Sausage and Basil Marinara Sauce (for the Freezer)
If you’re a fan of Italian Sausage Marinara, use fresh garden tomatoes to make this Sausage and Basil Marinara Sauce for the freezer. This sauce is a winner when you have lots of fresh tomatoes but see tips for making the sauce with canned tomatoes, and there’s also a link for an Instant Pot recipe for this type of sauce!
PIN the recipe for Italian Sausage Marinara to make it later!
I came up with this delicious Sausage and Basil Marinara Sauce during a summer when my garden tomatoes were in overdrive, and I’d been frantically making things like roasted tomatoes, Gazpacho, No-Cook Pasta Sauce, and of course Summer Tomato Salads! And when the tomatoes just keep coming I know it’s time to make this sauce with Italian sausage, tomatoes, and basil, my all-time favorite pasta sauce, and something I’ve been making for years.
If you come to my house in the winter and open the freezer, you’ll see square containers like the ones in the photo filled with this Italian Sausage Marinara. And I never get tired of this favorite sauce, and if you eat a moderate size serving of the sauce it only has five net carbs!
What ingredients do you need for this recipe?
(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- very ripe tomatoes
- canned tomato sauce
- canned diced tomatoes
- Dried Basil (affiliate link)
- Dried Oregano (affiliate link)
- ground fennel (affiliate link)
- Minced Garlic (affiliate link)
- Bay Leaves (affiliate link)
- turkey Italian Sausage, or use pork sausage if you prefer
- Olive Oil (affiliate link)
- chopped fresh oregano
- chopped fresh basil
Why is this Italian Sausage Marinara a flexible recipe?
- I always use fresh tomatoes, but if you don’t have them available, you can use canned, diced tomatoes and still get a good result.
- I like turkey Italian Sausage, but if you don’t find that pork Italian sausage would taste great too.
- I use a combination of dried and fresh herbs for more depth of flavor, but you could still make a pretty good sauce even if you only have dried herbs.
- I add a lot of fresh basil, but if you don’t have a good supply of fresh basil like I do, you could get by with a lot less.
- Please, please, please, don’t skip the ground fennel. That’s one of the things that makes this sauce over-the-top good.
How do I eat the Italian Sausage Marinara?
- I love this sauce served over Zucchini Noodles for a low-carb dinner.
- I used to eat it with whole wheat spaghetti when I wasn’t as concerned about carbs, and that was delicious.
- Now I would love it with Fiber Gourmet Light Pasta (affiliate link) for a treat that’s not that much of a splurge on carbs.
Would you prefer Instant Pot Pasta Sauce?
Here’s an absolutely delicious Instant Pot Pasta Sauce with sausage, tomatoes, and herbs if you prefer that method!
Steps for Making Sausage and Basil Marinara Sauce with Fresh Tomatoes:
- Peel ripe tomatoes (instruction below), and chop into pieces. Roma tomatoes are best, but I roasted most of my Romas, so this batch of sauce was made with Celebrity tomatoes.(These photos are double the amounts of the recipe.)
- Add tomato sauce, canned tomatoes, dried basil, dried oregano, ground fennel, minced fresh garlic, and dried bay leaves to fresh tomatoes and simmer 1-2 hours.
- Brown turkey sausage well in a small amount of olive oil. Don’t rush this step. Add the sausage to the sauce, scraping out all the browned bits. Simmer 2-3 more hours.
- When sauce has thickened to desired consistency, add a generous amount of chopped fresh basil, a little fresh oregano, and a bit of olive oil and simmer 10-15 minutes more. This has reduced so much I actually put it into a smaller pan to get a better photo, and the flavor is great. If you’d like, divide the sauce into individual containers to freezer or to eat during the week!
More Recipes with Fresh Garden Tomatoes:
- Marinated Tomatoes with Herb Dressing
- Middle Eastern Tomato Salad
- Summer Tomato Salad with Goat Cheese
- Avocado Tomato Salad
- Cherry Tomato Caprese Salad
Weekend Food Prep:
This Italian Sausage Marinara recipe has been added to a new category called Weekend Food Prep to help you find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!
Sausage and Basil Marinara Sauce (for the Freezer)
If you're a fan of Italian Sausage Marinara, use your fresh garden tomatoes to make this Sausage and Basil Marinara Sauce and freeze some to use later!
