Keto Marinara Sauce

This keto marinara sauce is not only low carb & delicious it's easy! Vegetables are roasted in the oven for maximum flavour, minimum effort!

Tomato sauce - or marinara sauce - gets used in so many keto diet recipes (have you tried my Scotch Egg Meatloaf or Keto Stromboli Meatloaf?), but it can be difficult to find sauce without added sugar.

There are a few different brands available - Rao’s Marinara Sauce being the most popular - but the no-sugar sauces are usually hard to find, or really expensive.

So, today I’m sharing my keto marinara sauce recipe.

As keto-friendly recipes go, this friendly marinara sauce is a great one. It’s a super easy recipe, good for the whole family - whether on a low-carb diet or not.

I think one mark of a great recipe is the flexibility to not only adapt to ingredient availability, but personal taste as well. This makes a good marinara base to customize into your own sauce.

As-is, this one comes out to 11 grams of total carbs per ½ cup serving size . After deducting the fiber and sugar alcohol, you’re left with about 7 grams of net carbs.

(See Nutrition Facts in the recipe card at the end of the post for full nutritional information).

With this sauce - and a bit of creativity - you can have your favourite Italian food, while still watching your carb intake!

Keto Marinara Sauce Ingredients

This low carb tomato sauce recipe uses simple ingredients, but mostly fresh ingredients, as I find fresh makes the best sauce.

While many marinara sauces include canned crushed tomatoes and/or tomato paste, mine does not. Not only do fresh fresh tomatoes taste better than canned, avoiding tomato paste cuts the carb count.

A few thoughts on the main ingredients:

Tomatoes

I use Roma tomatoes - also known as plum tomatoes - because they’re affordable and readily available. If you have access to fresh San Marzano tomatoes at your local grocery store, they’re a great option for marinara.

Look for good tomatoes, ripe but blemish free. You’ll cut the whole tomatoes down into chunks for roasting.

Olive Oil

I use a good quality extra virgin olive oil in the roasting process, but avocado oil would also work.

Onion

I use a basic yellow onion, but you can use any kind you want - just keep an eye on the carbs. Onions are an obnoxiously easy way to add sneaky grams of sugar to this recipe!

Garlic

I use 5 cloves of garlic - to keep the carbs down - but consider that a bare minimum. Each clove adds 1-2grams of net carbs to the recipe.

Other Ingredients

Fresh Basil

Sugar Substitute (I use Erythritol / Monkfruit Blend Sweetener)

Dried Oregano

Salt and Ground Black Pepper

Equipment

This recipe requires only the most basic equipment. You’ll need:

- A cutting board and sharp knife

- A large roasting pan. I love my nonstick one, I use it often.

- A Food Processor or Immersion Blender. Personally, I prefer a food processor, but I get that sometimes there’s no space for one!

(I have a tiny Greater Toronto Area kitchen, myself. There’s a reason my stovetop is always pictured as my work surface!)

How to Make the Best Keto Marinara Sauce

My entire original recipe is in the recipe card at the end of this post, but here’s the pictorial overview. (It’s a really simple recipe!):

Preheat oven to 400F.

Cut the tomatoes into quarters, removing the stem pieces. Place in a large roasting pan - ideally nonstick.

Add onion, olive oil, garlic, and a little bit of salt and pepper, tossing gently to coat.

Roast for 60-80 minutes, stirring every 20 minutes or so.

Allow to cool enough to handle.

In batches, puree the contents of the pan, transferring to a pot as you are happy with the consistency of each blitzed batch.

If you want a chunky sauce, pulse it a few times just to break it up. For a smooth sauce, puree it as long as you need to!

In one of the batches, add basil, sugar substitute, and oregano when processing.

Stir the entire thing together, seasoning with salt and pepper, to taste.

Leftovers

Allow sauce to cool to room temperature before transferring to an airtight container. It will keep in the fridge for a week, maybe a bit longer.

Additional Tips

The beauty of homemade marinara sauce is that it’s an incredibly versatile sauce, both in adaptations, and use. Here are some tips for you:

Customizing

Adjusting the flavours a bit is the best way to make this recipe your own keto marinara sauce. A few suggestions:

- This recipe isn’t as thick as some, as I like to have the option of simmering it down if I need to. For a thicker sauce, simply simmer over medium heat until it reaches the desired thickness.

- Depending on your tomatoes and how long you roast it, you might end up with sauce that’s drier than you want. If this happens, just add a little water or a splash of chicken/beef broth.

- If you’d like a bit more acid, add a splash of Balsamic Vinegar or Red Wine Vinegar.

- If your tomatoes are a bit too acidic, add a little sweetness : another teaspoon (or more!) of Sugar Substitute. Note: This is best done when the sauce is hot and being blended.

- Add extra seasoning! While I like fresh basil and fresh garlic in mine, you can dress yours up with Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, fresh or Dried Oregano, Italian Seasoning, fresh parsley, etc. Red Pepper Flakes add heat AND a great taste!

Homemade Keto Marinara Sauce Uses

Here are some easy keto recipes and ideas for using this sauce:

Keto Pasta Sauce: This low carb marinara sauce recipe is the perfect keto tomato sauce to use as a base for pasta sauce. Cook up some sausage, mushrooms, onions, olives - or anything else you like in spaghetti sauce - then add this marinara and simmer!

Keto Pizza: Use this marinara as-is for a fantastic pizza sauce.

Keto Chicken Parmesan: This delicious keto marinara sauce is perfect for my Keto Chicken Parmesan recipe.

Keto Spaghetti and Meatballs: Here’s my recipe for Keto Spaghetti and Meatballs, which is fantastic. Alternatively, you can also use your own keto meatballs recipe, or use zucchini noodles instead of konjac!

Dipping Sauce: Use this recipe as a dip for Keto Mozzarella Sticks, keto breadsticks - or keto garlic breadsticks - and more.

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Keto Marinara Sauce

This keto marinara sauce is not only low carb & delicious it's easy! Vegetables are roasted in the oven for maximum flavour, minimum effort!

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Course: Condiment, Sauce

Cuisine: Italian

Diet: Diabetic, Gluten Free, Low Lactose, Vegan, Vegetarian

Servings: 10 ½ cup servings

Calories: 97kcal

Equipment

• Large roaster pan
• Food processor

Ingredients

• 5 lbs Roma tomatoes
• 1 Large yellow onion chopped
• ¼ cup Olive oil
• 5 Garlic cloves Pressed or minced
• Salt and pepper
• ¼ cup Fresh basil
• 1 tablespoon Sugar substitute
• 2 teaspoon Dried oregano
• Optional: Crushed chilies, fresh parsley, etc

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400F.
• Cut tomatoes into quarters, removing the stem pieces. Place in a large roasting pan - ideally nonstick.
• Add onion, olive oil, garlic, and a little bit of salt and pepper, tossing gently to coat.
• Roast for 60-80 minutes, stirring every 20 minutes or so.
• Allow to cool enough to handle.
• In batches, puree the contents of the pan, transferring to a pot as you are happy with the consistency of each blitzed batch.
• In one of the batches, add basil, sugar subsitute, and oregano when processing.
• Stir the entire thing together, seasoning with salt and pepper - as well as any optional herbs and spices - to taste.
• If you’d like it thicker, simmer it until it reaches desired consistency.

Nutrition

Calories: 97kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Sodium: 12mg | Potassium: 566mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 1928IU | Vitamin C: 32mg | Calcium: 35mg | Iron: 1mg

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