Whole30 spaghetti sauce is going to become your new go-to pasta sauce recipe!
This simple, vegan spaghetti sauce is ready in under 5 minutes and doesn’t require any special ingredients!
You are not going to believe how simple and flavorful this recipe is! Never buy store bought version again!
Why this recipe works
- This recipe for Whole30 spaghetti sauce is ready in under 5 minutes and doesn’t require you to turn on the stove!
- This is the EASIEST pasta sauce recipe out there!
- This Whole30 Spaghetti sauce has no added sugar is made from canned tomatoes, making it easy to make this recipe all year long!
- Finding a pasta sauce without added sugar can be tough and/or expensive! Never pay for expensive marinara again! This recipe can be made for under $3 and tastes amazing!
- This recipe goes great as a base for meatballs (like Whole30 Turkey Meatballs) or on top of zoodles or pasta for a quick and healthy dinner.
- Make this vegan marinara ahead of time and store it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or in the freezer for up to 2 months!
Why make your own marinara sauce
Many store bought sauces are filled with lower quality ingredients. They often have added sugars, low quality oils or have dairy hiding in them.
There are some great higher quality brands of marinara on the market but they can often cost up to $8 per jar. You can make your own homemade marinara for under $3.
Canned and cooked tomatoes are a great source of lycopene, which is a powerful antioxidant! Making your own marinara makes it even easier to include tomatoes in your diet on a more regular basis!
What you need to make your own Whole30 spaghetti sauce
- Organic Canned Diced tomatoes – this is what keeps the recipe cost effective and easy to make! Check the canned tomatoes to make sure they are lined with BPA free liner.
- Balsamic Vinegar – balsamic vinegar is key to making the canned tomatoes not taste canned. Do not skip this ingredient!
- Tomato paste – this helps give the canned tomatoes a depth of flavor!
- Garlic Powder – garlic powder doesn’t burn and it’s always on hand! If you want to have a stronger garlic flavor, you can also saute fresh garlic.
- Salt – salt makes everything taste better
- Italian Seasoning – make your own or find an organic blend you love! This is what helps turn canned tomatoes into spaghetti sauce
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How to make spaghetti sauce in under 5 minutes
Step 1: Drain some of the excess liquid from the canned diced tomatoes.
Step 2: Add the canned tomatoes and the rest of the ingredients to a large bowl.
Step 3: Blend with an immersion blender. I like my homemade spaghetti sauce to have a little texture, so I don’t blend it smooth, but that is up to you.
NOTE: If you don’t have an immersion blender, I highly recommend one. But, you can also find canned crushed tomatoes instead of diced tomatoes. If you find crushed tomatoes, you do not need to blend the recipe at all.
Store the sauce in a large mason jar for up to 2 weeks in the fridge.
What else could you add to your homemade spaghetti sauce recipe
I created this recipe back when I was running a healthy catering company. I needed a way to make enough spaghetti sauce for 40+ meals, so I tried to keep it simple and easy.
If you want ant to take this recipe to the next level, you could add:
- Saute fresh garlic and onions (1-2 cloves of garlic and 1 white onion)
- Roasted red peppers
- Steamed carrots for added sweetness
- Cooked ground beef or ground turkey
- Sundried tomatoes
- Sauteed spinach or kale (may need to add some extra salt)
- Red Pepper Flakes
What can you serve with Whole30 spaghetti sauce
- Serve it over zoodles, low carb pasta, spaghetti squash, butternut squash noodles, sweet potato noodles, rutabaga noodles, or regular pasta
- Serve it over meatballs
- Quick meal paired with Italian chicken sausage, peppers and onions.
- Stirred into veggies for a healthy side dish.
How to store leftover Whole30 marinara
- Fridge: You can store any leftover marinara in the fridge in a airtight container (I love large mason jars for this) for up to 2 weeks.
- Freezer: You can freeze leftover sauce for up to 2 months. Be sure to cool the sauce completely before placing it in the freezer.
- TIP: Freeze the marinara in silicone ice cube trays to make it easy to portion out leftovers if you don’t plan on using them all at once. Plus, this makes reheating much quicker!
- Reheating: Reheat leftover marinara in the microwave 30 seconds at a time, stirring well until heated through, or on the stove for 3-7 minutes on medium low heat, covered, stirring well.
What to look for in a store bought Whole30 Approved spaghetti sauce
- Made without any added sugar
- No dairy
- No canola oil (or other lower quality oils)
Is balsamic vinegar Whole30 Approved?
Yes! However, you need to read the ingredient list! Caramel color, added sugar and added sulfites are not Whole30 Approved.
All balsamic vinegar’s have sulfites (that are a naturally occurring part of the fermentation process) so you will see a warning on most labels that the vinegar contains naturally occurring sulfites. That is ok for Whole30!
However, you may see sulfites in the ingredient list (for preservation purposes) and that is not Whole30 approved.
Substitutions
- Diced canned tomatoes: This recipe calls for diced canned tomatoes because those are the easiest to find in every grocery store (and are often on sale). However, I prefer to use organic crushed tomatoes, since you don’t have to blend the crushed tomatoes.
