I decided I want to try my hand at marinara sauce so that I can control the ingredients. I like the Raos sauce from a jar which list, basil, garlic, and onion. Their roasted garlic or the sautéed onion ones I love. I have found quite a few recipes that are so significantly different that I don’t know where to begin. The one I was leaning towards is from a low carb site just because it is literally tomatoes and spices. It’s even a no cook recipe. but it doesn’t seem like it’s going to have a whole lot for a flavor either.

the other one I found has you simmer with an onion in the tomatoes for a couple of hours, but then throw the onion away. I think I would prefer to use that onion somehow but I don’t know if I should just sauté it ahead and then add it or chop it up before I put it in there and it will cook while it’s simmering or what. Does anyone have a Healthy-ish marinara recipe that is relatively easy for someone fairly new to cooking from scratch?

9 minutes ago, ShoppGirl said:

I decided I want to try my hand at marinara sauce so that I can control the ingredients. I like the Raos sauce from a jar which list, basil, garlic, and onion. Their roasted garlic or the sautéed onion ones I love. I have found quite a few recipes that are so significantly different that I don’t know where to begin. The one I was leaning towards is from a low carb site just because it is literally tomatoes and spices. It’s even a no cook recipe. but it doesn’t seem like it’s going to have a whole lot for a flavor either.

the other one I found has you simmer with an onion in the tomatoes for a couple of hours, but then throw the onion away. I think I would prefer to use that onion somehow but I don’t know if I should just sauté it ahead and then add it or chop it up before I put it in there and it will cook while it’s simmering or what. Does anyone have a Healthy-ish marinara recipe that is relatively easy for someone fairly new to cooking from scratch?

A basic tomato sauce for pasta.

2 onions chopped, 4 cloves of garlic crushed, or 1 tablespoon out of a jar, 2 tins of chopped tomatoes [ we have 400gm tins in the Uk, 10 ounces ] 1 teaspoon of dried oregano or 2 teaspoons of chopped fresh oregano. 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Salt and pepper. Pinch of sugar

Fry the onion slowly in the oil, you do not want much colour on it. When its slightly translucent you can add the garlic and the other ingredients. Simmer gently for about 30 minutes. You can blitz this sauce smooth or leave it chunky. Add your seafood to this basic sauce, clams and mussels only take a few minutes to cook.

To make this recipe your own, you can add to the basic tomato sauce.

Add chopped mushrooms to the pan after the onions have cooked and then follow the basic recipe and you have a fab meatball sauce when blitzed

Add chilli flakes and a few anchovies to the cooked onions and your tomato sauce is going heaven wards when chopped olives and a few capers are added at the end.

Find a no nonsence cook you like, I like Nigella Lawson, she is all about flavour and easy to do for busy people. Stick to their recipes. Looking at more than one persons recipes does confuse and cloud the issue.

25 minutes ago, summerseeker said:

A basic Tomato sauce for Pasta.

2 onions chopped, 4 cloves of garlic crushed, or 1 tablespoon out of a jar, 2 tins of chopped tomatoes [ we have 400gm tins in the Uk, 10 ounces ] 1 teaspoon of dried oregano or 2 teaspoons of chopped fresh oregano. 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Salt and pepper. Pinch of sugar

Fry the onion slowly in the oil, you do not want much colour on it. When its slightly translucent you can add the garlic and the other ingredients. Simmer gently for about 30 minutes. You can blitz this sauce smooth or leave it chunky. Add your seafood to this basic sauce, clams and mussels only take a few minutes to cook.

To make this recipe your own, you can add to the basic tomato sauce.

Add chopped mushrooms to the pan after the onions have cooked and then follow the basic recipe and you have a fab meatball sauce when blitzed

Add chilli flakes and a few anchovies to the cooked onions and your tomato sauce is going heaven wards when chopped olives and a few capers are added at the end.

Find a no nonsence cook you like, I like Nigella Lawson, she is all about flavour and easy to do for busy people. Stick to their recipes. Looking at more than one persons recipes does confuse and cloud the issue.

This sounds perfect. Thank you!! The only question is do you use the whole can of tomatoes with the juice or just the tomatoes?

Don’t forget basil. It enhances the tomato. Throw the whole tin in. Lots of flavour in the juice and any excess water will steam off as it simmers. Also you can reduce the olive oil by using a little spray olive oil instead.

If you use fresh tomatoes, roast them with basil and garlic first to give an even richer flavour.

That’s interesting you like Nigella’s recipes @summerseeker. I find they’re more likely to fail for me (even when I follow them exactly ?). I like Jamie Oliver. Straightforward, easy, always taste good and never fail. Recipe Tin is an Australia cook who has a huge following here. Her recipes are good too. Plus many of them have a feature which lets you adjust the serving size and the measurements for the ingredients update accordingly. (Tap the serving size and a slider will pop up to increase or decrease the number of portions you want.)

6 hours ago, Arabesque said:

Don’t forget basil. It enhances the Tomato. Throw the whole tin in. Lots of flavour in the juice and any excess Water will steam off as it simmers. Also you can reduce the olive oil by using a little spray olive oil instead.

If you use fresh tomatoes, roast them with basil and garlic first to give an even richer flavour.

That’s interesting you like Nigella’s recipes @summerseeker. I find they’re more likely to fail for me (even when I follow them exactly ?). I like Jamie Oliver. Straightforward, easy, always taste good and never fail. Recipe Tin is an Australia cook who has a huge following here. Her recipes are good too. Plus many of them have a feature which lets you adjust the serving size and the measurements for the ingredients update accordingly. (Tap the serving size and a slider will pop up to increase or decrease the number of portions you want.)

