Olive Garden Marinara Sauce: Authentic Italian Flavor Made Simple

My first apartment after college had exactly three pieces of cookware: a pot, a pan, and a hand-me-down blender. Even with such limited resources, I was determined to stop surviving on ramen and learn to cook. The turning point came after a dinner at Olive Garden, where I loved their simple marinara sauce. “If they can make something this good with just tomatoes and herbs,” I thought, “maybe I can too.” That weekend, I attempted my first homemade marinara, and despite some rookie mistakes, I was hooked. The best Italian cooking is simple yet delicious, and that perfectly describes this marinara sauce. Nothing is complicated about it, but the authentic flavors will impress you and your guests in just 35 minutes, with only 5 minutes of prep work.

copycat Olive Garden marinara sauce in a bowl and over spaghetti.

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Why Is The Olive Garden Marinara Sauce So Good? 

The best Italian cooking is simple yet delicious. That is a great way to describe this recipe for traditional Olive Garden Marinara Sauce. It is not complicated, but the authentic flavors will impress you and your guests.

Stop wasting money on jarred pasta sauce when you can make your own that tastes much better for much less money. 

What Makes This Copycat Version of Marinara Sauce Perfect for So Many Different Recipes? 

A great thing about this marinara sauce is that it is so basic. It does not contain onions, celery, or other vegetables that can appear in some marinara recipes.

That means this tomato sauce is perfect for serving with pasta and can also be used in many other recipes. See below for a few ideas. 

Ingredients For Copycat Olive Garden Marinara Sauce

To make this tomato sauce, you’ll need:

  • Extra virgin olive oil – Creates the rich base that carries all other flavors
  • Garlic – Infuses the oil with aromatic compounds for depth without overpowering
  • Tomato puree – Provides smooth body and concentrated tomato flavor
  • Diced tomatoes – Adds texture and fresh tomato chunks to the sauce
  • Italian seasoning blend – Delivers classic herb flavors in perfect proportion
  • Dried basil – Enhances the sauce with its distinctive sweet, peppery notes
  • Red pepper chili flakes – Adds subtle warmth without making the sauce spicy
  • Salt – Enhances all the flavors and balances sweetness
  • Ground black pepper – Provides mild heat and complexity
  • Sugar – Balances the natural acidity of tomatoes
Olive Garden marinara sauce ingredients on a tray.

How To Cook Copycat Olive Garden Marinara Sauce

To make this copycat Olive Garden marinara sauce recipe:

  1. Place a large sauce pot over medium heat and allow it to warm.
  2. Pour in the extra virgin olive oil, and when hot, add the sliced garlic. 
garlic slices and olive oil in a pot.
  1. Reduce the heat to medium-low, allowing the garlic to color slightly and become fragrant. Adjust the heat and occasionally stir the garlic to prevent it from burning.
  2. Remove the sliced garlic with a slotted spoon and discard.
  3. Add the diced tomatoes and tomato puree to the sauce pot. Be careful, as the pot can splatter if it is too hot.
  4. Sprinkle in the dried basil, Italian seasoning blend, red pepper chili flakes, salt, and black pepper.
Olive Garden marinara ingredients in a pot.
  1. Stir the sauce to combine.
  2. Bring the sauce to a slow simmer. Cover and cook for 25 to 30 minutes. Adjust the heat if necessary to maintain a slow simmer.
  3. Taste the sauce, adjust the seasonings, and add some or all of the sugar if you think it tastes too acidic. 
copycat Olive Garden Marinara sauce over spaghetti in a bowl.

What To Serve It With 

Due to spaghetti’s size and shape, it is a perfect pasta to pair with marinara sauce. However, angel hair, spaghettini, cheese ravioli, tortellini, and ziti are also fine choices.

Other Ways To Use This Sauce 

Besides serving pasta, there are dozens of ways to use marinara sauce, either on its own or as part of another recipe. Here are some suggestions to consider:

How To Store Leftovers

Any extra marinara sauce can be kept in the fridge or the freezer, but the key is to store it properly. 

  1. Bring the sauce’s temperature down as quickly as possible. One of the best ways to do that is using an ice bath. Fill a large bowl halfway with ice and water. Set a smaller bowl in the ice water, and pour the sauce into the smaller bowl. Stir until cold. 
  2. Transfer the sauce to an airtight container and place it in the fridge or freezer. If you are freezing a big batch, use single portion-sized containers. That way, you won’t have to defrost all your sauce at once. 