- Some people prefer to use whole canned tomatoes, which is also fine! You will want to drain some of the liquid from the whole canned tomatoes, since they tend to be more watery than diced or crushed.
- Do not use canned tomato sauce when making this recipe, as It almost always has sugar added to it.
- Balsamic vinegar: acid is required to help break through the canned tomato taste. If you don’t have balsamic vinegar, you can use red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar or sherry vinegar to replace the balsamic vinegar. You may need to also add ½ tablespoon of coconut aminos to help balance out the flavor if you are adding different vinegar.
- Tomato paste: tomato paste really helps add a depth of flavor to this homemade marinara recipe. If you cannot find tomato paste, you can add ½ tablespoon of coconut aminos to help add depth to the recipe.
- Garlic powder: If your grandmother would roll over if you used garlic powder in a homemade marinara, that’s cool! You can spend a few minutes sauteing garlic in oil. Add the cooked garlic to the sauce before blending.
- If you cannot tolerate garlic powder, add 1 tablespoon of garlic olive oil before blending.
- Italian seasoning: If you don’t have Italian seasoning on hand, add ½ tablespoon dried basil, ½ tablespoon dried oregano, 1/2 teaspoon of dried parsley to the sauce.
If you loved this recipe, check out these other Whole30 friendly sauces
- 5 Whole30 chicken marinades
- Dairy Free Ranch Dressing
- Whole30 Approved Italian Dressing
- Whole30 BBQ Sauce
- Avocado Ranch Dressing
What you will need to make this homemade spaghetti sauce
- Immersion blender
- Mason jars (for storage)
- Silicone ice cubes (for storage)
Whole30 Spaghetti Sauce
Ingredients
- 28 oz diced tomatoes - organic
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 2 tbsp. tomato paste
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Drain excess water off the can of crushed tomatoes.
- Add all the ingredients to a large bowl.
- Use an immersion blender to break up the tomatoes and combine the ingredients. I like to leave the sauce slightly chunky.
- Store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks in a well sealed container.
Notes
- You can store any leftover marinara in the fridge in a airtight container (I love large mason jars for this) for up to 2 weeks.
- You can freeze leftover sauce for up to 2 months. Be sure to cool the sauce completely before placing it in the freezer.
- TIP: Freeze the marinara in silicone ice cube trays to make it easy to portion out leftovers if you don’t plan on using them all at once. Plus, this makes reheating much quicker!
- Reheat leftover marinara in the microwave 30 seconds at a time, stirring well until heated through, or on the stove for 3-7 minutes on medium low heat, covered, stirring well.
- Saute fresh garlic and onions (1-2 cloves of garlic and 1 white onion)
- Roasted red peppers
- Steamed carrots for added sweetness
- Cooked ground beef or ground turkey
- Sundried tomatoes
- Sauteed spinach or kale (may need to add some extra salt)
- Red pepper flakes
Nutrition Information
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Update Notes: This recipe was originally posted in March 2015, but was published again in November 2019 to update the recipe, include step by step directions, recipe notes, and new photos.
Teresa Wood
Could you process this in canning jars and make them shelf stable and make bigger batches?
Samantha Rowland
Great question Teresa! I personally do not have experience with canning so I can’t give you an answer for this. If you do the research and find out it can be done, please let me know!
Honor
This was so easy to make, and very good! We added onions, garlic, mushrooms, and vegan Italian sausage. I also added a little vegan milk and sour cream to decrease the tomato tanginess a little. This is going to replace buying marinara sauce going forward!
Deborah Davis
I am a big fan of quick, easy, tasty recipes so I was delighted to see your easy homemade marinara sauce recipe. Thank you for sharing this healthy and delicious recipe with us at the Healthy, Happy, Green and Natural Party Blog Hop! I’m pinning and sharing!
Joy @ Joy Love Food
Homemade pasta sauce is the best, your version with the roasted garlic, sounds wonderful! Thanks for sharing at What’d You Do This a Weekend? I hope you will join us again this Monday!
Heaven
This looks really good! We are new to working with garlic cloves, so I’m excited this is what your recipe calls for. Found you at a party. Pinned!
Catherine Holt
Oh, I have never made my own marinara. Looks so yummy tho….looks like I need to change that!
Thanks for sharing at Marvelous Monday on Smart Party Planning.
Arman @ thebigmansworld
LOVE homemade marinara sauce- I may or may not eat it cold on toast with eggs when I’m lazy….This looks so good!
Thalia @ butter and brioche
For some reason I’ve never made my own marinara sauce before.. but if it’s this easy and flavoursome as you make it seem here I have to try out the recipe.
Tina muir
Yyyyyuuummm! I have been looking for a good recipe for this, but did not know which recipe to trust, now I can try yours! Thanks for joining us, and thanks for the recipe!
Susie @ SuzLyfe
OMG YES.
I love marinara sauce. Eat it with a spoon, yes. please.
Sam
LoL I know you would :)
Laura @ Mommy Run Fast
That sauce is gorgeous! I agree- homemade sauce has such great flavor. I need to take the time to make it more often!
Deborah @ Confessions of a Mother Runner
oh yes home made sauce is a must for me too! Love roasted garlic in there -yummy!