This homemade Marinara Sauce with fresh tomatoes is a simple way to preserve fresh, ripe tomatoes at their peak and bring out their natural flavor. We oven roast them with just a few basic ingredients, like onions, roasted garlic and basil, to make the most delicious homemade marinara sauce.
There’s no peeling tomatoes or canning required making things easy peasy. Talk about a great way to use up those garden tomatoes! Use with pasta, lasagna, pizza, chicken parmesan, and so much more.
Roasted Marinara Sauce with Fresh Tomatoes
The best time to make this marinara sauce with fresh tomatoes is towards the end of the summer when tomatoes are at their peak. If you have your own garden, you will definitely appreciate a tasty use for the abundance of tomatoes at this time! If you don’t, you should still be able to find nice ripe tomatoes at your local grocery store. Tomatoes in the winter just aren’t the same.
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If you have never tried, let us be the first to tell you that making homemade marinara from fresh tomatoes is much simpler than you might think. Most of the time involved is babysitting your tomatoes and onions to make sure they don’t burn. Otherwise, you’re basically just stirring and tasting!
We highly recommend making enough roasted tomato marinara sauce to save some for later, whether you store in the fridge or freezer. Tomato season only comes once a year, so make the most of it!
Homemade Marinara Sauce Video Tutorial
I can’t really give advice on canning this because I’m not a master canner but I’ve frozen this recipe many times. Just portion into 1-2 cup servings and add to a freezer bag. Remove as much air as possible, seal, smooth flat and freeze! Easy Peasy!
How to Roast Tomatoes
Roasting fresh tomatoes couldn’t be easier. We like the sheet pan tomatoes method, which involves just a few easy steps:
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
- Cut tomatoes into quarters and remove any stems.
- Add your onions and garlic cloves.
- Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt, pepper and any other fresh herbs you might want to use.
- Roast for 30-35 minutes, or until they begin to turn golden brown on top.
- Remove from the oven and use in your homemade Roasted Marinara Sauce.
Uses For Your Homemade Marinara Sauce
Probably the most common use for roasted marinara sauce is as spaghetti sauce. However, there are so many other great uses! This homemade version will really elevate any dish that you use it in. Some of our favorite uses are:
- Use for the sauce in our Easy Lasagna, Baked Ziti, 4 Cheese Stuffed Pasta or any other red sauce pasta dish you can think of.
- As dipping sauce for Homemade Cheesy Breadsticks, Copy Cat Olive Garden Breadsticks or Soft Pretzel Bites
- In any sort of Parmesan, including Oven-Baked Chicken Parmesan and Homemade Chicken Parmesan
- For pizza sauce or stuffed into Homemade Calzones
- Served with chicken cutlets or Spicy Italian Meatballs
Key Ingredients
- Olive Oil – this lends a great flavor to the finished sauce.
- Onions – we used a yellow onion, however you could easily substitute white onions.
- Garlic – because it’s a key flavor, you should use fresh minced garlic in this sauce.
- Tomatoes – we prefer to use Roma tomatoes, or any heirloom variation of these. They have minimal seeds with meaty, flavorful flesh.
- Sugar – a very little bit goes a long way in taming some of the acidity from all of the tomatoes. You could also substitute maple syrup or dark brown sugar.
- Basil – you want to use fresh basil if possible.
- Bay Leaves – fresh bay leaves have the most powerful flavor. A helpful hint is to store your fresh basil in the freezer since you won’t use it very often. It will last for up to 6 months stored this way.
- Baking Soda – a tiny amount of baking soda will help to mellow the acidity of all of the tomatoes by bringing the PH down a touch.
- Balsamic Vinegar – this really rounds out the overall flavor of your sauce.
How to Make This Marinara Recipe with Fresh Tomatoes
- Roast the tomatoes. Drizzle quartered tomatoes with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and roast in a preheated oven for 30-35 minutes until golden on top.
- Cook the onions and garlic. While the tomatoes are roasting, heat a large sauce pot over medium high heat and add olive oil. Once heated, add the onions and cook until they begun to caramelize. Reduce the heat to low and continue cooking and stirring occasionally until they turn a deep, rich, golden hue, or about 20 minutes total. From there, add the garlic and cook 2-3 more minutes.
- Blend. Once the tomatoes have roasted, remove from the oven and transfer them to the pot with the onions, discarding any watery tomato juice. Mix with a spatula, then use an immersion blender and blend until there are no large chunks.
- Simmer. Add the sugar, basil, bay leaves, onion powder, salt, baking soda and balsamic vinegar and stir to combine, then return to heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes to reduce slightly and to combine the flavors. Taste and season with more salt and pepper if desired.
