Make a Lot: Marinara 101

Marinara is our go to. Whenever I make it I always make a double or triple batch. It saves time, effort and money. All good things! From my experience, one of the biggest obstacles to saving money is convenience. If you make a little (or a lot) extra when you do cook, it makes for quick, easy and cheap dinners any night of the week. So this is my base recipe, and below a few variations and ideas for mixing it up.

Basic Marinara Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 onion, diced small
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• red wine (optional)
• 1 can crushed tomatoes (32 oz)
• salt
• ½ tsp. + crushed red pepper (optional)

Instructions

1. Saute the onion in olive oil until soft. If you have some red wine around, add about a half cup to the softened onions and let it simmer for about 4-5 minutes.
2. Add crushed tomatoes and salt. Let simmer about 15-20 minutes.
3. If using, add crushed red pepper and let simmer another 5 minutes.

Variations

• Add ½ to 1 cup shredded carrots with the crushed tomatoes
• Add ½ to 1 cup grated zucchini with the crushed tomatoes
• Add ½ to 1 cup frozen chopped spinach with the crushed tomatoes
• Add 1 package fake meat crumbles
• Add 1 package fake Italian sausage, diced small or crumbled. Fieldroast is my favorite
• Add 1 can white beans, rinsed and drained just about 5 minutes before the sauce is done simmering
• Add your favorite fresh, frozen or dried herbs.
• Use extra sauce for vegan pizza or pizza bagel making.