What's the difference between spaghetti sauce and marinara?

Spaghetti sauce, otherwise known as "red" or tomato sauce, typically has more ingredients and simmers for longer to become reduced and thicker. Marinara is a quicker-cooking, simple sauce that's known to be somewhat thinner or looser than spaghetti sauce. Many people use them interchangeably, but marinara's lightness makes it a great complement to pizza or pasta dishes, as it lets all the other flavors shine through.

Can I simmer the marinara for longer than 30 minutes?

Sure can! 30 minutes is all you need, but feel free to let it simmer on low heat for up to an hour.

Can I blend the sauce first and then heat it up?

While this would technically work, sautéing the onions and garlic in olive oil first releases all their amazing flavors, which yields the most flavorful marinara.

Five-Ingredient Marinara Sauce – Roots and Radishes

Name: Five-Ingredient Marinara Sauce
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 40 min
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 1/4 cup olive oil; 4-5 cloves garlic, minced; 1 onion (yellow or sweet), diced small; 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes; 2 tablespoons dried Italian herbs; 1 tsp each salt + pepper

Five-Ingredient Marinara Sauce

Homemade marinara sauce in gray pan with a few pieces of fresh parsley sprinkled on top.

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This five-ingredient marinara sauce is exactly what you need to stay warm, nourished, and cozy on cold wintery or rainy days! Made with pantry staples and makes your kitchen smell amazing. Use in any pasta dish calling for marinara sauce.

Author: Tera
Prep Time: 10
Cook Time: 30
Total Time: 40 minutes
Yield: 3 cups 1x
Category: Sauce
Method: Stovetop
Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients

Units Scale

1/4 cup olive oil
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion (yellow or sweet), diced small
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
2 tablespoons dried Italian herbs
1 tsp each salt + pepper

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Instructions

Sauté aromatics. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a medium-sized skillet. Add garlic and onion to the skillet and sauté until translucent and softened, about five minutes. As they soften, add a pinch of salt to season.
Tomatoes & spices. Add tomatoes, Italian herbs, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and let simmer over low heat for 30 minutes.
Serve. After 30 minutes, taste test the marinara and add salt to taste. Remove from heat and either serve immediately on pasta or in desired dish, or blend first for a smoother sauce.

Notes

Mincing garlic. If you know you're going to blend your sauce, it's okay to slice garlic or roughly chop before sautéing. For leaving the sauce chunkier, I highly recommend mincing garlic! You can either do this with a knife or, to make it SUPER easy, I'm obsessed with using a microplane. Simply peel the garlic and grate it on the fine blade for perfectly minced garlic.
Herbs & spices. You can definitely used fresh herbs for this if you have access to them! Finely chop some basil, oregano, thyme, parsley or any other fresh Italian herbs and add them to the sauce.
Tomatoes. I think crushed tomatoes are the perfect texture for this quick marinara sauce, but canned diced or whole peeled tomatoes would work as well. Diced tomatoes have a more watery liquid so I recommend blending the sauce at the end. For whole peeled tomatoes, empty them into a bowl and squish/crush with clean hands before adding them to the skillet.

Nutrition

Serving Size: About 1/2 cup
Calories: 141
Sugar: 7 g
Sodium: 635.9 mg
Fat: 9.9 g
Saturated Fat: 1.5 g
Carbohydrates: 13.9 g
Fiber: 3.7 g
Protein: 2.8 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg

Find it online: https://www.rootsandradishes.com/five-ingredient-marinara-sauce/