- Use or store. Use immediately, or cool completely and transfer to an airtight container to store in the fridge or freezer. Enjoy!
Recipe Tips and Tricks
- If you’re using a metal pan, make sure it’s not made of aluminum, which can react with the acidity of the tomatoes.
- You can roast tomatoes on parchment-lined baking sheets or glass baking dishes with a thin coating of olive oil.
- Be sure to take the time to caramelize the onions before you add the other ingredients. They should reach a golden brown, transparent, VERY soft consistency. This is the secret to this simple marinara sauce recipe!
- After you add the garlic, make sure it’s golden too.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes – we absolutely recommend making enough to freeze, especially if you have a surplus of fresh garden tomatoes to use up. Just make sure and cool your sauce completely, then transfer 1-2 cups of sauce into each freezer bag, laying them flat in the freezer. You can store frozen for up to 5 months!
Our favorite grocery store tomatoes to use for sauce are Roma tomatoes, hands down. They have very few seeds and their flesh is incredibly meaty and flavorful.
If you are a gardener and want to try to grow your own heirloom varieties, Amish Paste, San Marzano, Viva Italia, and Polish Linguisa tomatoes all make excellent fresh tomato marinara sauce, but are difficult to find fresh in the store:
You are welcome to can your sauce if you would like, but here’s a little secret—you don’t have to. Unless you have quart after quart of sauce, you will do just fine either storing leftovers in the fridge or the freezer.
Storing Instructions
- Refrigerator- transfer your cooled marinara sauce into an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- To Reheat- transfer directly into a saucepot and heat over low, or else thaw in the fridge overnight and use as needed the next day.
- Freezing- Just portion into 1-2 cup servings and add to a freezer bag. Remove as much air as possible, seal, smooth flat and freeze!
Fresh Tomato Marinara Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 1½ pounds Roma tomatoes, cut into quarters
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1/2 tablespoon salt
- 1/4 tablespoon black pepper
- 1 large onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Lay the quartered tomatoes onto a large baking sheet in a single layer, drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Roast the tomatoes in the oven for 30-35 minutes, or until the tomatoes are golden on top.
- While the tomatoes are roasting, heat a large sauce pot over medium high heat and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Once heated, add the onions and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions have turned translucent and begun to caramelize—about 5-7 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and continue cooking and stirring occasionally until they turn a deep, rich, golden hue, or about 20 minutes total.
- Once the onions are caramelized, add the garlic and saute until soft—about 2-3 more minutes—then remove from heat until the tomatoes are finished roasting.
- Once the tomatoes have roasted, remove from the oven and transfer them to the pot with the onions. Mix with a spatula, then use an immersion blender (or carefully transfer to a blender or food processor in batches) and blend until there are no large chunks.
- Return to the pot and add the sugar, basil, bay leaves, onion powder, baking soda, and balsamic vinegar and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer, then cook for 20-30 minutes to reduce slightly and to combine the flavors. Taste and season with more salt and pepper if desired.
- Use immediately, or cool completely and transfer to an airtight container to store in the fridge or freezer. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Refrigerator- transfer your cooled marinara sauce into an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- To Reheat- transfer directly into a saucepot and heat over low, or else thaw in the fridge overnight and use as needed the next day.
- Freezing- Just portion into 1-2 cup servings and add to a freezer bag. Remove as much air as possible, seal, smooth flat and freeze!
- Be sure to take the time to caramelize the onions before you add the other ingredients. They should reach a golden brown, transparent, VERY soft consistency. This is the secret to this simple marinara sauce recipe!
- After you add the garlic, make sure it’s golden too. Then you can add all your other ingredients.
- This sauce freezes very well!
Nutrition
Did you make this?
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More homemade sauce recipes that we love!
- Easy Alfredo Sauce
- Best Homemade Sun-dried Tomato Alfredo Sauce
- Cranberry Orange Sauce
- Homemade Marinara Sauce
- Buffalo Sauce
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More Tomato Recipes
- Parmesan Roasted Tomatoes
- Feta and Tomato Pasta Bake
- Homemade Tomato Soup
- Easy Tomato Bruschetta Recipe
This Roasted Marinara Sauce uses fresh tomatoes at their peak to make the most delicious and simple sauce. We slow cook them with just a few basic ingredients, like onions, garlic and basil, to bring out the best tomato flavor.
Categories:
Dairy-Free, Fall Recipes, Gluten-Free, Meal Prep, Nut-Free, Pasta, Pasta Sauce, Sauces & Condiments, Summer Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian, Videos,
Really great recipe, it tasked amazing until adding the sugar. Way too sweet for me, as I prefer a savory sauce. Next time I’ll leave out the sugar, but everything else about it was perfect!
