This pasta marinara sauce tastes delicious and takes no time at all to make! Ready in less than 20 minutes!
This pasta sauce is great on your favorite noodles, used for shakshuka or to dip bread sticks in! It's full of flavor and comes together fast!
I like to call this semi-homemade. Why you ask? Because I use canned tomato sauce.
As delicious as fresh tomatoes are they aren’t in season year round plus have you ever made your own pasta sauce from scratch? The tomatoes take forever to cook down into a thick sauce.
Marinara vs Pasta Sauce?
Pasta sauce is typically a little thicker and richer in flavors than marinara. Marinara also typically doesn't have meat in the sauce, whereas it's not uncommon to for pasta sauce to have ground beef or other meat in it.
Ingredients Needs for Pasta Marinara Sauce
- Canned Tomato Sauce
- Italian Seasoning
- Garlic Powder
- Onion Powder
- Salt
- Pepper
- Ground Beef- optional
How to make pasta marinara sauce?
- In a medium pot combine sauce and spices.
- Heat over medium heat until warmed through, stirring occasionally. Taste test to see if you need to add any additional spices.
- If you are adding ground meat to the sauce, make sure to cook that BEFORE adding it to the sauce.
How do you thicken spaghetti sauce?
Let the sauce simmer until it reduces down or make a cornstarch slurry (1tbs cornstarch mixed with 2 tbs water) and stir that into the sauce.
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However, this the beauty of this recipe is that typically this pasta sauce doesn't need to be thickened since you are using canned tomato sauce.
What to do with marinara sauce besides pasta?
We love to use it for shakshuka and even use leftover for pizza sauce. You can also use this in lasagna, stuffed zucchini appetizers, or dip breads sticks in it!
How much marina sauce per pound of pasta?
The rule of thumb is 24 oz (a typical jar of pasta sauce), per pound of pasta. This is equal to 1 ½ cups pasta sauce.
How to store leftover pasta sauce?
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days.
Can you freeze marinara sauce?
You can freeze leftover pasta sauce for several months. I recommend freezing in cubes like these. (amazon affiliate link)
If you like this recipe don't miss my smoked chicken, tri tip tacos, and homemade mayo!
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Pasta Marinara Recipe
Ingredients
- 45 oz canned tomato sauce
- 3 tbs Italian seasoning
- 2 tbs garlic powder
- 1 tbs onion powder
- 2 teaspoon salt plus more to taste
- 2 teaspoon pepper plus more to taste
- 1 lb ground beef optional
Instructions
- If adding ground beef see notes below.1 lb ground beef
- In a medium large sauce pot combine tomato sauce, and seasonings.45 oz canned tomato sauce, 3 tbs Italian seasoning, 2 tbs garlic powder, 1 tbs onion powder, 2 teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoon pepper
- Heat over medium heat stirring occasionally until it is warmed throughout.
- Top your favorite noodles with the sauce and enjoy!
Notes
- Ground Beef: In a medium sized fry pan cook the ground beef. Once done cooking drain the meat, then stir into pasta sauce. DO NOT add raw ground meat to sauce.
- Leftovers: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.
- Freeze: You can freeze leftover pasta sauce for several months. I recommend freezing in cubes like these. (amazon affiliate link)
- Nutrition info does not include ground beef.
Nutrition
post updated 9/28/2022
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