There’s just something about opening a can of spaghetti sauce…

Said no one ever.

Every household needs a recipe for homemade marinara sauce because it’s such a staple ingredient in many of our Italian-American dishes, such as spaghetti and lasagna. And nothing out of a can or a jar even comes close to tasting as delicious as what you can make in your own kitchen.

Can I get an amen?

Spaghetti is one of those meals I think all of us keep in our back pockets for those days that we forgot we had to feed our families don’t plan ahead. I bet if we all checked our pantries right now, there would be a package or two of some type of noodles — because we know that noodles + sauce = dinner in 20 minutes.

We always use brown rice pasta since it’s gluten-free and low in anti-nutrients and because who has time to make homemade pasta?? {If you do, please don’t answer that.}

You don’t have to slave over a hot stove all day long for this easy peasy marinara sauce. In fact, there are a few of adaptations you can make to this recipe, which I’ll include at the end, so it can be as easy as you need it to be!

Here’s what you need:

• 2 Tablespoons butter or ghee
• 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 5-10 cloves garlic, minced — more or less, depending on your garlic preference
• extra diced veggies of choice (such as celery, bell peppers, mushrooms, etc.), optional
• 8-10 cups peeled and seeded tomatoes (or 3 – 24 oz cans crushed tomatoes in glass jars or BPA-free cans)
• 1 can tomato paste
• 1-2 Tablespoons sea salt
• 1 Tablespoon dried basil
• 1 Tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 pound grass-fed ground beef, optional
• 1 pound pastured ground pork or Italian sausage, optional

Here’s how to do it:

In a large stock pot or Dutch oven, melt butter or ghee with olive oil. Add diced onion (and any other veggies) and saute 5-7 minutes. Add minced garlic and stir. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, and spices. Start with 1 Tablespoon salt; you can add more later, if needed.

Stir everything together, reduce heat to low, and cover. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for one hour.

Now, if you just want a simple marinara sauce, you’re done! If you want a smooth sauce, puree your finished sauce with an immersion blender. If you like a chunkier sauce, leave it as-is.

If you want a meat sauce, add browned beef and Italian sausage AFTER pureeing the sauce with an immersion blender.

This sauce, with or without meat, is perfect for canning or freezing. I like to freeze it in quart-size baggies that I can pull out and thaw in some warm water on a busy day.

It’s great on top of pasta, in lasagna, or even as a pizza sauce if you’re in a pinch! We love it over spaghetti squash and veggie noodles that we make with our Spiralizer! And of course, I’m pretty generous with the freshly grated Parmesan on top. 😉

Do you make your own marinara sauce? If not, would you like to get away from relying on canned or jarred spaghetti sauce?