Freezer Marinara Sauce is the perfect way to use up all those garden tomatoes and herbs! Freeze jars for Friday Night Pizza, easy flatbread pizzas for lunch, or weeknight pasta! This recipe is versatile and flexible to use up what you have, super healthy too!
The Garden Bounty
The garden has more tomatoes than I can use fresh! Some were starting to turn bad, so I made a big “Use-Up” Pot of Freezer Marinara Sauce. This is my favorite way to preserve our summer bounty for winter. I mainly needed to get my tomatoes used before they were wasted, but this sauce is so versatile. It’s a great way to throw in a zucchini or bell pepper, herbs like basil and oregano, or a few extra greens like spinach or kale.
A lot of that summer harvest can get thrown in with the help of a food processor. Similar to my Italian Sausage Bolognese Sauce, this recipe could be made from canned tomatoes and dried herbs as well. Plus it’s a super healthy way to add extra veggies for family friendly meals.
Can I Freeze Sauce in Jars?
Yes!! If you have the freezer space, I prefer freezing to canning. It just feels like less of an ordeal! Less rules to follow, less equipment, and you can use whatever amount of tomatoes you have without following a strict recipe. Jars are a great swap if you are trying to get away from plastic!
A few tips when freezing in glass so you don’t crack your jars:
- Fill Jars 3/4’s Full – this allows the sauce room to expand as is freezes so your jars don’t crack
- Cool in the Fridge First – Glass doesn’t like sudden temperature change, so let your pot of sauce cool slightly on the stovetop before filling your jars, and then let them cool in the refrigerator overnight before moving them to the freezer.
How To Use Freezer Marinara Sauce
I freeze the marinara in different sized jars. That way it’s perfect to thaw out for all kinds of recipes! Try using it on:
- Homemade Pizza Night (1 pint jar is perfect for our family of 4)
- Easy Flatbread Pizza for the kid’s lunch
- Creamy Tomato Basil Fettuccine (use a jar of sauce in place of the fresh tomatoes in the winter)
- Meatball Subs
- Grilled Eggplant Paninis
These are handy little jars to have in the freezer! Our second year in the garden was overall a success, we did indeed grow a lot of food. Finding ways to preserve more for winter is one of my favorite fall-is-coming projects!
More Recipes from the Garden!
- Garden BLT’s with Pesto Aioli
- Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
- Creamy Tomato Basil Fettuccine
- Super “Greens” Hummus
- Garden Bruschetta
- The Summer Lunch
Freezer Marinara Sauce from the Garden
Ingredients
- 1 T olive oil
- 1 small onion
- 1 zucchini or bell pepper optional
- 4 cloves garlic
- 8 to 14 tomatoes amount is flexible, add as much as you have, (2-3 large canned tomatoes can be substituted)
- 1 t kosher salt
- 8 grinds fresh black pepper
- ½ c herbs or greens such as basil, thyme, oregano, rosemary, parsley or spinach amount is flexible, or sub 1 t dried Italian seasoning
Instructions
- Roughly chop onion and zucchini or bell pepper and pulse in a food processor until finely diced.
- Set a large soup pot or dutch oven over medium heat and add oil.
- Saute the veggies with a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Finely mince garlic in the food processor and add to sautéing veggies.
- Meanwhile, wash and roughly chop your tomatoes, remove any bad spots and pulse in the food processor, keep some texture, don't totally puree. Transfer each batch to the pot and saute with the other veggies until you've processed all your tomatoes. The amount of tomatoes you use is totally flexible. If you aren't using up garden tomatoes, 2-3 large cans of tomatoes can be used.
- Season with salt and pepper and add herbs.
- Let sauce simmer, stirring occasionally, bubbling slightly until it reduces to the right consistency, about 1 hour but can vary depending on how many tomatoes you use. You are basically reducing the liquid to make the sauce as thick as you like.
- When sauce is done, allow to cool a bit on the stovetop.
- IMPORTANT FOR FREEZING IN JARSFill Jars 3/4's Full – this allows the sauce room to expand as is freezes so your jars don't crack.Cool in the Fridge First – Glass doesn't like sudden temperature change, so let your pot of sauce cool slightly on the stovetop before filling your jars, and then let them cool in the refrigerator overnight before moving them to the freezer. Store Sauce in Different Sized Jars or containers – Smaller sized jars can be used for lunch flatbread pizzas or larger jars for pasta dinners, homemade pizza night, whatever your intended use. To Use – Thaw overnight in the fridge.
Do you know how long it is good for in the freezer?
It should stay good for a year. I’d eat it before you have new tomatoes growing in your garden and you can make a fresh batch!
My SO is the sauce maker in our household (he is Italian after all). Every few months he makes a big batch and we freeze it to use later on. I love the simplicity of your sauce recipe!
With so many fresh tomatoes coming off the vine, I needed this recipe today. I will certainly enjoy this marinara sauce in the months to come.
I love how easy this recipe is to make. It’s so easy to produce a large batch in one go to make meal prep so much easier. I will never be buying store bought sauces again. It’s so delicious and I love how many different ways it can be used.
This freezer marinara sauce was so delicious! I loved that I could make a big batch and it will last all winter!
What a versatile and delicious recipe. Homemade marinara is the best!
This is a great recipe to follow. I love the fresh flavors. I have never frozen anything in glass jars before. Always afraid they would break. Maybe I’ll give that a try. So much easier than canning! Thanks!!
Super easy recipe to follow! Now I have a freezer stocked with Marinara Sauce thanks to you
This recipe is a keeper! Our garden was exploding with tomatoes and this was a delicious way to preserve them!
Thank you! Making my own marinara sauce was so much easier and tastier than I though! This was a brilliant idea to ensure no tomatoes go to waste and now we’ll have plenty of sauce stocked up for the winter so we can enjoy our delicious veggies year round.
Love this recipe. Such a brilliant way of using up extra tomatoes and courgettes. Plus, I like the idea of having a healthy delicious pasta sauce ready to go all through the winter months. Thank you.
I love this! I love to stock up on all of my veggies and making a big batch of marinara sauce! I can’t wait to try this! I have tons of zucchini, tomatoes and herbs!
This looks wonderful. Nothing beats homemade marinara. The flavors are amazing. Love added bell pepper. I will definitely give this a try.
Ooh how wonderful to have so many tomatoes. Some years we have a lot and some years, like this one, they don’t do so well. But it’s so satisfying to process food you’ve grown for the winter months. Your marinara sauce sounds totally scrumptious. I shall just cross fingers that our toms will do better than I think they’re going to.
The recipe was super easy to make and tasted delicious! Super convenient!