10-min Vegan Marinara Sauce

What is marinara sauce?

Marinara sauce is a thick spaghetti sauce made with chopped tomatoes and Italian seasoning. It tastes and looks more like a chunky tomato sauce.

What is precisely the difference between marinara and spaghetti sauce? When we say spaghetti sauce, we usually think of the classic tomato-based pasta sauce, a smooth, velvety tomato sauce with the same Italian seasoning. It has no chunks, no skins, and no seeds.

What is the difference between marinara and tomato sauce? Tomato sauce is a cooked, unseasoned sauce made of tomatoes that they sell in bottles. It is more like a sieved tomato puree without seasoning, the base for many recipes.

Ingredients

It is one of the most basic pasta sauces you can ever make. After trying a homemade marinara sauce, you will not go back to buying it again. Here are the 6 ingredients you need.

• Chopped tomatoes – If we don’t find ripe, juicy, fresh tomatoes (preferably heirloom tomatoes), we often use Mutti’s canned tomatoes instead. If low sodium content is vital for you, choose Hunt’s diced tomatoes instead.
• Sieved tomato puree – We love to use Mutti’s tomato passata
• Onion
• Garlic
• Basil – If you use fresh ingredients, chop them finely, but keep a couple of fresh basil leaves for decoration.
• Oregano

🛒 You can find detailed measurements for all ingredients in the printable version of the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Instructions

Well, do you have 10 minutes? That is how long it takes to cook a homemade vegan marinara sauce.

1. Preheat a frying pan over medium heat. Cook the chopped onion and the finely chopped garlic in oil.
2. Add the chopped tomatoes, sieved tomato puree, basil, oregano, salt, and black pepper, when the onion and garlic are soft and cooked.

3. Simmer on low-medium heat for a couple of minutes to activate the herbs and spices. Your 10 minutes are up! You are ready! Now you know how to make your vegan marinara sauce at home. What to serve it with? See 20+ vegan recipes in the “Serving ideas” section.

Variations

You can spice up this easy vegan marinara sauce recipe depending on what you want to use it for and who you serve it to.

• Spicy – add chili flakes, sriracha, or hot chili powder
• Cheezy – add vegan Parmesan or nutrition yeast
• Creamy – turn it into a coconut milk pasta sauce by adding full-fat canned coconut cream. Or use our cashew alfredo sauce or vegan bechamel to make a rose sauce similar to the one we make for vegan spaghetti bolognese.
• Smoother – if you don’t like chunks or your kid doesn’t like them, take an immersion blender and smooth it out.
• Richer – add a dash of red wine to make it richer
• Oil-free – If you follow a WFPD (whole foods plant-based) diet, cook onion and garlic in veggie broth, water, or directly in the tomato sauce.

Serving ideas

Use it as pasta sauce

As it is primarily a pasta sauce, it is no surprise that most recipes featuring it are pasta. Here is some variety you can start with:

• Spaghetti and Meatballs or Meatballs Subs using one of our vegan meatballs recipe Vegan Eggplant Meatballs (see pictured below), Vegan Chickpea Meatballs, Vegan Mushroom Meatballs, IKEA Veggie Balls, Tofu Meatballs, TVP Meatballs,
• Super Easy Vegan Lentil Lasagna
• Vegan Cabbage Lasagna with Spinach
• Stuffed Shells with Almond Ricotta by Strength and Sunshine
• Instant Pot Pasta Puttanesca by Veggies Saves the Day
• Vegan Pasta Alla Vodka by Erica’s Recipes
• One-Pot Veggie Pasta by Jolly Slice

Use it as a pizza sauce

Generally, we would use our 5-minute no-cook vegan pizza sauce on top of our gluten-free pizza crust, but you can’t really turn down a simple margarita pizza with marinara sauce and cheese. It just gives an extra zing to mix all these chunks with melted cheese. Here is some variety to start with:

