric acid). Â Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered for 2 hours, stirring every now and then. Â Discard the bay leaves. Â Adjust the salt and pepper to taste. Â Use an immersion blender or transfer to a blender to puree until desired consistency is reached.You can use the sauce now (flavor gets better in a day or two), freeze it or can it for long-term storage. Â
- To can the sauce: Place 1/4 teaspoon citric acid or 1 tablespoon bottled lemon juice in the bottom of each sterilized pint-sized jar (double the quantity for quart jars). Ladle the hot marinara sauce into the jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Wipe the rims clean with a damp cloth. Screw on the clean lids and rims. Place the jars in a boiling water canner and process 35 minutes for pints and 40 minutes for quarts. Turn off the heat and let the jars sit for 5 minutes. Remove the jars and let sit undisturbed for 24 hours. Check the seals. Stored in a dark, cool place the jars will keep for at least a year but for best flavor use within six months.Makes approximately 6 pints.
Notes
- At 1,001 to 3,000 feet (305 to 914 meters) above sea level: increase processing time by 5 minutes.
- At 3,001 to 6,000 feet (914 to 1,829 meters) above sea level: increase processing time by 10 minutes.
- Above 6,000 feet (1,829 meters) increase processing time by 15 minutes.
Nutrition
Originally published on The Daring Gourmet September 8, 2017
Connie says
I’ve not even finished cooking this down all the way and it’s fantastic. I did up a big bunch of zoodles this morning so I’ll save enough sauce out to do a zoodle/pasta dinner tonight. Hopefully I’ll have enough left over to can :) Thanks so much for the recipe. I see you have an array of fantastic sounding recipes here so this site will be on the top of my favorites list!!!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Fantastic, Connie, thanks so much! I hope you’ll subscribe to my site to get my weekly newsletter with notifications of my latest recipes!
Mary Beth says
First time making marinara sauce so I took a chance and used this recipe because the ingredients sounded very flavorful. IT’s DELICIOUS!!!!!!
Gretchen says
Hello-
Is adding olive oil safe? Just making sure due to a previous comment left. I made this recipe last year and I loved it!! Thanks!
Nancy Lee says
Oh my gosh the smell is heavenly. We used a Victoria strainer similar to Kitchenaid strainer with the course strainer and then fine strainer. We cannot wait to try. Love all the spices. We used a special canning tomato grown for this from farm market. Meatier and great on sandwiches.
Olivia Gulish says
Hi Kimberly, this is the second year I will be making your sauce. I made 30 pounds last year and today I am making 25 pounds. I could not keep it on my shelf everyone that tasted it wanted it. I doubled the Marzano tomatoes this year because of your marinara sauce. Haaaa. This is my first canning of the season And I will probably have two or three more of my Sonos and one or two of regular tomatoes. I did prefer the Marzanos over the regular because they made it so creamy.
Thankyou Oliviagulish
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Wonderful, Olivia, thanks so much! Yes, it’s really hard to beat San Marzano’s for making sauce. And I’m kicking myself because I grew a ton of tomatoes this year but somehow forgot the San Marzanos. Next year! Thanks again for the feedback and Happy Canning! :)
Vicki says
This recipe is excellent with all the spices I made this last year and gave to many friends and neighbors. They loved it. Now my tomatoes are ready again grown by seed in garden. I use fresh herbs from garden. Not all but majority of them. Best flavor ever. Neighbor coming over this weekend to can and follow instructions. This recipe is in my folder each year now.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
I’m thrilled to hear that, Vicki, thanks so much!
CATHERINE VERMETTE says
I would like to know if it is safe to use butter in this recipe for canning. I make a homemade marinara that has it and I just love it.
Marilyn says
I think I answered my own question while I was seeding the tomatoes. I drained the liquid and am now ready to chop and start cooking the sauce.
Marilyn Wadsworth says
I haven’t seen anything in the comments about including/or not including the liquid from tomatoes in the sauce as it cooks. I’ve just peeled the tomatoes and ready to get rid of the seeds and start the sauce cooking but notice there’s a lot of liquid in the bowl. Do I drain it or include it?
Sheri says
Has anyone used a KitchenAid veggie strainer for the tomatoes?
Gina J says
Made about 3 and a half gallons of sauce, cooked it down (it was thinner than I like) for around 6 hours, added some tomato chunks to bulk it out a little more and getting ready to can quarts right now. It’s got amazing flavor! Thanks!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Congrats on all of that delicious sauce you’ll get to enjoy throughout the upcoming months, Gina, and thanks so much for the feedback!
KarenB says
Hi there. Can I use fresh onions and herbs rather than dried ?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Karen, yes you can but dried herbs in particular are better suited for dishes that are slow-simmered a long time whereas fresh herbs are generally better suited for dishes that have a shorter cooking time. Fresh vs. dried onions don’t matter quite as much, you can use either.
Martine says
Just made this sauce today and it is wonderful. It was easy to make and it tastes incredible. We just added 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes for a more intense flavor. This is a keeper that we will enjoy all winter long.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Fantastic, Martine, I’m so glad you enjoyed it, thank you!
Miracle says
This is now the second batch I make marinara Sauce using this recipe. It’s so good, I used also for baked fish and chicken.
Thanks for sharing your recipe
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Thanks so much, Miracle! :)
Karen Bauer says
Hi Elise. I have made six batches of your salsa canned, and so when I decided I had enough, but just picked a full hydrator pan full of various tomatoes, I decided to try my hand at canning marinara. So, of course, I googled YOU to see if you had a recipe! A couple questions, can I roast the tomatoes to have roasted tomato salsa? I do this on the charcoal for the salsa and then peel. Wondered if it would work for marinara. Also, I have all the herbs, minus the fennel and bay leaves, fresh. Can I substitute fresh rather than dried? This was a great season for us in Folsom, for tomatoes and peppers ! I dont want to waste them! Thanks again!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Karen! I’m not sure whether or not roasting the tomatoes will alter the pH level. The only way to know for sure is to test the finished batch with a pH strip and add more acid (vinegar, lemon juice, citric acid, etc) if needed.
Karen BAUER says
Thanks!