This is just a simple vegan tomato sauce, but the easiest and best-tasting I’ve ever made. The idea behind this sauce is a long(ish) cooking time and good, basic ingredients. I love chucking all of the ingredients into the pot and forgetting about it. No fine dicing, no browning, no preheating the pot.
You might think, like I did, that a tomato sauce needs to have those extra elements and techniques to make it more flavourful – the browning, the sweating of the onions, maybe a little sweetener. It definitely doesn’t.
This spicy marinara is ultra flavourful but missing that slightly bitter note that a not-great vegan tomato sauce can often have. Simmering for a long time and subtracting the browning element results in a sweet, slightly hot, subtle end result that you’ll want to keep eating forever.
It’s also about the easiest sauce you’ll ever make and totally foolproof. This is the recipe I give to kids (or adults!) who are first learning to cook and we make it every Friday for sourdough pizza and it’s my favourite topping for fresh spelt pasta.
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Tomatoes: fresh tomatoes can be used here 1:1 for canned if you have an excess, and taste spectacular. If using canned, whole tomatoes are often better quality than diced.
- Red wine: if you don’t use wine, or don’t have any in the house, use balsamic vinegar as noted in the recipe. Don’t mix them up and use three tablespoons of vinegar, it won’t be nice.
- Herbs: any herbs you like with tomatoes, or with Italian recipes, can be used here. Pictured, and in the video, are a blend I have for pizza. It’s thyme, marjoram, basil (which is a bit iffy dried), rosemary, and savoury. When I have fresh herbs I add everything but the rosemary and use extra basil.
- Add-ins: If you want to mix things up and take it from a basic marinara to a different sauce altogether, oat cream or another plant based cream makes a nice fake rosé sauce, or stir in some pesto at the end of cooking. For a higher protein option, try this lentil bolognese recipe.
Step by Step
1. Prepare: peel and roughly chop the onion and garlic. Place them into a pot with the remaining ingredients and stir to combine.
2. Cook: cover and heat the pot over high to bring to a rolling boil. Reduce to low heat and simmer gently, covered, for at least 30 minutes, or up to 4 hours.
3. Blend: carefully puree the sauce with an immersion blender or a heat-safe standing blender. Taste and season as needed.
4. Finish: serve, store, or freeze for later use.
If you can’t see the recipe video, please watch it here on YouTube instead.
Tips and Notes
The extra olive oil is what makes this tomato sauce so smooth and delicious – fat carries flavour, after all. Please don’t reduce it, as it’s really not that much when you consider it’s a whole batch of sauce.
I use an immersion blender to puree (one of my most-used tools) but you can also use a heat safe blender. If you don’t have either of these, wait for the sauce to cool fully before carefully blending in a normal mixer or food processor.
Serve this with any pasta you like or with vegan meatballs, red lentil falafel, on pizza, however you like tomato sauce. It freezes well and you can easily make a bigger batch to freeze for later.
If you add fresh basil, stir it in once the sauce is done cooking rather than simmering it. If cooked too long, it’ll lose most of its flavour and can become bitter.
How to Store
Storage: keep in the refrigerator for up to five days in a sealed container. Gently reheat – don’t boil again – for the best flavour.
Freezing: transfer cooled sauce to airtight containers and freeze for up to three months. Thaw in the refrigerator.
Newsletter
Expert Tips
- Add some veg: to sneak some extra vegetables in, dice them finely add them to the pot and simmer with the other ingredients. Once blended, they won’t be noticeable. Think carrots, celery, red pepper, anything that doesn’t have a particularly strong flavour.
- Season to taste: I use at least double the amount of salt listed for mine, but I think others prefer a less seasoned sauce, so go by your preference as always.
- Use a dry wine: if you go for the red wine method, make sure to use a dry cooking wine – it doesn’t need to be expensive, but shouldn’t be sweet.
More Great Staple Recipes
How to Make Caramelised Onions
The Best Pickled Red Onions
How to Make Vegetable Broth
How to Make Oat Milk
Pressure Cooker Quinoa
If you make this Easy Tomato Sauce or any other vegetarian staple recipes on Occasionally Eggs, please take a moment to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It’s such a help to others who want to try the recipe. For more OE, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest, purchase the Occasionally Eggs cookbook, or subscribe for new posts via email.
Spicy Marinara Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 small yellow onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 can whole tomatoes 400ml / 13.5 oz.
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar or 3 tablespoons red wine
- 2 tablespoons dried herbs**
- 1 teaspoon sea salt to taste*
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper or hot pepper flakes, to taste
Instructions
- Peel and roughly chop the onion and garlic. Place them into a pot with the tomatoes, olive oil, vinegar or wine, herbs, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper.1 small yellow onion, 2 cloves garlic, 1 can whole tomatoes, 3 tablespoons olive oil, 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar, 2 tablespoons dried herbs**, 1 teaspoon sea salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Stir to combine, trying to make sure the pieces of onion are covered by the tomatoes.
- Cover and heat the pot over high to bring to a rolling boil. Reduce to low heat and simmer gently, covered, for at least 30 minutes, or up to 4 hours.
- Puree the sauce with an immersion blender or a heat-safe standing blender. Taste and season as needed.
- This freezes very well for up to three months and keeps in the refrigerator for up to five days in a sealed container.
Video
Notes
* For American cup measurements, please click the pink link text above the ingredient list that says ‘American’.
Nutrition
Nutrition is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate. If this information is important to you, please have it verified independently.
This recipe was originally published in April 2020. It has been updated as of January 2021 with a video and new step by step photographs.
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