Marinara has one job: taste like tomatoes. Not cooked-down concentrate, not jarred herbs, not a sauce that simmered while you were doing other things. Just tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, and basil. It’s quick cooking and bright tasting — exactly what this recipe is.

Crushed tomato marinara sauce and a wooden spoon in a white Dutch oven, topped with fresh basil ribbons.

Marinara is not a ragù — that’s a different sauce entirely, one that simmers for hours with meat and builds a deep, concentrated richness. Marinara stays light on its feet: it cooks in 20 minutes, with four ingredients. Done.

What makes marinara marinara — and why a short cook time is the point

Most tomato sauces labeled marinara are actually slow-cooked — which isn’t wrong, but it’s not authentic. Real marinara is a Neapolitan technique: short cook time, and tomatoes that stay fresh-tasting rather than cooking down into something sweeter and heavier. Raw garlic cooks for seconds, not minutes. The basil goes in at the end, not the beginning. Every decision is in service of one thing — a sauce that tastes like fresh tomatoes, not like it’s been on the stove all day.

The ingredients that make this sauce

Overhead view of ingredients for marinara sauce: fresh basil in a glass, two open cans of tomatoes, a bowl of olive oil, red pepper flakes, three garlic cloves, salt, pepper grinder, and chopped onions on a white surface.
  • Tomatoes for marinara: I grew up in an Italian family and have been testing canned tomatoes since forever. Good canned tomatoes are the foundation — whole peeled, or packed in thick purée — but please, not diced. Diced tomatoes are treated with calcium chloride to hold their shape, which means they never fully break down into a sauce, plus they’re packed in water, which makes a diluted sauce. Whole tomatoes in puree or crushed tomatoes give you a sauce with real body. I skip tomato paste entirely: it’s a concentrate ideal for long-simmered sauces, and marinara isn’t that. You want the tomatoes to taste like tomatoes.
  • Garlic: Fresh, and you only need 3-4 cloves max — marinara isn’t aglio e olio. Grate it on a rasp grater or chop it fine so it melts into the oil rather than float in the sauce in hard chunks. And don’t let it brown — even 30 seconds too long will make garlic bitter, and you can’t go back from that.
  • Onion: A half cup of finely chopped onion, cooked covered over medium-low heat, steams soft in just a few minutes and builds a sweetness into the base that you’d never get from opening a jar and dumping everything in at once.

Make marinara sauce while the pasta boils

  • A wooden spoon stirring chopped onions and olive oil in a white Dutch oven pot.
    1. Cook the onions covered over medium-low heat until completely soft, about 5 minutes.
  • A spoon holding chopped garlic, placed on top of a pot of soft cooked onions with canned tomatoes in the foreground and background.
    2. Stir in the garlic and cook just until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
  • A person's hand crushing canned tomatoes in a white bowl.
    3. If using canned whole tomatoes, you can crush them roughly with your hands, with a potato masher or food mill.
  • A pot of tomato sauce, with fresh ground pepper and salt on top, with a rasp grater, empty tomato can and mixing bowl around it.
    4. Add the tomatoes, salt and pepper to the pot and stir. Simmer about 15 minutes. The sauce will bubble and splash, so partially cover the pot to keep your stovetop clean.
  • Crushed tomato marinara sauce and a wooden spoon in a white Dutch oven, topped with fresh basil ribbons.
    5. Stir in fresh sliced basil and taste — if the sauce tastes sharp, a pinch of sugar is all it takes — different canned tomato brands vary in acidity.
  • Marinara sauce on a spoon, balanced on top of a pot of tomato sauce.
    The sauce is ready to serve with cooked pasta, or transfer to a jar or leakproof container and refrigerate or freeze.

What to serve with marinara sauce

The classic answer is pasta — rigatoni, spaghetti, anything with enough surface area to hold the sauce. But marinara is also the base for puttanesca sauce, which takes about five more minutes and a handful of pantry ingredients. Spoon it around baked chicken and orzo with mozzarella before it goes in the oven, or make a big batch of Italian meatballs and let them finish cooking right in the sauce — the meat juices go back into the pot and the whole thing tastes like it took all afternoon.

Crushed tomato marinara sauce and a wooden spoon in a white Dutch oven, topped with fresh basil ribbons.
4.84 from 56 ratings

The Only Marinara Sauce You Need — Made from Canned Tomatoes

Karen Tedesco
A fast, deeply flavored marinara that proves good canned tomatoes make a better sauce than anything in a jar.
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Yield: 5 cups
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients
 

Yield: 5 cups sauce, enough for 2-3 pounds pasta

  • 2 tablespoons (30 ml) extra virgin olive oil
  • ½ cup finely chopped onion, about ½ of a medium-large onion
  • Kosher salt
  • 2-3 finely chopped or grated garlic cloves
  • ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
  • 2 28-ounce cans whole peeled tomatoes, or crushed tomatoes
  • ½-1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  • 1 teaspoon sugar, optional
  • ¼ cup sliced fresh basil

Instructions
 

  1. Put 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil and ½ cup finely chopped onion in a large saucepan or Dutch oven and place over medium-low heat. Stir in a pinch of salt to encourage the onion to release liquid.
  2. Cover the pan and cook gently until softened, 5-7 minutes — the steam created in the covered pot helps this process go a bit quicker. Stir in 2-3 finely chopped or grated garlic cloves and cook a few seconds, until fragrant. If using crushed red pepper, stir it in.
  3. Stir in 2 28-ounce cans whole peeled tomatoes, 1-½ teaspoons salt, pepper and sugar (if using) to the pot. Bring to a simmer. Cook 15-20 minutes. The sauce will bubble up as it simmers. Partially cover the pot to keep it from splashing on your cooktop.
  4. Taste the sauce for seasoning (I usually add about another ½ teaspoon of salt) and stir in the basil.

Notes

  • The sauce keeps refrigerated up to one week and frozen up to 2 months in leakproof containers.
  • If you prefer a smoother sauce, swap out the tomatoes for finely chopped tomatoes or tomato puree. You can also use a handheld stick blender to create your desired consistency.
  • Optional seasonings: Add about 1 teaspoon dried oregano and crushed red pepper to taste for that classic Italian restaurant aroma and zest. Butter isn’t traditional, but it adds a rich flavor. Stir in a tablespoon or two into the hot sauce until it melts.

Nutrition per serving

Calories: 61kcal Carbohydrates: 3g Protein: 1g Fat: 6g Sodium: 1mg Fiber: 1g Sugar: 2g

Nutrition facts are calculated by third-party software. If you have specific dietary needs, please refer to your favorite calculator.

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