The most versatile and utterly delicious tomato sauce you’ll ever make! This Hidden Veggie Marinara Sauce Recipe can be used in so many things, from pasta, pizza and even in a cheese bake! Check my list below to find out all the thing I suggest using it for.
It’s very rare that I’m ever without some Hidden Veggie Marinara Sauce in my freezer.
It’s such an easy ‘grab’ option for when you’re struggling for meal inspiration (especially with kids). It can be reheated from frozen (see Storage and Reheating section below for full details), so is the perfect option for a quick, healthy and nutritious dinner!
How Do You Use Hidden Veggie Marinara Sauce?
Pasta! Chuck through some cooked pasta and top with some parmesan cheese for an instant crowd pleasing family dinner.
To increase the protein then add some cooked chicken or prawns through it too.
Lasagne! I know this is technically pasta, but it requires a mention on its own! If you’re making lasagne, adding this on top (plus some cheese) and it will take your lasagne from a basic homemade dish, to meltingly hot, cheese-pull-tastic restaurant quality goodness!
Pizza! And you can also use it as a pizza sauce base too, although I’ve got a recipe for that I’ll share soon! But check out my Quick Pizza Dough to make amazing pizza at home.
Cheese Bake: does anyone remember when Frankie’s and Benny’s used to make a starter called Mamma’s Cheese Bake?! I loved that dish and I plan to recreate it soon! But I would definitely use this Hidden Veggie Marinara sauce to cradle those cheeses as it would make the tastiest dish!
Aubergine Paarmigiana!
Or finally, paired with garlic aioli as a side for my Halloumi Fries.
I Love It Because:
It’s freezable (for up to 4 months).
Easy to batch cook (makes a massive portion)
And bonus – it’s great for getting some hidden veggies into your toddler too (or yourself too). You could even add more if you wanted, for example: courgette, spinach etc.
Family Friendly (Suitable for Weaning)
Suitable for babies from 6 months old.
Photos below are of my 1 year olds dinner plate featuring Hidden Veggie Marinara sauce with pasta
Ingredients and Substitutions for Hidden Veggie Marinara Sauce
Oil: a good quality olive oil adds a depth to the sauce, but you could use a neutral oil like vegetable oil instead if desired
Butter: I use salted butter as this adds additional seasoning but use Unsalted if you prefer or it’s all you have
Carrot, Onion + Celery: called a mirepoix, this trio of vegetables is extremely common and widely used in French and Italian cooking. It’s the hidden vegetable element as it adds to the depth of flavour without tasting like anything other than an extremely tasty tomato marinara sauce.
Garlic: fresh cloves are preferable, but you can use 1 teaspoon of garlic paste if necessary
Rosemary + Thyme: I like using fresh as I feel it brings a fragrant note to the dish that is muted when using dried herbs. If you don’t think you’ll use all the fresh herbs though, substitute for 1 tablespoon of dried rosemary and 1 tablespoon of dried thyme instead.
You can use the remaining fresh rosemary and thyme in my Spaghetti Bolognese Ragu or my Orange Roasted Carrot and Parsnips. And I also use fresh rosemary in my Slow Cooked Pork Cheeks in Cider and also in my Blue Cheese Sauce for Steak.
Oregano: I use dried oregano as it’s really hard to source fresh (in Scottish supermarkets)
Chopped Tomatoes + Passata: I use the Mutti brand as it really is the tastiest tomatoes I’ve ever cooked with. The Ferrari of tomatoes in my opinion!
Water: just go for an approximate total volume of 200ml to swirl out the residual tomato from the jars / cans above. I fill the container with water, give it a swirl, then rinse out another container with the same water and so on.
Salt
Sugar
White Pepper: my preference is white pepper, as you can’t ‘see’ it in the sauce and means there isn’t any harsh bites on cracked black peppercorns. But if you’re a lover of black pepper, feel free to use instead or add to the sauce at the end.
My secret weapon for ultimate flavour?
Add a rind of parmesan (I add them to a bag I have in the freezer when I finish them) to the marinara sauce whilst its simmering and reducing down. I use this trick in my bolognese ragu as well (photo below), and it really does help give an extra oomph of flavour!
How To Cut Vegetables for Hidden Veggie Marinara Sauce
Mise en place of mirepoix and other herbs and aromatics:
A mirepoix is a mixture of diced vegetables cooked with fat (usually butter) for a long time on low heat without coloring or browning. – Wikipedia
Mise En Place “is a French culinary phrase which means “putting in place” or “gather. It refers to the setup required before cooking, and is often used in professional kitchens to refer to organizing and arranging the ingredients (e.g., cuts of meat, relishes, sauces, par-cooked items, spices, freshly chopped vegetables, and other components) that a cook will require.” – Wikipedia
Method for Hidden Veggie Marinara Sauce
Soften carrots, celery, onions & garlic cloves garlic in olive oil and melted butter
Add rosemary, thyme and dried oregano then fry until vegetables have softened
Then add chopped tomatoes and passata (rinsing out the containers with water and adding that too) and simmer for approx. 1 hour on low/medium heat
And finally, add salt, pepper and sugar and simmer for further 5 minutes before adding into a blender and blitzing until smooth.
Finely, taste the sauce and add any more salt, pepper or sugar as required based on your individual taste.
Storage and Reheating
The Hidden Veggie Marinara Sauce Recipe is freezable once cooked.
It can be stored in the fridge for 4-5 days (less than 4C) or in the freezer for up to 4 months, and reheated straight from frozen.
You can either reheat in the microwave or heat in a pot on the hob until piping hot throughout too.
It is perfect to batch cook and freeze portions as it can be used for so many different things (that I’ve already listed above, so I won’t repeat myself). But check out my Lasagne with Marinara Sauce if you want.
And finally…
If you do choose to make it, I hope you enjoy it!
If you have any other questions, or want to tell me what you think of my recipe, then please leave a comment below!
Hidden Veggie Marinara Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 tbsp olive oil
- 40 g salted butter
- 2 onions finely chopped – see note below
- 3 stalks celery finely chopped – see note below
- 2 carrots finely chopped – see note below
- 5 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 3 sprigs rosemary leaves removed and finely chopped or 1 tbsp dried
- 5 sprigs thyme leaves removed and finely chopped or 1 tbsp dried
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 800 g chopped tomatoes
- 800 g passata approx
- 200 ml water use this to rinse out jar and tins of tomatoes
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp white pepper
- 1 tsp sugar
Instructions
- Soften 2 carrots, 3 stalks celery, 2 onions & 5 garlic cloves garlic in 6 tbsp olive oil and 40 g salted butter
- Add 3 sprigs rosemary, 5 sprigs thyme and 1 tsp dried oregano fry for a minute or so
- Then add 800 g chopped tomatoes and 800 g passata (rinsing out with 200 ml water) and simmer for approx 1 hour on low/medium heat
- Add 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp white pepper and 1 tsp sugar and simmer for further 5 mins
- Add the sauce to a blender and blend it up until it is totally smooth
- Finely, taste the sauce and add any more salt, pepper or sugar as required based on your individual taste (I've created the recipe to how I like it so I feel it is sufficient)
6 responses
I have made this a few times now and it’s so versatile I absolutely live it.
thanks so much for your comment x
My whole family love this sauce. My toddler, who previously wouldn’t touch anything with a sauce now asks for more when he has this. An absolute favourite in our house ❤️
so happy to be a tiny part of what makes your toddler happy
I have everything at home apart from the Parmesan rind , could I just skip this part or is it really necessary, thanks
You can skip it – it’s just for extra flavour, not essential