Oh I’m glad you mentioned the basil. I need to add that to my grocery order right now. I think I am going to try to do my own tomatoes. The one recipe I seen that didn’t use canned said to cut an X and then boil for a minute to make it easier to peel them before they simmer. Do you still need to do that before you roast them?

TBH using fresh tomatoes is over rated. A good quality tin with a spoon of tomato puree works just fine. BUT, if you want to use them, Peel them first. Put in boiling water and then plunge in to cold. The skins will fall off easily.

16 hours ago, ShoppGirl said:

Oh I’m glad you mentioned the basil. I need to add that to my grocery order right now. I think I am going to try to do my own tomatoes. The one recipe I seen that didn’t use canned said to cut an X and then boil for a minute to make it easier to peel them before they simmer. Do you still need to do that before you roast them?

I’ve only done it with Roma tomatoes which have a thinner skin you don’t need to skin. I don’t cut /scrape out the seeds either with romas. (May be known as plum tomatoes I think in the US.)

I started buying the little basil plants in the supermarket and plant them out. Get about 4 or so months out of the plant before it gets sparse looking and doesn’t produce many leaves. The little pots cost about $5 in Australia so pretty cheap for having fresh leaves on hand.

1 minute ago, Arabesque said:

I’ve only done it with Roma tomatoes which have a thinner skin you don’t need to skin. I don’t cut /scrape out the seeds either with romas. (May be known as plum tomatoes I think in the US.)

I started buying the little basil plants in the supermarket and plant them out. Get about 4 or so months out of the plant before it gets sparse looking and doesn’t produce many leaves. The little pots cost about $5 in Australia so pretty cheap for having fresh leaves on hand.

Oh that’s a great idea. They should be around the same price here because I bought oregano which I managed to kill quite quickly but I remember thinking that they were very reasonable considering the price of the packaged herbs. I have been going out a lot more since my surgery so hopefully I will remember to water it more often. if I can make it last 4 months that will be a miracle but considering it’s almost as much for one small pack of the same thing I may as well try. If I get two uses out of it I got my moneys worth. And o love the skinny pesto which I just learned today that I can freeze as well so I will get use out of it for sure.

OK so I have to ask.... are all of you able to eat pasta noodles with these sauces? Believe me, I have tried and ended up sick as a dog. Pasta and rice sit like a rock in my stomach. Lesson learned. Probably better off.

So now if I get a craving for spaghetti, I eat a bowl of sauce with veggies and lean hamburger and throw in just a few noodles. Satisfies my craving. Egg noodles seem easier for me too in soups.

Many yummy recipe suggestions here. I have a ton of garden tomatoes I need to use up or freeze soon. Thank you

I’m 5 years out from my surgery. I can eat a small amount of pasta or rice now-and do enjoy it when I do. But I fill my plate with meat and veggies and just have a few bites of the pasta or rice.

1 hour ago, BabySpoons said:

OK so I have to ask.... are all of you able to eat Pasta noodles with these sauces? Believe me, I have tried and ended up sick as a dog. Pasta and rice sit like a rock in my stomach. Lesson learned. Probably better off.

So now if I get a craving for spaghetti, I eat a bowl of sauce with veggies and lean hamburger and throw in just a few noodles. Satisfies my craving. Egg noodles seem easier for me too in Soups.

Many yummy recipe suggestions here. I have a ton of garden tomatoes I need to use up or freeze soon. Thank you

I haven’t tried pasta since my revision but I could eat it done post sleeve and they didn’t operate on my stomach so my guess is I could. I am doing zoodles for now though. I also need the sauce for my turkey meatballs. I have done like 1/3 cup of brown rice to increase my carbs and that was tolorated fine. A lot of people do have issues with starchy stuff though. Mayne a bit of a blessing. The turkey meatballs with pepper and onions over zoodles is quite tasty though. My favorite healthy meal so far.

I love Summerseeker’s recipe, I have added a deep umami flavor with the addition of one small tin of tomato paste. It’s very thick and sticky like margarine, I’m not sure if other countries call it something else. Sometimes I put cooked buffalo meat in it for a good start towards chilli, (and beans of course.) Then it’s often served over cooked spaghetti squash (fork released) or shocked zucchini ribbons made with the carrot peeler.

Well I got my basil plant today and I asked around and figured out there is a produce stand near me where they grow their own tomatoes. I went this afternoon but they were completely out. He said to come back Thursday and he will have more so I added to my calendar to go early that morning. Now I just have to figure out where to plant my basil plant. Is it sad that I actually can’t wait to try this? My life pretty much revolves around food and exercise right now. I guess there are worse things.

Edited October 15, 20241 yr by ShoppGirl

No I can’t do pasta or rice so I’ll have zucchini noodles if I want a pasta-like experience. Otherwise I just have the sauce (with whatever protein) alone.

PS I planted my basil in a pot on my deck. Have chives & parsley too. You can keep the pot in a sunny spot in your kitchen too.

I cannot do pasta so I usually just do the sauce and some 93% lean ground beef. if I do noodles I do shirataki noodles

I just made my marinara and I had to add a good amount of salt to make it taste like what I am used to but I hope to slowly cut that back as well. It is really good. Thanks you everyone for the tips!! I am going to enjoy my homemade (then frozen) turkey meatballs tonight with sautéed peppers, onions and my fresh marinara even more knowing that I know exactly what went into it.