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Everything you need to know to make the most scrumptious Italian Sausage Marinara Sauce with linguine noodles. Step by step instructions makes this classic recipe easy to add to your repertoire. This delicous recipe is naturally gluten free! Simply serve with your favorite gluten free noodles.
ITALIAN SAUSAGE MARINARA
I’m so excited to be participating in this fantastic blog series brought to you by the fabulous Jill over at Create.Craft.Love. I had the pleasure of meeting Jill at the SNAP conference last spring, and in the middle of breakfast we discovered we are from the same hometown. Small world! When she told me about this project I knew I had to jump in! I can remember being a young wife, scouring Martha Stewart magazines and watching the food channel every chance I got. Cooking is a process that takes a lot of practice. I still have failures.
The recipe I’m teaching today— it’s pretty fool proof. I knew instantly that I would share the recipe for my homemade spaghetti sauce. We typically make it as an Italian sausage marinara sauce. It’s one of those go - to recipes everyone needs. It’s done in less than 30 minutes. It’s delicious. It’s a complete meal.
The tomatoes in the recipe are giving you a nice healthy dose of veggies, it has protein and the pasta is versatile. Need it to be gluten free? Quinoa noodles go fantastic with it. Not a fan of sausage? Made without it- it’s a perfect quick vegetarian meal.
I keep the tomatoes on hand in the pantry for desperate food nights. Even my kiddos like it. The best part? My 13 year old has been making this since he was 11 (with supervision of course!). If he can do it- you can do it. Be prepared to check homemade spaghetti sauce off your to conquer list! So let’s get started!
Who wouldn’t want to sink their teeth in this restaurant worthy recipe? It's so deceptively easy, and is easily prepared in under 30 minutes. Who doesn't like that?
I served this sauce with linguine noodles, but feel free to change up the noodles! Since the sauce is naturally gluten free, it's a win-win for our family. I make a pot of regular noodles for my boys, and a smaller pot of my favorite gluten free noodles for me!
The sauce without the sausage makes a fab combo with cheese stuffed tortellini. It's such a versatile sauce. YOu'll find yourself using it to pour over stuffed shells, for lasagna, for dipping breadsticks. It's one of those recipes you should always have in your repertoire.
Served with a loaf of bread and a side salad it’s a complete meal. It's fast and easy, and delicious to boot!
Tomatoes offer a lot of health benefits, so it's a good way of sneaking fruits and veggies into the picky kiddos diets.
Be sure to top it off with lots of fresh parmesan cheese and snips of fresh basil.
So how do you make it? Well here it is all laid out for you!
HOMEMADE SPAGHETTI SAUCE : Italian Sausage Marinara
📋Recipe
HOMEMADE SPAGHETTI SAUCE : Italian Sausage Marinara
Ingredients
- 1 28 oz large can of diced tomatoes with basil garlic and oregano seasoning.
- 1 14.5 oz small can diced tomatoes
- 1 14.5 oz small can diced tomatoes with roasted garlic
- 1 lb package of Italian sausage links hot or mild
- 1 9 oz package of fresh noodles 1 lb. dry is optional too. 1 lb. dry is optional too.
Instructions
- These are the tomatoes I used. You can use regular diced or petite. Some people don’t like having tomato chunks. If you are one of those people, blend in a blender before using.
- Place water in a medium sauce pan and place on high to bring to a boil (this is for your pasta). Pick the pan you are using for the sauce. I like a big non-stick pan. Spray your non-stick pan with non-stick spray.
- I happen to use a Le Creuset pan that I’ve had for almost 10 years. It’s one of my favorite kitchen items ever. Turn the heat to medium high.
- 2.Prepare your sausage for the pan. If you like spicy, buy hot Italian sausage. Not so spicy— Mild Italian sausage.
- I don’t cook the sausage with the skin on, because I do not like that crunch or added texture. I think that most people get rid of the casing.
- To get rid of the casing, I simply make a slice down each link, like so:
- Once they are split, I take them over to the pan and one at a time over the pan, I turn them inside out. The meat falls in the pan, and the casing is left in my hand. I throw all the casings away and then wash my hands really well.
- Once in the pan, you will sauté the links, breaking them up with the spoon you are using. You want to make smaller chunks (but not bb size! LOL).
- Keep flipping the meat over, chopping it as you go. If you feel like it’s burning or cooking too fast, turn the heat down. Once no more pink remains, turn the heat down to medium and cook for about 3-4 mins longer (cut chunks open with your spoon to make sure the pink is gone). I’m a bit of a germ phobe, so I make sure it is thoroughly cooked.
- While your meat is cooking, drain the juice from the cans. You don’t have to be incredibly precise, but try to take some of the liquid out. I typically just crack the lid on the can a bit and drain whatever comes out. It won’t kill your sauce if you don’t drain them. Place all three cans in the pan with the browned sausage. See, that wasn’t hard. The tomatoes are already flavored so you don’t have to even worry about putting in spices.
- At this point, your water should be boiling. Put your noodles in. Dry pasta takes about 8-10 minutes. Fresh pasta closer to 3-4. If I am using fresh, I might wait a bit to put it in, in order to let the sauce simmer and have the flavors mellow together.
- When I use fresh noodles, I add a tablespoon or so of olive oil to the water to keep the noodles from sticking to one another. Be sure to stir your noodles up several times with a fork, so you don’t end up with one giant clump of funky noodles!
- It shouldn’t take long before that spaghetti sauce is bubbling. I usually turn it to a low or medium / low heat. The beautiful thing about this sauce—you can make it in less than 30 minutes for sure. But you can make it in the afternoon and then have it on low all evening. Your house will smell divine!
- When your noodles are done, drain them well. Place a mound on a plate, and then top with spoonfuls of sauce. Place shredded parmesan on top, and basil if you have it and -Wala! Fast Homemade Spaghetti sauce. The Italian marinara that you thought was only possible to find at your local pasta joint!
Nutrition
This is my son cooking. I think it’s important that he know how to cook a few basic meals to get him through life.
Oh who am I kidding, I love when he cooks dinner for us (makes my life easier)!!!! It has been so nice to have a child who is capable of whipping up a meal for us. It was a real game changer to have someone else working in the kitchen when the riggers of after school activities have run me ragged!
So what do you think? Is this a meal you could get behind eating? Do you already have a favorite recipe for Italian sausage marinara? Please let me know if you have any questions. I’ve made this recipe almost weekly for the past 15 years, so it’s sort of ingrained in my head, so if I skipped anything or said something confusing, PLEASE tell me. I want you to be successful in making this! I hope you are able to add it to your family favorites!
Need more inspiration for Meals under 30 Minutes in the Teach Me To Cook Series? Well never fear, these wonderful bloggers are sharing their recipes and tricks with you as well. Please be sure to visit their links and hopefully find a new favorite recipe- or 2- or 3!
Don’t forget to pin for later!
Still searching for more inspiration? Like my recipe for Italian sausage marinara sauce and want more family favorites?
Some of these posts might inspire you:
Ginger@gingersnapcrafts.com says
That looks really really yummy! 🙂
April Lou says
This looks great! I think I need to make this. 🙂
Stephanie Paxman says
Looks delicious Sara, nice job!
Mabey She Made It says
Now I NEED marinara/pasta.
Nellie says
This looks incredible - I'll have to make it soon so my family can enjoy it too!
MrsMajHoff says
Thanks Nellie! It's one of the few dishes that EVERYONE in the family will eat, haha!
Camilla Hawkins says
This looks such a tasty meal, perfect for a midweek dinner:-)