Homemade Marinara Sauce with Meatballs

A super delicious meatball marinara pasta bake for the family to enjoy any evening of the week!

Marinara sauce

Marinara sauce is a tomato sauce usually made with tomatoes, garlic, herbs, and onions. Variations include capers, olives, spices, and a dash of wine.

You may wonder what’s the difference between Marinara and Tomato Sauce.

Marinara is a simple sauce made with garlic, crushed red pepper, and basil, and it comes together in about an hour. Tomato sauce, on the other hand, is thick, rich, and complex. Making it takes hours. Tomato sauce typically contains more ingredients, too, including vegetables and salt pork.

Are you still confused about the difference between marinara and tomato sauce?

They’re both made with tomatoes, but one is thicker and more complex than the other. Here’s how to make and use each one.

If you’re short on time but have a bottle of store-bought marinara sauce handy, but wish to jazz it up and get a better taste, try the following:

Stir in seasonings to add extra flavor. Red pepper flakes, dehydrated or fresh garlic, dried oregano, parsley, basil, or an Italian seasoning blend are all good options.

this For later use

Can you cook raw meatballs in marinara sauce?

Place the uncooked rolled meatballs on a plate and flash-freeze them for 30 minutes. This will prevent them from sticking together. When you’re ready to cook them, add the frozen meatballs to the marinara sauce and let them simmer until they’re cooked through about 80 minutes.

Homemade Meatballs with Marinara Sauce

• Author: EsmeSalon.com
• Prep Time: 1 hours
• Cook Time: 45 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
• Yield: 4 servings 1x
• Category: Dinner Recipes

Print Recipe

---

Description

A delicious and rich Homemade Marinara Sauce with Meatballs for a feast of a family dinner.

---

Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

Homemade Marinara Sauce

• 1kg Tomatoes (ripe)
• 2 Onions (diced)
• 5–6 Cloves Garlic (grated)
• 2 Teaspoons Dried Oregano
• 1/3 cup Olive Oil
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• 2 Bay Leaves

Meatballs

• 500g Ground Meat (your choice)
• 1 Onion (grated)
• 1 tsp. Ginger (grated)
• 1 tsp. Garlic (grated)
• 1 tsp. Paprika
• 1 tbsp. Dried Oregano
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• Parmesan Cheese (grated)

---

Instructions

Marinara Sauce

1. Blanch (remove the skins from the tomatoes) then chop them.
2. Heat oil in a large pan.
3. Cook the onion until soft, then add in garlic, spices, and seasonings.
4. Cook for 5 minutes.
5. Add in the tomatoes and cook for a further 40-45 minutes until the tomatoes have broken down.
6. Adjust seasoning, remove bay leaves, and allow to cool.
7. Spoon into a jar and store in the fridge.
8. Lasts for 4-5 days. Enjoy!!

Meatballs 

1. Squeeze out the excess moisture from the onion and add to the meat along with all the spices then mix well and form into balls.
2. Brown on all sides in a pan on medium heat.
3. Place the meatballs into the tomato sauce and allow it to cook for about a further 10 minutes.
4. Serve on your choice of pasta with a healthy grating of cheese and enjoy!!

---

Notes

Prepared, tried, and tested by Rochelle from The Recipe Hunter: Tried and Tested Recipes from Home Chefs and SA Tasty Recipes – Saffas Daily Recipes

---

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1
• Calories: 594
• Sugar: 10
• Sodium: 301
• Fat: 41
• Saturated Fat: 11
• Unsaturated Fat: 26
• Trans Fat: 1
• Carbohydrates: 21
• Fiber: 5
• Protein: 38
• Cholesterol: 112

Recipe Card powered by

Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 16.9 Ounce

Buy from Amazon

BARILLA Blue Box Spaghetti Pasta, 16 oz. Boxes (Pack of 8), 8 Servings per Box – Non-GMO Pasta Made with Durum Wheat Semolina – Italy’s #1 Pasta Brand – Kosher Certified Pasta

Buy from Amazon

Meatballs

A meatball is ground meat rolled into a small ball, sometimes along with other ingredients, such as bread crumbs, minced onion, eggs, butter, and seasoning. Meatballs are cooked by frying, baking, steaming, or braising in sauce. There are many types of meatballs using different types of meats and spices.

SA Tasty Recipes – Saffas Daily Recipes

We invite you to join our FB Group and share your own homemade recipes and I will then showcase your recipe and picture with credit to you on the blog.

Meatball recipes

• Air Fried Spicy Meatballs
• Homemade Meatballs without Breadcrumbs

and another Marinara Sauce to try out

• Home Style Peppery Italian Marinara Sauce

Thanks for stopping by

As always, if you make this recipe please leave me a comment, rate the recipe, and tag me @_esmesalon on Instagram so I can feature you.  I love seeing all your photos of my recipe recreations!

Let’s keep in touch, so please sign up for my newsletter to get delicious homemade tried and tested recipes delivered to your inbox. And don’t forget to follow us on Pinterest, Instagram, & Twitter as I would love to connect with you there! 

If you require a wonderfully tried and tested recipe book for yourself, or as a gift, please visit the shop and look at all those excellent Recipe eBooks.