Homemade Marinara Sauce ~ Great for Freezing!

I LOVE homemade marinara. Love. It tastes so much better than the jarred stuff, it’s a great way to hide veggies from the kids, and it’s easy to make a big-mama batch and freeze for later. This was my first attempt at making a ton of marinara, and it really was so easy. I love knowing that I have these bags of yumminess just waiting for me in my freezer. Making a large batch was really not any harder than making enough for one meal, you just need to make sure you have some big pots and pans.

To make a large batch (18 quarts…I filled about 10 or 11 freezer bags with 5 cups each), you’ll need:

1 TBS. olive oil
2 TBS. sugar
30 cans (15 oz.) stewed tomatoes (or 15 of 28 oz. cans)
4 cans tomato paste
3 garlic cloves, large
5 TBS basil, fresh
1/3 cup salt
2 tsp. pepper
4 – 6 lbs. ground Jimmy Dean sausage (I did 4, but I’ll do 6 rolls next time.)
8 oz. package mushrooms
1 1/2 lb. mini carrots
1 bunch celery
1 – 2 white onion, large (I did just one)
2 zucchini

The fun thing is that you can add any kinds of veggies that you love…peppers, squash, whateva…or take out anything you don’t love.

First, use a food processor to chop up your veggies (carrots, onion, celery, zucchini, mushrooms, garlic, etc.), to whatever size you like. I was using this opportunity to hide as many veggies from my kids as I could, so chunks weren’t really an option.

My veggies were so chopped, that when mixed together, it looked like raw meat. Kinda yuck…but, oh so good for you! Plus, they were perfectly hidden in the tomato sauce. Anyway, you dump all your veggies into a extra large pan, heated up with a little olive oil. Saute until veggies soften (since mine were so fine, this just took a couple minutes.) Add the sugar, salt, and pepper to the veggies, mix well. (You can also add red pepper flakes if you like a little spice to your sauce.)

If you want a meat sauce, now is the time to cook it up. For this recipe, I used 4 rolls of the Jimmy Dean sausage. Next time, I’ll use even more…maybe 6 or 7. Me like meat.

Dump all of your cans of stewed tomatoes and tomato paste into a large pot. If you’re doing a monster batch, like me, you’ll probably need a big stock pot. Anyway, if you want your sauce tomato-chunky, leave it be. If you want it smooth, like me, dip your immersion blender in it and blend until you reach desired smoothness/chunkiness. If you don’t have an immersion blender and want a smoother sauce, you can dump your cans into the blender, then pour into the pot.

Add your veggie mixture to the tomato sauce, mix well. If you’re adding meat, dump that in too. Let the sauce simmer on the stove for 3 to 5 hours, without a lid. The last half hour of cooking, add your basil.

Taste the sauce and see if it needs anything else…salt, pepper, sugar, seasoning. I liked mine just the way it was.

To freeze the sauce, I let it cool down for a while on the stove, then scooped about 5 cups into each bag, wrote the date, placed them on cookie sheets and set them in the freezer so they would freeze flat…then I took the cookie sheets away. These marinara bags have been so fun to have! It tastes super good and is perfect for whipping up lasagna, spaghetti, or meatball sandwiches. I think I filled about 10 or 11 bags. The recipe says it makes 18 quarts. I’m so doing this every year. Buy your canned tomatoes during case lot sales, and you’re set!

Homemade Marinara
Deals to Meals

2 zucchini

Directions: Use a food processor to chop up your veggies (carrots, onion, celery, zucchini, mushrooms, garlic, etc.), to whatever size you like. Dump all of them into a extra large pan, heated up with a little olive oil. Saute until veggies soften (since mine were so fine, this just took a couple minutes.) Add the sugar, salt, and pepper to the veggies, mix well. (You can also add red pepper flakes if you like a little spice to your sauce.)

In a separate pan, cook up your meat, drain, and set aside.

Dump all of your cans of stewed tomatoes and tomato paste into a large pot. You’ll probably need a big stock pot. If you want your sauce tomato-chunky, leave it be. If you want it smooth, dip your immersion blender in it and blend until you reach desired smoothness/chunkiness. If you don’t have an immersion blender and want a smoother sauce, you can dump your cans into the blender, then pour into the pot. Add your veggie mixture to the tomato sauce, mix well. If you’re adding meat, dump that in too. Let the sauce simmer on the stove for 3 to 5 hours, without a lid. The last half hour of cooking, add your basil. Taste the sauce and see if it needs anything else…salt, pepper, sugar, seasoning

To freeze the sauce, let it cool down for a while on the stove, scoop about 5 cups into each gallon sized freezer bag, write the date, place them on cookie sheets and set them in the freezer so they freeze flat. Once frozen, you can take the cookie sheets away.

Makes about 18 qts. (I filled about 10 – 11 freezer bags, with 5 cups each.)

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Mariel

Owner & Author at Or so she says...

Mariel (mahr-eeee-elle) is a mother to six, wife to one. Loves homeschooling, golfing, cupcakes, traveling, cuddling, non-fiction books, gardening, James Taylor, family time, and a sexy wedge. This is her blog. Enjoy!