Garden Veggie Homemade Marinara Sauce [+Video]

Looking for a healthy and delicious pasta sauce recipe? This garden veggie homemade marinara sauce is packed with flavorful vegetables and can be made in under 30 minutes. Watch the video tutorial and try it out tonight!

Every kid loves pizza, many love spaghetti so a marinara sauce is a great way to get your children to enjoy more veggies. Try vegetarian marinara sauce!

I’ve never been a big fan of sneaking veggies into food as I’d rather my kids learn to love vegetables, but I see nothing wrong with packing something full of them in an easy to eat way like vegetarian spaghetti sauce.

What is Sautéing?

The word sauté (pronounced “saw-TAY”) refers to a form of dry-heat cooking that uses a hot pan and a small amount of fat to cook the food.

Why Sauté?

There’s only one step that I insist on for this entire recipe, please make sure you take a moment to sauté the vegetables before making the sauce. Think of it like corn or grilled corn. Isn’t grilled corn so much more delicious? Same thing with sautéing vegetables for a dish, the heat breaks them down and really brings out the flavor.

I mean, it’s like eating raw carrots with your roast at Sunday dinner or nice and caramelized carrots from baking in the pan with that beefy babe.

I think that’s one of my favorite tips about cooking. To some it may seem obvious but to a large portion of the public something like sautéing everything versus just throwing it all in a pot to simmer may not be.

Ingredients for Vegetable Marinara Sauce

This sauce really doesn’t need much fuss either. A bunch of veggies, a little cheese and a dollop of butter and you’re good to go. The secret is a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. I don’t know why it works but it does. I’ll wait for America’s Test Kitchen to figure that one out. Here is the ingredients list:

• Olive Oil
• Herbs and Seasonings: Crushed Red Pepper Flakes, Kosher Salt, Fresh Basil Leaves, Dried Oregano and Black Pepper
• Vegetables: Garlic, Zucchini, Carrot, Baby Bella Mushrooms, Red Bell Pepper, Yellow Bell Pepper, Orange Bell Pepper and Crushed Tomatoes
• Tomato Sauce
• Brown Sugar
• Butter
• Parmesan Cheese
• Balsamic Vinegar

The measurements and details for each ingredient can be found in the recipe card at the end of the post.

How to Make Homemade Marinara Sauce

Honestly, the most time consuming part of this chopping all the veggies before sautéing them. After that, it’s a total breeze! Here are all the steps:

1. Sauté: Place a dutch oven on the stove top over medium heat and add the olive. Let it heat up until it’s shimmering. Then add the garlic and crush red pepper. Stir for about a minute and then add the rest of the vegetables.
2. Stir: Let all the vegetables (including the canned tomatoes) cook until tender stirring occasionally.
3. Simmer: Add the remaining ingredients and bring it to a simmer for about 10 minutes.
   • PRO TIP: If you are trying to hide the vegetables from picky eaters, you can run the sauce through a blender or use an immersion blender at this point in the recipe.
4. Serve: Serve immediately over cooked pasta or use it on a pizza.

All of these instructions can also be found in the recipe card at the end of the post.

Watch Vegetarian Marinara Video

Is There a Difference Between Spaghetti Sauce and Marinara Sauce?

In the U.S., marinara is a vegetarian Italian style tomato sauce and it may have olive oil and cheese like parmesan mixed in. But never meat or anchovies. Spaghetti sauce in the U.S. is culinary slang for manufactured tomato sauce served over spaghetti.

How to Use Vegetable Marinara Sauce

The number of ways to use a simple marinara sauce are endless! It’s so versatile and delicious. You can make our pizzeria style pizza dough and use this marina sauce as pizza sauce and then top it with all your favorite pizza toppings. It makes a great dip for breadsticks as well.

It makes a great sauce for lasagna or spaghetti or on type of pasta…tortellini or ravioli. It would be great on meatball sandwiches using our hoagie rolls too!

And of course, any time I have a delicious sauce, I need some fabulous bread to sop it up. Some garlic bread, focaccia bread or our delicious artisan bread are both great options.

Storage Tips

Leftovers should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge. They will keep for up to 4 days.

This is a recipe that once cools, freezes really well in a ziploc with all of the air pressed out. It will keep for up to 3 months in the freezer. When you’re ready to reheat just put it in the fridge to defrost and then bring it back to temperature. Use it in spaghetti, lasagna or anything that would normally take a sauce.

Elevate your pasta dishes with this delicious garden veggie homemade marinara sauce recipe. Packed with fresh vegetables and bursting with flavor, this sauce is sure to become a family favorite. 

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