Garden Fresh Roasted Tomato Marinara

This roasted tomato marinara is one of my favorite ways to turn fresh tomatoes into something we can enjoy long after tomato season is over.

Instead of cooking a large pot of tomatoes on the stove for hours, everything goes onto a sheet pan and into the oven. The tomatoes, onion, garlic, and herbs roast together, concentrating their flavor and creating a rich, homemade sauce.

When the garden starts producing tomatoes faster than we can eat them, I am always looking for simple ways to preserve that harvest.

It is simple enough for a weeknight meal, but it is also a wonderful way to make good use of a large tomato harvest.

Why Make Roasted Tomato Marinara?

• The oven does most of the work. There is no need to spend hours stirring a pot of sauce on the stove.
• Roasting brings out the flavor. The tomatoes become sweeter and more concentrated as they roast.
• Cherry tomatoes work beautifully. They can go straight onto the sheet pan without peeling or chopping.
• It makes a useful batch of sauce. One sheet pan makes about 5 cups, or 1½ quarts, of finished marinara.
• It freezes well. Homemade sauce is wonderful to have tucked away for winter meals.

Using Garden Tomatoes

This recipe works with many varieties of ripe tomatoes. Cherry tomatoes are especially easy because they can be left whole, but larger tomatoes work just as well.

If using larger tomatoes, simply quarter them before adding them to the sheet pan. There is no need to peel them.

Tomatoes contain different amounts of water, so the amount of finished sauce can vary somewhat. The goal is to roast them until they have reduced considerably and developed some lightly browned edges.

Fresh or Dried Herbs

Fresh basil and oregano are wonderful when they are growing in the garden, but dried herbs work well too.

Use:

• ½ cup fresh basil or 1–2 tablespoons dried basil
• ¼ cup fresh oregano or 1–2 tablespoons dried oregano

You can adjust the herbs to suit your taste and what you have available.

Ways to Use Homemade Marinara

A good homemade tomato sauce can become much more than spaghetti sauce. Once you have a few containers tucked away, it is easy to turn them into different meals throughout the year.

• Sloppy Joes: Use the marinara as the tomato base for homemade Sloppy Joes. Add browned ground beef and season to taste.
• Stuffed peppers: Mix the sauce with cooked rice and ground meat, then spoon it into bell peppers and bake until tender.
• Cabbage rolls: Use the marinara as the tomato sauce for stuffed cabbage rolls.
• Chicken skillet: Simmer cooked chicken in the sauce and add vegetables or cheese for an easy one-pan meal.
• Sausage and peppers: Cook Italian sausage with sliced peppers and onions, then add marinara and simmer until everything is tender.
• Ravioli or tortellini bake: Combine cooked ravioli or tortellini with marinara and cheese, then bake until hot and bubbly.
• Pizza bread: Spoon the sauce over slices of French bread or homemade bread, add cheese and toppings, and bake until toasted and melted.
• Zucchini boats: Fill hollowed-out zucchini with seasoned meat, rice, and marinara, then bake until tender.
• Chicken soup: Add shredded cooked chicken, vegetables, and marinara to broth for a hearty tomato-based soup.
• Savory rice: Stir a little marinara into cooked rice along with vegetables and cooked meat for an easy side dish or simple meal.
• Ground beef casserole: Brown ground beef, stir in marinara, and combine with cooked potatoes, rice, or vegetables before baking.
• Calzones: Use a small amount of thick marinara inside homemade calzones, or warm it for dipping.
• Vegetable bake: Layer seasonal vegetables with marinara and cheese and bake until tender.
• Breakfast casserole: Add marinara to a skillet with cooked vegetables and sausage, then top with eggs and bake until the eggs are set.

Having homemade sauce already prepared can make winter cooking much easier. Pull a container from the freezer, thaw it, and you have the beginning of a homemade meal without starting from scratch.

Variations

This is an easy recipe to change depending on what is coming out of the garden.

Add some heat. Add a pinch of red pepper flakes before roasting.

Use a mixture of tomatoes. Combine cherry tomatoes with larger garden tomatoes for a mixed tomato sauce.

Add vegetables. Roast a little bell pepper or carrot along with the tomatoes for additional flavor and sweetness.

Make it chunky. Pulse the roasted vegetables instead of blending them completely smooth.

Make it extra herby. Add additional basil or oregano, or include a little fresh parsley.

Make it creamy. Stir a little heavy cream into the finished sauce when reheating.

How to Store Roasted Tomato Marinara

Allow the sauce to cool, then refrigerate it in an airtight container and use within several days.

For longer storage, freeze the sauce in freezer-safe containers or bags. I like freezing it in portions that are large enough for a meal so it is easy to grab exactly what I need.

Be sure to leave room for expansion when freezing sauce in containers.

What About Canning This Sauce?

Because the recipe contains tomatoes along with onion, garlic, herbs, and olive oil, it is important to follow USDA safe canning guidelines.

If you want to make this sauce shelf-stable through home canning, use a current, tested canning recipe and follow its acidification and processing instructions carefully.

For simple home preservation of this particular recipe, freezing is an easy option and allows you to enjoy that garden-fresh tomato flavor throughout the year.

A Great Way to Use a Tomato Harvest

There is something satisfying about turning a basket of garden tomatoes into food that will carry us into the colder months.

Tomato season is short, especially here in Wisconsin, so I like finding practical ways to make the harvest last. A sheet pan of roasted tomatoes, garlic, onion, and herbs becomes a flavorful homemade marinara with very little hands-on work.

And when winter arrives, there is nothing quite like opening the freezer and finding a container of homemade tomato sauce ready for dinner.

Hobby Homestead Kitchen Notes

Recipes like this are a good reminder that preserving food doesn’t always have to mean spending an entire day in the kitchen. Sometimes the simplest methods are the ones we are most likely to use year after year.

When the garden gives you more tomatoes than your family can eat fresh, roast them, blend them, and put that harvest to work. A little time in the kitchen now means an easy homemade meal later.

• Easy Hack for Thick Tomato Sauce: Freeze, Blend, and Can
• 10 Best and Worst Companion Plants for Tomatoes
• The Best Trick to Store Tomatoes, According to Farmers
• Roasted Garlic Recipe: A Simple Homestead Staple
• How & Why Picking Tomatoes at First Blush Is Best