I loved it! I also had to thin it out. It was a little thicker than what I was expecting. I added more salt and more garlic powder as it is pretty sweet. I will make it again and likely add broth to it and more garlic and Italian spices.
This is. an excellent marinara. It has more of a depth of flavor than most jarred sauces. it’s little labor intensive, but worth it.
This was really good! However, it is THICK and sweet. I had to thin it out with broth for my liking. Also, it’s a bit confusing that the pictures don’t really match the recipe (meaning there is roasting of tomatoes with onions, for example) and some of the info in the video does not match the directions in the written recipe (some amounts, time of roasting, how small to cut tomatoes, etc). I realize it’s a few years old, just pointing it out for someone who stumbles upon the recipe now like I did 🙂
This is one of my favorite recipes! The idea of it is perfect, and just like the other comments, you do have to kind of mix it up a bit, depending on how much sauce you want, and how thick you like it~ I usually double the amount of tomatoes, onion, etc and I also throw the garlic on the roasting sheet as well, along with the onions. I literally don’t make spaghetti sauce any other way! Thank you for this recipe so so much. And it is really great to freeze any of it, I’ve done it multiple times and it’s just as good!
I tried this tonight using regular tomatoes from the garden. Doubled the amount of tomato and onion and left everything else the same.I pushed all the seeds out of the tomatoes first. Roasted 45 minutes or so and there was very little water, skins also dissolved easily with immersion blender. Added all of it and it is just delicious. It is thick but I’ll add some tomato juice if I need it. Great recipe.
Sauce consistency was perfect. This recipe is a little sweet for my taste. I like my sauce a bit more on the tangier side. I would probably cut the balsamic and sugar in half if not more next time around. Still tasty though!
My marinara turned out very thick. I’m planning on thinning it out with some chicken stock. Did anyone else have this problem?
Yes mine was very thick also. Will probably only get about a cup of sauce. Would be helpful to have the weight of the tomatoes. Next time will leave out the sugar.
Could you can this recipe while still hot?
I haven’t tried canning this, but I freeze it regularly.
You know, as long as you are roasting tomatoes, you can put the garlic cloves (might as well use the whole head) on the roasting pan, then just pop them out of their skins and save a step. Otherwise great recipe.
Thank you! Love this sauce. It’s a keeper
Can you use other tomatoes than Roma? I have grown Better Boy. They are very meaty like a Roma…. Is I can substitute, how many do you suggest I use? Thanks so much!
Yes, you can definitely use a different tomato, just sub them out. I even use a variety of tomatoes, whatever I have ripe in my garden at the time.
Do you remove the skin after roasting or just leave on when using the blender?
I just leave mine on and blend it all up together. It makes the sauce so thick and rich!
Hi. Will the skins blend well when using the immersion blender? I don’t want to have the skins “curling” up in the sauce. I guess I’m trying to keep from peeling the skins off of the tomatoes before cooking the sauce down. Thanks.
I don’t know that an immersion blender will be powerful enough to dissolve the skins. I’ve had great success with a powerful blender.
This was excellent!! The whole family really loved it. I should have made a double or triple batch. I still have tomatoes so I’ll be making more tomorrow.
Your photos are always so yummy looking!! I had to try this. I can’t believe how easy and delicious it is to roast tomatoes. Excited to try it again with fresh off-the-vine, in-season tomatoes later this summer. But it was really good with grocery store variety in March! lol Thanks again for such a great recipe.
So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks for letting me know!
There is just nothing like fresh, homemade marinara! It is the best way to take a simple pasta dinner to another level. We loved this recipe!
I’m so glad to hear you loved it!
I found this to be very thick and too sweet. I followed it exactly but had to change things up at the end. I added liquid and still found it too sweet. The technique is good so I will use that and just personalize.
Can this recipe be canned?
This tasted so great until the addition of the last items. Weirdly sweet. I think next time I would leave out the balsamic and lessen sugar
Hi. I have a couple questions. I made this last summer and it was delicious. However after blending I still had small stringy pieces of tomato skin left in my marina sauce. What did I do wrong? Also I’m new to canning but have been told I need to add some type of vinegar or lemon juice/wine to make it safe. I don’t see that in your recipe- other than a small amount of balsamic vinegar. How can I make it safe for canning? Thank you!
As far as the stringy things go, I’d just be sure to blend it really well. Do it in smaller batches if needed. You can add a splash of vinegar or lemon juice but to be honest, I don’t know how safe it is to can. I’m not an expert in this area. Sorry, I can’t help you there. I have, however, been able to freeze the marinara sauce and it tastes wonderful after it’s thawed. Best wishes!