Marinara sauce is one of the most beloved and popular Italian-American tomato sauces. Unlike a thinner spaghetti sauce, marinara typically boasts a thicker consistency, making it incredibly versatile for various dishes. Its richness and seasoned flavor are often why many pizzerias and restaurants prefer it – it holds up beautifully when spread on pizza or used as a dipping sauce. Marinara is characterized by its slightly thicker texture and aromatic blend of herbs and spices, which not only enhance its flavor but also contribute to a more appealing presentation in any dish.

Making this delicious sauce is simpler than you might expect. It achieves a sweet and savory balance that’s surprisingly similar to Pizza Hut’s sauce – good enough to eat with a spoon! My recipe doesn’t call for wine or the laborious task of pressing garlic. It comes together with ease, though the large portions do require some time. However, the reward of having a robust collection of this goodness on your shelf makes the effort of canning marinara sauce truly worthwhile.

• Tomatoes: This recipe cleverly utilizes various tomato products. Canned tomato paste and ketchup are crucial for thickening, complementing fresh garden tomatoes. If fresh tomatoes aren’t available, simply use canned whole or diced tomatoes. You can purchase these in bulk and easily puree them at home to create the tomato juice needed for the recipe.
• Bell Peppers: These vibrant vegetables contribute a wonderful depth of flavor to any tomato sauce, a secret often found in many commercially jarred sauces.
• Onions: A fundamental flavor builder in marinara sauce. The robust taste of fresh onions is difficult to substitute, unless you use dehydrated onion flakes as a last resort.
• Celery: Much like bell peppers and onions, celery adds another layer of aromatic flavor that enhances the overall taste of the tomato sauce.
• Herbs and Spices: A carefully selected blend including chili powder, mustard powder, black pepper, salt, sugar, oregano, paprika, parsley flakes, Parmesan cheese, and garlic powder creates the signature savory-sweet profile.

For larger quantities of ingredients like ketchup and tomato paste, I recommend checking local discount grocery stores or restaurant supply stores. These establishments often carry bulk-sized tomato products at more economical prices, which is ideal for making large batches of marinara sauce for canning or freezing.

The primary distinction between spaghetti sauce and marinara sauce lies in their consistency. Marinara typically has a thicker texture, which makes it easier to manage and results in a more appealing presentation on your plate. While both are tomato-based, the specific blend of spices and herbs used can vary significantly from one recipe to another, contributing to their unique flavor profiles. Marinara is often simpler, focusing on fresh tomato flavor, whereas spaghetti sauces can be more complex with meat or a wider array of vegetables.

This marinara sauce recipe is specifically designed with canning in mind, allowing you to enjoy homemade goodness year-round. However, making a smaller batch for immediate consumption is also an option. If you plan to can, you’ll need approximately 35 pint or quart canning jars. Begin by thoroughly washing your jars in hot, soapy water (but not the bands). Prepare the sauce according to the recipe, then carefully ladle the hot sauce into the clean jars, leaving appropriate headspace. Seal each jar with lids and bands, ensuring they are finger-tight. Place the filled jars into a large pot filled with warm water, making sure they are fully submerged. Bring the water to a rolling boil and process the jars for 30 minutes. This water bath processing creates a vacuum seal, which prevents bacterial growth and extends the shelf life of your sauce. Once properly sealed, you can store your canned jars in a cool, dry place, ready to be enjoyed until next season!

Absolutely! If you’re not looking to preserve a large batch, our recipe card includes a convenient serving calculator tool. This allows you to easily scale down the sauce recipe to any amount you desire, perfect for just a few meals or a smaller gathering. Enjoy the fresh flavors without the canning process!

Freezing is an excellent alternative if you prefer not to can your marinara sauce. Once the sauce has cooled completely, simply ladle it into quart-sized freezer bags. For easier storage and organization, seal the bags, removing as much air as possible, and lay them flat in your freezer until solid. Once frozen, you can stack them upright to maximize freezer space. This recipe yields a substantial amount (around 30 pints), so be sure to clear out ample space in your freezer!

