Homemade Marinara Sauce

I know. I know. It's easier to buy it.

But hear me out. :)

Several weeks ago, when my 21 Day Fix Coach sent out a list of recipes to get us cooking in a healthy way, homemade marina sauce was in the mix of things she sent. She told us that sometimes the bottled sauces in the store are loaded with additional sugars and salts and things you can't pronounce, and it's good to make your own.

Right about then, I remembered how often Ryan and I would stand in the aisle at the store, grumbling about the price of such sauces, and how sometimes I rationed making dishes that used such a sauce more because of what I had to pay for it than anything else.

Maybe making my own wouldn't be so bad after all. Better for me, better for my wallet....yes, please!

I will tell you the complete truth here: this does not take long to put together AT ALL. The last time I made it, I whipped it up in about 10  minutes and let it simmer on the stove all evening while we did our workouts and such. And then I just stuck the whole pot in the fridge. The next day, I portioned it out by 2 cup intervals into storage baggies and put them in the freezer for someday, when I need marinara sauce.

Truly easy.

And I also have a funny story for you. Enjoy.

I grew up in a home with absolutely no alcohol. My parents do not drink, and alcohol was not permitted in our house. Not even for cooking. I also do not drink, and neither does Ryan. I've never purchased alcohol in my entire life, cough medicine aside. So when the recipe called for red wine, I panicked.

I purchased said wine in the same aisle with all the vinegars and such things. It's cooking wine, not I had a bad day wine. And yet I about freaked out in checkout putting that bottle of wine in my bag. And when the day came to make the sauce for the first time, I measured out the cooking wine, set it aside, and worked on the first part of the recipe. I got so flustered, I spilled the entire measured out portion of wine, and it went everywhere...over the counter, down the cabinets, onto the floor. The entire house smelled like a drunken fest had just taken place, and I figured that was my punishment for buying and cooking with wine!

HA!!!

So if you can look past the wine, here is the recipe for making homemade marinara sauce.

Homemade Marinara Sauce

2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 teaspoons garlic powder
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
1/4 cup red wine {IF YOU DARE!!!}
2 28-ounce cans crushed tomatoes
1 Tablespoon seasoned salt
3 Tablespoons chopped basil

Heat olive oil in large saucepan over medium high heat. Add onion and cook for about 5 minutes, until onion is translucent. Add garlic powder and tomato paste, stirring constantly for 2-3 minutes. Don't let tomato paste burn. Add wine {CAREFULLY} and stir constantly for 2-3 minutes. Add tomatoes, seasoned salt and basil and bring to a boil. Lower heat and allow to simmer for at least an hour - more if you'd like. Use with pasta, on pizza, or any other type of dish in which you'd use marinara. 

* A Few Tips

* I used red onion in this batch, because it's what we had on hand. Any kind of onion would be fine.


* The original recipe called for 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped, but I don't use real garlic cloves, so I switched mine to include the powdered amount I used.

* The crushed tomatoes I found already had basil in them, so my recipe was extra basil-y. You could include other herbs if you like them in your Italian dishes.

* The original recipe also called for 2 Tablespoons of agave nectar, but I don't like my sauces sweet at all, so I eliminated that.

* Another thing I eliminated was 3 ounces of parmesan rind because I didn't have any and didn't want to make another purchase. I think the sauce tastes fine without it.

* I got 7 1/2 cups of sauce out of this recipe. I bagged them in 2 cup bags, except the last one which was just 1.5 cups. You could make the portions even smaller depending on your needs.

* Kind of nice to be able to open a serving for 1 or 2 as needed rather than opening a jar, not using it all, and throwing the rest away.

* I labeled my bags and froze them until needed.

* If you can find the tomatoes on sale, you can make this REALLY inexpensively.