When it comes to famous tomato sauces, there are lots of them. There’s ragu, stewed tomatoes, and, of course, marinara and tomato sauce. In this article, we compare marinara sauce vs. tomato sauce. Read on to find out all you need to know about these important Italian sauces.
While these two sauces are often used as interchangeable terms for one another, there are some crucial differences, so read on to find out what you need to know.
Contents
Marinara vs. Tomato Sauce
American-style marinara is a vegan-friendly sauce made with tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, onions, and oregano. Traditional Italian-style marinara usually contains red peppers, not onions. Marinara can be cooked quickly and left chunky in texture/appearance.
Tomato sauce is a complex sauce with many ingredients, in some cases including pork. It takes much longer to cook and requires more preparation time as well.
Those are the main differences.
What is Marinara Sauce?
Most tomato sauces prepared in the home kitchen are variations of the humble but mighty marinara. This somewhat thin sauce cooks quickly from start to finish, requiring only around an hour max.
The famous flavors come from mixing tomatoes with garlic, olive oil, onions, and oregano. Some people also include other ingredients like basil or crushed red peppers. All traditional Italian marinara sauces should consist of those three essential ingredients and tomatoes, of course!
Note: When cooking marinara, you should choose fresh ingredients and high-quality San Marzano tomatoes for the best result.
Marinara sauce is often enjoyed in sub sandwiches, as the base for pizza, and is also known as spaghetti sauce.
What is Tomato Sauce?
Tomato sauce is not like marinara in its consistency or nature. Instead, this sauce is thick and complex, based on a sauce tomat mother sauce.
You start with onion, carrot, celery, salt pork, lardons, or bacon. This is then cooked into a roux made of flour and butter. You then add fresh tomatoes, bay leaves, garlic, and veal or chicken stock.
This sauce isn’t quick to prepare or cook as this is then left to simmer for several hours, becoming sweet and more flavorful. When ready, the sauce should be puree consistency, unlike marinara with its remaining chunks of tomatoes.
Tomato sauce is best for pouring over foods like pasta. It is used as a tomato gravy in many senses and isn’t ideal for pizzas or similar recipes.
Note: Tomato sauce is not vegetarian-friendly.
Conclusion
Marinara sauce is faster and easier to make and is used in various dishes and recipes. There are also several different variations of marinara sauce.
Tomato sauce requires many more ingredients and cooking time and is used in fewer recipes as it has a more distinct flavor that only works well with certain foods.
- Substitutes For Marinara Sauce – If you’re interested in marinara and tomato sauce differences you might be looking for a substitute. Here are the best ones for marinara.
- Substitutes For Tomato Sauce – On the other hand, you might be interested in a tomato sauce substitute, here are some excellent alternatives.