Yes, absolutely! This Marinara sauce recipe calls for 9 quarts of tomato juice, which is essentially just pureed tomatoes. If you don’t have a garden overflowing with fresh tomatoes to make your own juice, canned whole or diced tomatoes are a perfect substitute. Simply purchase them in bulk and puree them at home until smooth to achieve the required 9 quarts. Ultimately, it’s all tomatoes, and the flavor will still be fantastic. However, if you do have fresh garden tomatoes during harvest season, this recipe is a wonderful and handy way to put them to delicious use!

This sauce recipe requires 9 quarts of tomato juice, which is simply pureed tomatoes. You can easily make this from garden tomatoes or by pureeing canned tomatoes at home. Here’s how:

1. Puree: Wash, core, and trim your fresh tomatoes. Then, puree them thoroughly using a blender. If using canned whole or diced tomatoes, simply drain (optional) and puree them until smooth.
2. Strain (Optional): If you prefer a completely smooth sauce without any seeds or skins, you can strain the pureed tomatoes. However, for added nutrition and rustic texture, many prefer to leave them in, especially if using a high-powered blender like a Blendtec Blender that can pulverize them completely.
3. Done: That’s it! Your homemade tomato juice is ready. You can use it immediately for this marinara sauce, for tomato soup, or even can it separately with a teaspoon of salt per quart for future use.

If you’re using a powerful, heavy-duty standing blender (like a Blendtec), you can blend your raw vegetables (onions, bell peppers, celery) directly with some of the tomato juice. This allows them to cook and soften directly in the sauce. If you have a less powerful hand blender, you might find it easier to simmer the vegetables with a portion of the tomato juice first to soften them before blending, ensuring a smoother consistency.

For this marinara sauce, removing the tomato skins is not necessary. In fact, keeping the skins intact adds more nutrients and fiber to your sauce. The main reason people blanch and strain tomatoes to remove skins or seeds is purely for aesthetic purposes, to achieve a perfectly smooth final product. For marinara, a slight texture is often welcomed, and it doesn’t bother me unless I’m aiming for something exceptionally smooth like homemade ketchup.

This recipe brilliantly combines fresh garden tomatoes with canned tomato products like tomato paste and ketchup to achieve its desired thickness and flavor. While you can certainly use all fresh tomatoes, know that the sauce will be considerably runnier as the tomato paste and ketchup are essential thickeners. If garden-fresh tomatoes are unavailable, canned whole or diced tomatoes will work perfectly – just puree them to create the tomato juice ingredient.

Ketchup, along with tomato paste, plays a dual role in this Marinara Sauce recipe: it acts as a significant thickener and contributes to the unique flavor profile. Without these, a sauce made entirely from fresh tomatoes would be much too thin. Additionally, ketchup brings a pleasant tartness and a hint of sweetness, which can often replace the need for added vinegar found in some traditional marinara recipes, balancing the overall acidity and enhancing the “Pizza Hut” style flavor.

The absolute best thickener for any tomato sauce is undoubtedly tomato paste. It’s concentrated tomato flavor with minimal seasoning, allowing it to blend seamlessly into your sauce without altering its core taste. Ketchup also serves as an effective secondary thickener. However, since ketchup is already seasoned and tart, you might need to make minor adjustments to your sauce’s acidic and flavor balance if you use a large amount of it for thickening.

When making large batches of sauce like this, a high-quality, heavy-duty stockpot is essential. Many seasoned home canners, including my Mennonite friends, swear by this gauge 24-quart pot. It’s a huge investment in size, but incredibly handy for sauces because of its thick bottom. A thick-bottomed pot is crucial as it helps prevent scorching, ensuring your sauce cooks evenly without sticking or burning. This particular pot has been one of my best kitchen investments!

The beauty of this specific marinara sauce recipe, especially when made in a good heavy-duty stockpot, is its efficiency. Unlike many sauces that require hours of simmering, this recipe is designed for quick preparation. Once all the ingredients are combined, you simply need to bring the marinara sauce to a rolling boil, and then it’s done! This quick cooking time makes it a fantastic recipe for processing large quantities.

Freshly made marinara sauce can be stored safely in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. For storage beyond that, it’s best to freeze the sauce to maintain its quality and prevent spoilage. Since this particular recipe yields a very large batch, which is ideal for canning, if you choose to scale down the recipe for only a few servings, then refrigeration for up to a week is perfectly fine. Otherwise, you’ll have far too much sauce for just fridge storage.