How Long Does Marinara Sauce Last in the Fridge and Freezer?

The sauce can last three days in the fridge and up to three months in the freezer. Thaw the sauce in the refrigerator before using it. 

overhead view of copycat Olive Garden marinara sauce in a bowl and over spaghetti.
copycat Olive Garden marinara sauce in a bowl and over spaghetti.

Authentic Olive Garden Marinara Sauce | Versatile Tomato Base

This rich, flavorful Olive Garden-inspired marinara brings restaurant quality to your kitchen with perfectly balanced herbs and tomatoes for pasta, pizza, and beyond.
4.60 from 22 votes
Print Pin Rate Add to Collection
Course: Sauces
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: Marinara Sauce, Olive Garden Recipes
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 14
Calories: 23kcal

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic sliced into large slices
  • 28 ounces canned tomato puree
  • 28 ounces canned diced tomatoes
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning blend
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon sugar

Instructions

  • Heat the olive oil in a large stainless-steel pot or Dutch oven (do not use cast iron, as the acidity of the tomatoes may make the sauce taste metallic) over medium heat.
  • When the oil is hot, add the sliced garlic. Cook until the garlic becomes translucent and very fragrant. Remove the garlic from the pot.
  • Add the tomato puree, diced tomatoes, Italian seasoning, dried basil, chili pepper flakes, salt, and ground black pepper to the pot and stir to combine. Lower the heat to a simmer and place a lid on the pot. Simmer for 25 to 30 minutes.
  • Taste the sauce. If it’s too acidic, add 1/2 tablespoon of sugar, taste it, and see if you need to add the remaining sugar.

Video

Olive Garden Marinara is rich, flavorful, and a great sauce for pasta, pizza, ravioli, spaghetti, meatballs, and breadsticks.

Notes

Please do not use cast iron to make marinara because the acidity of the tomatoes may make the sauce taste metallic.

Nutrition

Serving: 0.5cup | Calories: 23kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 0.1g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 0.3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 333mg | Potassium: 9mg | Fiber: 0.2g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 15IU | Vitamin C: 0.3mg | Calcium: 6mg | Iron: 0.2mg

More Olive Garden Copycat Recipes

Favorite Italian Sauce Recipes

Check out my delicious Italian recipes and the best copycat Olive Garden recipes on CopyKat!

About Stephanie Manley

Stephanie Manley is the creator of CopyKat.com. She has been recreating copycat recipes since 1995. Learn more about Stephanie Manley.

REVEALED: Copycat Secrets for 2025

free email bonus

Yes, you CAN make it at home! I'll show you how.

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Julie J Rose

    4 stars
    I really like this sauce and it’s my go-to for a marinara. It is especially good with the copy cat Olive Garden meatballs. People need to remember to adjust recipes to their personal tastes before giving a bad rating and trashing the recipe. For instance I don’t like my food super spicy so I tend to reduce (or eliminate, depending on the dish) the amount of red pepper flakes or other spicy ingredients that are called for. In this recipe I add a scant 1/4 tsp of the red pepper flakes and in the meatball recipe I cut the amount in half. That is just enough spicy for me. Thank you for the recipe. They are both keepers in my book.

  2. Nick

    5 stars
    This is a keeper for me – ended up subbing the dried basil for 1/2 cup of fresh basil and it was super tasty with rich flavor, very close to Olive Garden. Thanks for the recipe!

  3. Bonnie

    1 star
    My husband and I both thought this was too spicy hot! I ended up discarding it-what a waste of ingredients. It didn’t taste anything like Olive Garden marinara!

  4. Lynn Ansield

    1 star
    Not sure why this turned out so bad. The suggestion to add up to a Tablespoon of sugar to counter the acidity did nothing to diminish the strongly sour taste. I ended up adding heavy cream and parmesan, but they only slightly modified the bitter taste. The Olive Garden meatballs, however, were terrific.

4.60 from 22 votes (18 ratings without comment)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




homemade Olive Garden Asiago Torgelloni Alfredo with chicken on a plate

Copycat Recipe Secrets for 2025

REVEALED:

Yes, you CAN make it at home! 
I'll show you how.

FREE EMAIL BONUS

Closeup of copycat Olive Garden spaghetti and meatballs.

Olive Garden Copycat Recipes

REVEALED:

Yes, you CAN make it at home! 
I'll show you how.

FREE EMAIL BONUS