RAW MARINARA SAUCE
Raw marinara sauce made with raw tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, and fresh herbs is quick and easy to make and delicious on salads, zucchini noodles, or pasta!
I have enjoyed making this raw marinara sauce over the years! It’s a great recipe to come back to again and again and I think you’ll love it as much as I do.
This raw tomato sauce is 100% raw, oil-free, super simple to make, and tastes nothing short of fresh and delicious. Plus, it can be easily customized using various herbs and spices to suit your taste.
We love using this marinara sauce on salad, zucchini pasta, or as a spread for sandwiches and pizza. It’s a recipe that is full of flavor, healthy and so easy to put together!
Ingredient Notes
Fresh and sun-dried tomatoes are blended with garlic, onion, and parsley, creating a wonderful thick and flavorful tomato sauce.
Here is everything you will need:
- Tomatoes – The best tomatoes for this recipe are Roma, cherry, or on the vine, but you can use your favorite if you prefer.
- Sun-dried tomatoes – Look for water-packed instead of tomatoes in oil.
- Garlic – Use fresh or garlic powder.
- Shallot – Can also use red onion or scallions.
- Herbs – Change it up using any or a combo of cilantro, parsley or basil.
- Salt + pepper – To taste
How To Make Raw Marinara Sauce
(Note – The full printable recipe is at the bottom of this post)
- Soak the sun-dried tomatoes in cool water for at least 20 minutes, up to 2 hours.
- Add the tomatoes, soaked sun-dried tomatoes, shallot, onion, fresh herbs, salt, and pepper to the bowl of a food processor or blender. Blend until desired consistency, leaving it a little chunky or puree until smooth.
And that’s it! Now, your marinara sauce is ready to use.
How To Store
- Refrigerator: Leftovers will keep for 5 – 6 days in the refrigerator, stored in a covered container.
- Freezer: Raw marinara sauce is freezer-friendly and freezes well for up to 2 – 3 months. To freeze, store in freezer-safe containers (affiliate link), leaving 1/2 inch head space for expansion. Let thaw before using.
Serving Suggestions
This homemade raw tomato sauce is versatile and can be used for all types of pastas, as a dressing or dip.
- Serve this sauce with fresh zucchini noodles or cooked pasta.
- Use it in Raw Pasta Primavera + Meatballs.
- Use in this Raw Spaghetti + Vegetable Pasta.
- It’s excellent on this Farmers Market Salad. Simply thin out the sauce and use it in place of the Sun-Dried Tomato Vinaigrette.
If you try this raw tomato sauce recipe, please let me know! I’d love to hear any tips or changes you made to the recipe in the comments below!
PrintMARINA’RAW’ SAUCE
Fresh and super simple to make, this raw marinara sauce tastes delicious on salads or zucchini noodles. It’s even great on cooked pasta!
- Prep Time: 25 min
- Total Time: 25 min
- Yield: Serves 4
- Category: Sauce, Condiment
- Method: food processor
- Cuisine: Italian
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
- 1 lb. tomatoes (roma, grape or cherry, on the vine, etc), chopped
- 1 cup (3oz.) sun-dried tomatoes (not in oil)
- 1 clove garlic (or 1 teaspoon garlic powder)
- 2 tablespoons shallots
- 1/2 cup herbs (cilantro, parsley or basil), medium packed
- salt + pepper, to taste
Instructions
Soak sun-dried tomatoes: Start with softening the sun-dried tomatoes. Do this by placing them in a small bowl of warm, not boiling, water, and let soak for about 20 minutes. Drain water.
Make the sauce: Once tomatoes are ready, place all the ingredients into a food processor or blender, and blend until mixture is fairly smooth. You can also leave it a little chunky if you like. Taste for flavor adding more of anything you like.
Store: Leftovers sauce can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 – 6 days.
Makes 2 cups.
Serves 3
Notes
This can be served with zucchini ‘noodles’, regular pasta, or whatever you come up with. Here’s a few serving suggestions to get you started: this Raw Pasta Primavera and this ‘Raw’sta Vegetable Pasta.
Feel free to substitute any herbs and spices in the sauce, make it your own. You can use parsley, thyme, basil, or red pepper flakes to spice it up. Have fun creating and enjoy often!
Nutritional values are estimates only. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Updated: Marina’raw’ Sauce originally published July 2012 and has been updated June 2020 with new photos and helpful tips.
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Oh, and I also added a handful of cilantro ;)
I’m a newbie raw foodie and I must say this is the most delicious marinara. I used what I had on hand, dried oregano, dried basil, onion flakes & powder, garlic powder. I also added 1/2 a habanero and one madjool date. I’ll use this recipe often, thanks!
I’m genuinely surprised at how much I loved this! I was a little nervous, but I added 2 spoons of pesto and it was delicious! Very flavorful. I am not vegetarian but am trying to get more raw veggies in my diet, so I mixed this with some ground beef and warmed it slightly. I paired it with your raw veggie spaghetti as well and it was so refreshing and filling 😋 thank you so much for the yummy ideas! They are a life saver!
Love this sauce. Very fresh. We use it on zoodles and as a sauce on raw dehydrated red peeper flax pizza crust with coconut amino marinated shallots and mushrooms. It’s awesome.
Just made this and put in with some raw vegan “meatballs” that I made in my dehydrator. I also used zucchini noodles and nutritional yeast. I used different spices thou. I put in organic dried onion, garlic, and Italian seasoning instead. This sauce is so good, definitely going to make it again.
Great recipe! So nice on a hot day!! I used a little bit of braggs to it. Wonderful!!
I just made this – it was delicious and so easy! I added nutritional yeast to it too :)
Great! I love this sauce, it's divine. The nutritional yeast is a great addition. I will try that for sure. Thanks for the inspiration. :)