This versatile Marinara Sauce is a fantastic base for countless Italian-inspired dishes. Here are some of our favorite ways to use it:

• Classic Lasagna Recipe
• EASIEST Lasagna Roll-Ups
• Olive Garden Five Cheese Ziti Al Forno (Copycat)
• Fluffy and Crusty Pizza Dough Recipe (as a pizza base)
• Basic Pizza Dough Recipe (for any pizza creation)
• Bacon Cheddar Pizza Twists (for dipping!)
• Serve over your favorite pasta, from spaghetti to penne.
• Use as a dipping sauce for mozzarella sticks, calamari, or garlic knots.
• A flavorful base for chicken or eggplant parmesan.

For the Marinara Sauce (Large Batch):

Dried Herbs and Spices:

Step-by-Step Marinara Sauce Preparation:

• 

  Prepare Tomato Juice: First, prepare your 9 quarts of tomato juice. This can be made by pureeing fresh, washed, cored, and trimmed tomatoes (skins on are fine for nutrition!). Alternatively, puree canned whole or diced tomatoes until smooth. See the notes section for more details on making tomato juice.
• 

  Blend Vegetables: In your blender, combine the quartered onions, seeded and trimmed green bell peppers, and celery sticks with some of the prepared tomato juice. Blend until very smooth. Pour this blended vegetable mixture into your large stockpot. Add the remaining tomato juice to the pot.
• 

  Combine and Boil: Add the tomato paste, ketchup, and all the dried herbs and spices (chili powder, salt, parsley flakes, paprika, sugar, Parmesan cheese, oregano flakes, garlic powder, dry mustard, black pepper) to the stockpot. Stir everything thoroughly to combine. Bring the entire mixture to a full rolling boil, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, especially at the bottom. Once it reaches a boil, your sauce is ready!
• Canning (Optional): If canning, ladle the hot marinara sauce into clean, hot canning jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Wipe rims, apply lids, and screw on bands finger-tight. Process in a boiling water bath canner for 30 minutes (adjusting for altitude if necessary). Allow jars to cool undisturbed for 12-24 hours. Check seals before storing.

• If using a hand blender for the vegetables, it’s recommended to bring the quartered veggies to a boil with part of the tomato juice first to soften them. This will make blending much easier and result in a smoother sauce.
• To make tomato juice: Simply blend fresh tomatoes (washed, cored, and trimmed, skins on for extra nutrition) until smooth. Alternatively, use canned diced or whole tomatoes; just puree them. You can strain the juice from the pulp if you prefer a smoother sauce, though it’s more nutritious to keep the pulp.
• To make a smaller serving: Use the serving calculator tool on this recipe card to easily adjust the ingredient quantities for a smaller batch.
• This Marinara sauce recipe yields approximately 5-6 gallons. A large pot is essential! I highly recommend investing in a heavy-duty 24-quart stockpot like the one I own. Its thick bottom is invaluable for preventing scorching.
• For a precise, scaled-down version of this Homemade Marinara Sauce for a 24 oz portion, my friend Susanna has perfected these proportions:

  Homemade Marinara Sauce (24 oz Yield):

  • 15 oz tomato juice (pureed tomatoes)
  • 6 oz tomato paste
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp salt (scant)
  • 1/2 tsp parsley flakes
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 2 Tbsp sugar + 1 tsp (scant)
  • 2 Tbsp + 2 tsp ketchup
  • 1/2 celery stalk
  • 1/2 onion
  • 1/4 green pepper
  • 2 Tbsp Parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp dry mustard
  • 1/3 tsp black pepper

  Instructions for Small Batch: Bring the tomato juice and tomato paste to a simmer. Add the celery, onion, and green pepper (finely chopped or pre-blended for a smoother texture) and continue to simmer until the vegetables are softened. Puree the sauce using a hand blender for desired smoothness. Add the remaining dried herbs and spices. Heat thoroughly, stirring, until the sauce comes to a gentle simmer, then serve immediately. This small batch is perfect for fresh enjoyment!

Nutrition per serving (1 pint)