• Deep Dish Pizza Pot Pie by Spabettie
• Mini Polenta Pizza by Veggies Saves the Day
• Vegan Greek Pizza by She Likes Food
• Quinoa Pizza Bites by Jessica in the Kitchen
• Vegan Spaghetti Squash Pizza Crust by The Friendly Fig

More delicious recipes

Not looking for either a pasta or a pizza recipe? Then try these creative recipes using marinara sauce:

• Vegan Eggplant Parmesan (see pictured below)
• Vegan Moussaka
• Marinara Stuffed Roasted Eggplants by Foodal
• Vegan Mozzarella Stuffed Chickquin Burgers by Spabettie
• Quick Bolognese over Polenta Fries by Erica’s Recipes
• Vegan Chickpea Shakshuka
• Polenta Mash with Mushroom and Marinara by Veggie Lexi

Storing tips

The sauce is perfect for batch cooking. You can easily store it in the fridge for up to a week without any problem.  

Store any leftovers per serving (in a jar, in a ziplock bag, or another container) in a freezer and thaw whenever you need it. 

FAQs

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10-min Vegan Marinara Sauce

Nandor Barta

Packed with 6 simple, fresh ingredients like juicy chopped tomatoes, fragrant basil and oregano, and savory onion and garlic, this chunky vegan marinara sauce is the perfect way to add flavor and nutrition to your favorite pasta dishes. Give it a try and taste the difference that a quick, healthy meal can make!

5 from 3 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 5 minutes mins

Total Time 10 minutes mins

Course Main Course, Sauce

Servings 4 servings

Calories 84kcal

Equipment

• Non-stick frying pan (10.5 inch / 26 cm)

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1 Tbsp Olive oil
• ▢ 1 Onion (medium)
• ▢ 2 cloves Garlic
• ▢ 2 tsp Basil
• ▢ 2 tsp Oregano
• ▢ 2 cup Chopped tomatoes
• ▢ 10 oz Sieved tomato puree aka Tomato sauce
• ▢ Salt
• ▢ Pepper

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EXCLUSIVE 5-ingredient recipes for busy home cooks that are ready in 15 minutes!Check out our Express Vegan Cookbook!

Instructions

 

• Peel and dice the onions. Peel, crush, and chop finely the garlic cloves.
• Heat the frying pan on medium heat. Add olive oil and cook onions for a couple of minutes before adding the garlic. (If you follow WFPBNO diet, skip this step and cook the onion and garlic directly in the tomato sauce.)
• When the onions are soft, add the tomato sauce and the chopped tomatoes and stir a couple of times. 
• Add the seasoning (basil, oregano, salt, and black pepper).
• When the sauce is boiling, stir a couple of times again, and you are ready! That was all!
• Serve it with your favorite dishes, like vegan eggplant meatballs, vegan chickpea meatballs, vegan mushroom meatballs, vegan lasagna, vegan cabbage lasagna, vegan eggplant parmesan or vegan moussaka. More than 20+ delicious vegan recipes right above the recipe card.

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Notes

What else can you add?

• Spicy – add chili flakes, sriracha, or hot chili powder
• Cheezy – add vegan Parmesan or nutrition yeast
• Creamy – turn it into coconut milk pasta sauce by adding full-fat canned coconut cream.  Or add vegan alfredo sauce or vegan bechamel to make a rose sauce similar to the one used in vegan spaghetti bolognese.
• Smoother – if you don’t like chunks or your kid doesn’t like chunks, take an immersion blender and smooth it out.
• Richer – add a dash of red wine to make it richer

Video

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

10-min Vegan Marinara Sauce

Amount Per Serving (1 serving)

Calories 84 Calories from Fat 36

% Daily Value*

Fat 4g6%

Saturated Fat 1g6%

Sodium 360mg16%

Potassium 416mg12%

Carbohydrates 12g4%

Fiber 3g13%

Sugar 7g8%

Protein 2g4%

Vitamin A 347IU7%

Vitamin C 18mg22%

Calcium 64mg6%

Iron 2mg11%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

UPDATED: This recipe was originally posted in Jan 2019, but was rewritten and republished with new photos, instructions, and tips in Mar 2023.