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Marinara-Sauce
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Marinara Sauce

This 1-pot, 9-ingredient recipe is simple. As long as you start with quality tomatoes and herbs, the rest kind of happens naturally.
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time45 minutes
Total Time50 minutes
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: marinara, sauce
Servings: 14 1/2 cup
Calories: 37kcal

Ingredients

  • 2 Tbsp olive oil sub water if avoiding oil
  • 2 large cloves garlic minced
  • 2 28- ounce tomatoes canned, peel, crushed or diced without salt
  • 1 tsp oregano dried or fresh
  • 1 Tbsp coconut sugar or sub stevia or maple syrup to taste // omit if avoiding sugar
  • 3/4 - 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1/4 tsp red pepper flake reduce or increase according to spice preference
  • 1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh basil plus more for serving
  • 1-3 Tbsp nutritional yeast optional
  • 3-4 Tbsp tomato paste optional // for richness / depth of flavor

Instructions

  • Heat a large pot over medium-low heat. Once hot, add oil (or wateand garlic. Sauté briefly for 1 minute, stirring frequently, until barely golden brown. Then add tomatoes, oregano, coconut sugar, salt, and pepper flake.
  • Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Then reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add basil and stir. Cook for 5 minutes more.
  • Taste and adjust flavor as needed, adding more salt for saltiness, oregano or basil for freshness/herbed flavor, pepper flake for heat, or coconut sugar for sweetness. At this time, you can also choose to add nutritional yeast and/or tomato paste for more depth of flavor and richness (optional, but I usually add both).
  • If the sauce has thickened too much at this point, thin with a little water. Although I prefer mine thicker and leave it on the thick/chunky side.
  • Serve with your favorite Italian dishes. Or simply over a serving of cooked pasta of choice or spaghetti squash.
  • Store cooled leftovers in the refrigerator up to 1 week, or in the freezer up to 1 month.

Notes

*2 large garlic cloves are equal to ~3 small garlic cloves or ~2 Tbsp minced garlic.
*Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated with oil and without the optional ingredients.
 

Nutrition

Serving: 0.5cup | Calories: 37kcal | Carbohydrates: 4.4g | Protein: 0.8g | Fat: 2.1g | Saturated Fat: 0.3g | Sodium: 171mg | Fiber: 1.1g | Sugar: 3.2g