In a matter of minutes, you can have the best, copycat Rao's Keto Marinara Sauce! With just a few simple ingredients! Super tasty and versatile...you'll skip that expensive store bought jar!
We all love the Rao's store bought marinara sauce. I usually have a few jars in my pantry at all times! Thing is, it is expensive unless you can find it on sale!
This homemade Keto marinara sauce has all of the flavor of Rao's, the same carb count, and it is so much more budget friendly.
How to make keto marinara sauce from scratch
The ingredients we will need are: avocado oil, garlic, dried basil, dried oregano, onion powder, diced tomatoes, and salt and pepper to taste.
I like to first cook my spices in the oil to bloom the spices.
We want to cook the spices, but we do not want to cook the tomatoes.
We just want to heat them through as when we let them simmer, the sugars in the tomatoes will concentrate.
Use a blender or immersion blender to puree your whole canned tomatoes.
After the spices are bloomed, add the pureed tomatoes to the pot and just let the sauce heat through. Don't let it simmer.
Season with salt, pepper, and sweetener to taste. If the sauce tastes bitter, add the sweetener.
If you sauce tastes bland, it needs more salt.
Can I eat marinara sauce on keto?
This is a common questions and my answer is, yes! If looking for store bought, look for Rao's as it has the fewest amount of carbs that I have seen. The other marinara sauces are filled with sugar and usually have 7 grams of carbs per serving.
Also, since this is a carb dense food, make sure you measure out exactly ½ cup as your serving.
Can I use fresh tomatoes instead of canned?
You can, but you would need to blanche them and remove the peel for a more smooth sauce.
Here are some of my recipes that use marinara sauce:
- Creamy Keto Tomato Soup
- Keto Meatball Casserole
- Keto Lasagna
- Chicken Parm Meatballs
- Keto Meat lovers Pizza Casserole
Keto Marinara Sauce - Rao's Copycat
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons Avocado oil (Click here for my favorite brand on Amazon)
- 1 teaspoon Onion powder
- 2 cloves Garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon Dried basil
- 1 teaspoon Dried oregano
- 28 ounce Whole, Peeled tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon Granular Sweetener (Click here to see my favorite on Amazon) Optional, see notes
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- Pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a medium size sauce pan, over medium-high heat, add your avocado oil and spices to let the spices bloom.
- In a blender or using an immersion blender, puree the can of whole tomatoes.
- Once the spices are bloomed, add in the pureed tomatoes. Let the sauce just heat through, but don't let it simmer. Season with salt, pepper, and sweetener to taste.
- Remove from the heat and serve.
Jennifer's tips
- Look for a can of diced tomatoes that have the least amount of carbs per serving.
- Add the sweetener if the sauce tastes bitter. You could also use stevia.
- Bland sauce? add salt! Most marinara sauce is loaded with salt.
Nutrition per serving
Nutrition is provided as a courtesy only. Please re-calculate on your own with the ingredients and amounts you used for the most accurate data.
Linda Holland says
I don't like any sweetener. Is it ok to leave it out?
jenniferbanz says
yep!
Margaret says
Hi Jennifer,
This sauce is very good. Thank you for the recipe. However, I can't see where you came up with 3 net carbs per serving. Every time I run the numbers, I come up with 7 net carbs per serving. Please help!
Linda says
Hi Jennifer, I love your recipes. I have a question on this one. Your ingredients say "canned whole tomatoes" but in the tips, you mention to look for diced tomatoes because they have the least amount of carbs. Which do you use for the recipe?
Pamela says
I use a Big can of crushed tomatoes (eliminates having to blend)Have used several combos of sweeteners all have been fine...love the recipe, so good and way cheaper than buying it!
Astro says
I used fresh tomatoes and kept the skin on (fibre, antioxidants) and used an immersion blender as per the recipe - no trace of skin in the final result??
Dayna says
Can this recipe be made in larger batches and stored for later use? Can it be put in the freezer?
jenniferbanz says
Definitely!
Kari says
Would you say you could use this recipe as pizza sauce?
jenniferbanz says
Definitely!
Victoria says
Can you please share why you like to use monk fruit? I have only used granulated stevia.
jenniferbanz says
I prefer the taste