This Penne Pasta with Italian Marinara Sauce really hits home if you are looking for homemade comfort food. My Italian marinara sauce is full of so many Italian herbs and spices! Fresh oregano, basil, and Italian parsley pairs so well with the zangy tomatoes, fresh minced garlic, and onions! Everyone in your family will rave over this penne pasta dish!
EASY Marinara Sauce from Scratch
I love a good pasta dish and could live on pasta alone and be just fine! In some of my past posts, I've mentioned that I often travel for work. The TV pretty much stays on the Food Network when I'm home, but having it on in the background when I travel just really helps me feel more at home and comfortable. Since the UK is 8 hours ahead of me here in Arizona, whenever I would wake up to get ready for work the same shows would be on. It was always The Pioneer Woman and Barefoot Contessa...which is perfect because those are two of my favorites! While The Pioneer Woman was on one morning, Ree was making her marinara sauce for her family and my mouth instantly started watering! Oh man! I started craving pasta with marinara!
Lucky for me, there was an amazing authentic Italian restaurant right down the street from my hotel so I took care of that craving immediately, but it made me want to venture out and try making a new type of marinara sauce. I have two other marinara sauces on my website that are fantastic! My Homemade Spaghetti Sauce is amazing...it's been in my family for over 40 years.
I also have a really great authentic Italian Marinara with Meatballs recipe that came from my really good friend, Lindsay's Italian grandmother and it's to die for! But because I love to explore with recipes and ingredients, I wanted to try making a new one. So what did I do? I looked at Ree's Marinara Sauce for ideas and revamped it a bit to fit my taste.
Ingredients
These are some of the most flavorful ingredients you can combine for this Italian Marinara Sauce Recipe:
- ground beef or ground Italian sausage
- olive oil
- fresh basil
- fresh oregano
- tomato paste
- Onion
- garlic
- carrots
- can whole tomatoes
- salt
- pepper
- sugar
- Italian Parsley
- dried thyme
- dried rosemary
Carrots in Marinara Sauce
There is one ingredient in Ree's recipe that I wanted to ensure I kept in my version and can you guess what it is? Carrots!!! Can you believe it? I was a little leary on leaving the carrots, but my son loves carrots so I thought, what the heck...let's go for it! And it's sooo delicious! Carrots are the secret to this homemade marinara sauce. And leave those peelings on the carrots! That's where all the nutrition is!
How to Make Marinara Sauce
- In a large skillet, heat the olive oil. Chop the onions, garlic, and carrots and saute. The key to this marinara sauce recipe is sauteing the onion, garlic, and carrots in olive oil.
- While the vegetables continue to saute, pour the 2 cans of whole tomatoes in a bowl and break apart with your hands. You want to release the juices and ensure the tomatoes are broken into smaller pieces.
- Once the vegetables are done sauteing, add the broken up tomatoes to the skillet, along with the can of diced tomatoes.
- Add in the water and half the can of tomato paste.
- Stir well to mix all the ingredients together.
- Add cooked meat, salt, pepper, oregano, thyme, rosemary, basil, sugar, and Italian parsley to the sauce and stir well.
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- Bring the sauce to a rolling boil and then reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered for 90 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Grab a box of penne pasta and cook according to the box directions. Once done, drain the noodles and serve the homemade marinara sauce over the penne pasta. Top with fresh grated Parmesan cheese and serve immediately.
How to Tell When Penne Pasta is Done
- I like al dente pasta. That means the pasta has just a little bit of firmness to it. Personally, I taste the pasta and can tell when it's done to my liking. If you want to go off of time, add the penne pasta to boiling and after 14 minutes, the penne pasta will be done. in 14 minutes.
How Long Will the Marinara Sauce Last?
- It will last in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. I like leftover cooked penne pasta so I tend to make extra and warm up the penne pasta and sauce in the microwave.
Tips for Making the BEST Italian Marinara Sauce
- Use a mixture of fresh and dry ingredients. Using a wide variety of fantastic herbs is key. I chopped up fresh oregano, Italian parsley, and basil and then added in some dried rosemary and thyme. Oh...and one more ingredient....sugar. Yep, sugar is key to a good marinara sauce!
- Time. When making any hearty marinara sauce, one thing you need is time. Cooking this sauce slow is so important. Don't rush this one....it's so worth the wait!
- Gluten Free. This marinara sauce is gluten free and if you serve this sauce over gluten free noodles, you have yourself a gluten free meal!
- Ground Beef vs. Ground Italian Sausage. Let me talk about the meat I used in this Penne Pasta with Italian Marinara Sauce. I used ground beef in my marinara sauce but I've also used ground Italian sausage and it's delicious regardless of what type of meat you use.
- Flavored Olive Oil. I always have a flavored olive oil on hand and I often use a garlic infused olive oil in this recipe. If you don't have a flavored olive oil, don't worry! Any brand of extra-virgin olive oil will work perfect!
More Pasta Recipes You'll Love
- Lasagna
- Buttery Pasta with Pesto and Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
- Chicken Florentine with Sun Dried Tomato Pasta
- Spinach Avocado Pasta
- Easy Pasta Bake
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Penne Pasta with Italian Marinara Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef or ground Italian sausage
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil (if you have a flavored olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 large unpeeled carrots, finely chopped
- 2 can cans whole tomatoes, (14.5 ounce cans)
- 1 can can petite diced tomatoes (14.5 ounce can)
- ½ can tomato paste, (6 ounces)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 Tablespoons oregano, finely chopped
- 2 Tablespoons Italian parsley, finely chopped
- 1 Tablespoon basil, fresh chopped
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon dried rosemary
- ¾ cups water
- Cooked pasta for serving (either gluten free or traditional)
- Fresh Parmesan cheese for serving
Instructions
- In a large skillet, brown the meat until no longer pink. Drain and set aside.
- Finely shop the onion, garlic and carrots and place in a bowl. Don't peel the carrots...that's where most of the nutrition is!
- In a medium pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat.
- When oil is hot, add in the chopped onion, garlic and carrots and saute for about 5 minutes.
- While the vegetables are sauteing, pour the 2 cans of whole tomatoes in a bowl and break apart with your hands. You want to release the juices and ensure they tomatoes are broken into smaller pieces.
- Once the vegetables are done sauteing, add the broken up tomatoes to the pot, along with the can of diced tomatoes. Also add in the water and half the can of tomato paste. Stir well to start mixing all the ingredients together.
- Add cooked meat, salt, pepper, oregano, thyme, rosemary, basil, sugar and parsley to the sauce and stir well.
- Bring the sauce to a rolling boil and then reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered for 90 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Once the sauce is close to being done, cook your pasta according to the box directions.
- Serve the sauce over the cooked pasta and top with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and fresh basil.
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Lindsay
Oh I just made this recipe and it is still in the pot being simmered but I had a quick taste. Wow it is fabulous the bacon adds great flavour. I can not wait to serve it tonight over penne noodles. 😘
Amanda Mason
I am so glad you like it! It's one of my absolute favorite pasta recipes ever!!!