Ingredients
- 20 very ripe tomatoes, peeled and diced in pieces 1/2 to 1 inch
- two 8 oz. cans tomato sauce
- two 14.5 oz. cans diced tomatoes
- 3 T dried basil
- 3 T dried oregano
- 2 T ground fennel seed
- 3 T minced garlic or garlic puree
- 5 dried bay leaves
- two 19.5 oz pkg. turkey Italian Sausage (see notes)
- 1/4 cup olive oil plus 1-2 T for browning sausage
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh oregano (more or less, depending on what you have)
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil (more or less, depending on what you have)
Instructions
- To peel tomatoes: Bring a deep pot of water to a slight boil.
- Wash tomatoes, then cut a V into the top of each tomato, cutting away stem area.
- Put tomatoes with stem area removed into boiling water 1-2 minutes.
- Remove tomatoes to cutting board, and peel off skin, which should come off easily. If it doesn’t slip right off, leave tomatoes in boiling water a tiny bit longer.
- I do 4-5 tomatoes at a time, and usually let them cool for a minute or two before peeling them.
- Chop tomatoes and put in large heavy pot.
- Add tomato sauce, canned diced tomatoes, dried basil, dried oregano, ground fennel, minced garlic, and bay leaves and let sauce simmer 1-2 hours.
- Heat 1-2 T olive oil in a large frying pan.
- Squeeze sausage out of casing and brown, breaking up with heavy turner or potato masher, until sausage is well browned.
- Add browned sausage to sauce mixture and simmer 2-3 hours more.
- Add olive oil, fresh oregano and fresh basil to sauce and simmer 10-15 minutes.
- Let sauce cool before refrigerating or freezing.
- This sauce will keep for close to a year in the freezer if it is stored in a plastic container with a tight fitting lid.
Notes
You can use one package of sausage if you prefer. Use mild or hot sausage, whichever you like.
Nutritional information is based on 1/2 cup serving size.
This recipe created by Kalyn and has been made over and over for years!
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
20Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 125Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 29mgSodium: 278mgCarbohydrates: 8gFiber: 3gSugar: 4gProtein: 9g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Every ingredient in this Italian Sausage Marinara is good for low-carb eating plans and friendly for all phases of the original South Beach Diet. And although tomatoes definitely have some carbs, if you limit the serving size this tasty sauce only has 5 net carbs per serving. This would be perfect served over Zucchini Noodles for a low-carb meal or for South Beach Phase One.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Tomato Recipes or Sauces for more ideas like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This marinara recipe with Italian sausage and basil was posted in 2006 and I’ve probably made it every year since then! It was last updated with more information in 2023.
39 Comments on “Sausage and Basil Marinara Sauce (for the Freezer)”
Hello! This recipe looks so great! Any chance you could estimate the pounds of tomatoes needed vs number? Tomatoes sizes vary so much and I don’t want to guess wrong. Thank you. ☺️
I don’t have the slightest idea how many pounds that was, sorry. But they were medium sized tomatoes.
(Did you notice this was posted in 2006? I have made it many times since then, with different batches of tomatoes and I don’t think an exact measurement on the tomatoes is something that matters much. Just use 20 medium sized tomatoes and it will be fine.)
Thank you. I appreciate the reply. Apologies if my question came across negatively. That was not intended!
Nancy, not at all. I just thought you didn’t realize how long ago it was since the first time I made it and wrote down the recipe! (And I saw a typo in my reply and fixed it, meant to say “I have made it many times since then.”)
Amy, so glad you liked it. And I love the way you added more veggies!
I LOVE this sauce! I have to admit I was a little leery about including the fennel and the bay leaves but they really bring out the flavor of the sausage.
Although the recipe does not need anything else I did add some yellow and green bell pepper diced really fine(I think my family does not get enough veggies and try to add when I can), some of your slow roasted tomatoes diced, and a handful of chopped kalamata olives. I used a mixture of spicy and sweet turkey sausage but in hindsight I wish I used all spicy.
Thanks so much for a sauce that I KNOW will become a family favorite!
I personally don't think the crockpot will stay hot enough with the lid cracked to reduce the sauce, but it might depend on your crockpot. If you try it, let me know how it works.
Could you crack the lid a bit to let it reduce? I would think it would work if you cooked on low for 8 hours or so. Just a thought if you can't be home to babysit it.
I wouldn't make it in a crockpot, because it's the long slow simmering that thickens the sauce and adds flavor. You might be able to cook it part of the time in a crockpot though, and then put in a regular pan and simmer to thicken at the end.
Hi. Can you do this in a crock pot? Thanks!
I use 15 oz. cans.
Looks like a great recipe! I was just wondering what size can you use for the canned tomatoes and sauce.
I make the sauce exactly like this and then freeze it. You could add more fresh herbs when you reheat the sauce if you have them.
I'm making your sauce and I'm wondering; If I am going to freeze the sauce should I still add the fresh herbs now or should I wait until I reheat the sauce and add it then?
