How to Make Marinara Sauce: Classic Marinara Sauce Recipe

In Italian, pasta alla marinara means "sailor-style pasta," but it contains no seafood. Instead, the name marinara is likely a reference to the place where the simple tomato sauce originated—coastal Naples. Marinara sauce is made with just four ingredients: ripe whole tomatoes, fresh garlic, olive oil, and herbs. Cooked briefly and left somewhat chunky, homemade marinara sauce has become a classic not just in Naples, but around the world.

In Naples, the birthplace of pizza, marinara is also a style of pizza, topped simply with tomato puree, thinly sliced garlic cloves, a pinch of oregano, and a spiral of olive oil. Outside of Italy, marinara sauce is widely available as the ubiquitous red sauce of Italian American cuisine, canned for use as pizza sauce, spaghetti sauce, dipping sauce, and as an ingredient in everything from sloppy joes to chilli. You can serve traditional Napes-style pasta alla marinara with meatballs, or you can serve marinara with vegetarian lasagna, zucchini noodles, or chicken parmesan sandwiches.

Marinara sauce is vegan by nature, with just four simple ingredients:

1. 1. Tomatoes: Only use fresh tomatoes in marinara sauce if they are truly ripe. Canned tomatoes, whether whole, crushed, or diced, are a great option. Avoid using tomato paste.
2. 2. Garlic: Garlic is the sole allium in this Italian recipe. There are two common methods for incorporating garlic into a marinara sauce: toasting whole garlic cloves to make a garlic-infused oil, or simmering finely minced garlic in the tomato sauce.
3. 3. Herbs: Flavor your marinara with herbs such as fresh basil leaves, oregano sprigs, or fresh parsley.
4. 4. Olive oil: Fatty olive oil balances acidic tomatoes for a winning flavor combination.