Maybe it’s a southern thing, or a country living kinda thing, or maybe it’s just a summer thing, but even though I don’t have a single tomato plant (or a garden), I seem to have fresh tomatoes multiplying at my house. Neighbors, friends and even my mom always bring me “just a few” when they come over. A few here and a few there, and all of a sudden I’ve got a bushel of them and we rarely eat fresh tomatoes. So when life hands you tomatoes, make marinara – that’s my philosophy anyways. My easy homemade marinara sauce is so delicious I wish I could bottle it up for all year long. {However many times I’ve tried, I just can’t can anything tomato based – so I quit trying.} But, even if you don’t have fresh tomatoes, you can still make this homemade marinara sauce, so no worries!

Easy Homemade Marinara Sauce

Ingredients:

• 6 to 8 cups of fresh tomatoes, peeled, cored, deseeded and crushed by hand (or two 28 oz. cans of crushed tomatoes)
• 1/2 cup of finely diced (or grated) onion
• 3 cloves of finely minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon dried italian herbs
• 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
• salt to taste (1/2 tablespoon to start, then add more at the end if needed)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:

In a large, heavy bottomed pan, pour in olive oil, then on medium, cook the onions and garlic for 2-3 minutes until they are slightly softened (you’re really just flavoring the oil). Add in the tomatoes, herbs, balsamic vinegar and salt, then bring just to a boil. Turn the heat down to the lowest setting, then simmer for 1-2 hours until all of the flavors have come together and the sauce is thickened.

Enjoy the sauce over pasta, use on homemade pizza or even as a dipping sauce.

So yummy you’ll never want store bought sauce again!

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easy homemade marinara sauce

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Keyword easy homemade marinara sauce, marinara sauce

Ingredients

• 6 to 8 cups of fresh tomatoes peeled, cored, deseeded and crushed by hand (or two 28 oz. cans of crushed tomatoes)
• 1/2 cup of finely diced or grated onion
• 3 cloves of finely minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon dried italian herbs
• 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
• salt to taste 1/2 tablespoon to start, then add more at the end if needed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions

1. In a large, heavy bottomed pan, pour in olive oil, then on medium, cook the onions and garlic for 2-3 minutes until they are slightly softened (you’re really just flavoring the oil).
2. Add in the tomatoes, herbs, balsamic vinegar and salt, then bring just to a boil.
3. Turn the heat down to the lowest setting, then simmer for 1-2 hours until all of the flavors have come together and the sauce is thickened.

Me personally? I just want to slather the homemade marinara sauce on a piece of really good, lightly toasted French bread. Yum!