I have a huge pot of this on the stove that's been simmering for over four hours. It looks great. Can't wait to dive in. Regarding using all fresh tomatoes–I've been making my own fresh sauce at least once a week but it's never enough to freeze. By adding the Muir Glen, it gives me enough so that my family and I can't possibly eat it all within a day or two. Also, there's only so many tomatoes that I am willing to scald and peel in one day.
Carl, you can definitely make it with all fresh tomatoes if you wish. I also have this recipe for Roasted Tomato, Italian Sausage, and Basil Sauce that doesn't use any canned tomatoes.
This looks like a great recipe. I am just curious though … at this time of year where there are tons of fresh tomatoes on hand, why do you mix fresh tomatoes with can tomatoes in this recipe? Can't one just go with fresh tomatoes?
Carl
Steve, you can certainly do it that way, but it wouldn't be my preference. I like the way the sausage flavors the sauce as it cooks. Your choice though, I'm always happy to let people adapt my recipes any way that suits them!
My wife had a good point as I considered making this recipe… Make the saucethaw – leave out the sausage… cook and add sausage at the time of serving (in winter after thawing sauce). Keeps sausage fresh. -steve
Amber and Tom, sounds about right to me. Plus the measurements don’t have to be that exact for this.
Ya know, I just read that one 14.5 oz can is about 2 cups of tomatoes. So I think I’ll estimate about 3 tomatoes in a can.
I wonder if you’ll get this before I head to the store today. Approximately how many cans of diced tomatoes should I substitute for the fresh ones? I was thinking maybe 4?
Ian, thanks for letting me know you liked it. Your comment absolutely made my day. (P.S. Good Luck with the girl with the red hair.)
Hey Kalyn–I made this sauce yesterday, and followed your directions right down to the fennel. I couldn’t find whole Roma tomatos at the Whole Foods near me, so I went with the Muir Glen, as suggested. Results were astronomically good. Found your recipe through sheer chance when I googled “sausage marinara.” Your photos sold me, and I was completely rewarded for my faith. Had to impress a certain someone with long red hair yesterday, and did so handily thanks to your sauce. Bravo.
Anonymous I can’t think of anything that would make this taste sour, unless it was the type of tomatoes you used. You could add sugar if you’re not a SB dieter. Otherwise I have no idea why that might happen. Mine has never been sour at all.
I made the sauce last night, used chicken sausage instead, since I don’t eat turkey. I think my sauce turned out a little sour. I made the full recipie, can I add something else to it to decrease it’s sourness.
Kalyn,
I love using turkey sausage. My tomatoes are overflowing too so I have had a hard time even reading these WHB posts this week.
I hate to miss reading them all.
this sounds yummy! with all these great ideas for freezing veggies from our gardens, i’m going to have a bigger freezer! lol!
That looks like great sauce there! I always feel “rich” when I have a freezer full of homemade sauce. It tastes so much better than any bottled sauce from the store, and it saves the day when you exhausted.
What an awesome post! Gorgeous photos and I truly am jealous. Wish I had tomatoes growing in a garden.
Thanks for sharing and I love fennel so now I have something else to add it to.
As usual, your recipe looks good!
Paz
Gosh Kalyn, this looks amazing!
Genie, the fennel is a must!
Tanna, you must have that BLT, and yes, get enough to make some sauce too.
Mae, thanks. I’m sorry you don’t have tomatoes, but I don’t think they would survive mailing to Jersey too well.
Christine, thanks. I just saw your great crab cakes recipe in the post about 5 favorite things, which I’m thinking is a must try.
Bradley, thanks. And I’m excited you left a comment on the blog. I doubt the tomatoes would survive the trip by Fed Ex that well.
Joe, aren’t the Glen Muir tomatoes just awesome. I like their pizza sauce too.
I love Muir Glen tomatoes! Pretty much the only kind I use!
I love all of the pictures. They are great. Can you FedEx some of those tomatoes our way.
This sauce looks fabulous and I’m thinking will become my favorite. Thanks for the fennel tip and thanks for the recipe, Kalyn!
Excellent photograph, Kalyn. I really love the first top one! Beautiful. Enough to make me want to make some. Only thing is, i don’t have that much tomatoes 🙂
I love the turkey sausage – I get mine at Whole Foods and have some in the freezer. But my garden has no fressh tomatoes. Should be able to find some at one of the local markets about now. Maybe enough to make my BLT also.
Looks lovely.
Kalyn, this looks so very good…yum! I’ve never put fennel in my marinara, but I’m adding your recipe to the list to try, and will make sure that key ingredient is included.
Genie
The Inadvertent Gardener