The best Chicken Marinara Sauce is fast and easy with tender meat and authentic Italian flavor with a few pantry ingredients. Make it with other meat or vegetarian on the stovetop or in a slow cooker.
🐓Ingredients
Chicken—breast or thighs
Tomato—crushed or diced
Aromatics—onion, garlic
Panty ingredients—butter, sugar, basil, salt, and black pepper
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Featured comment from Jeanne:
"This was delicious!….. I will be making this again. Thank you!"
The whole family will love this sauce that is packed with great Italian flavor; it's one of the best marinara sauces you will ever make. Easy to make on the stovetop or in a crock pot with only pantry ingredients and these easy step-by-step photo instructions.
Very easy to make vegetarian, use precooked meat like rotisserie chicken or ground meat like Italian sausage, ground beef, or ground turkey.
Shredding the onion releases the juices and tastes quickly and is the secret to great, quick results. Perfect to use on pasta like spaghetti or in other recipes. It can be done in only 15 minutes if no raw meat is involved.
Try Italian Sausage Marinara Sauce for a different taste. And for easy crock pot Italian check out Baked Ziti, Chicken Baked Ziti, Pizza Casserole, or Chicken Cacciatore.
👨🍳How to make Chicken Marinara Sauce on the stovetop
- If using raw chicken, trim it into bite-size pieces and start browning. Raw ground meat should be browned and drained.
- Shred the onion and add to the meat during cooking. If not using meat, saute the onion until clearing. Add the garlic near the end of cooking.
- Add the tomato products and spices. Mix well and simmer—15 minutes minimum, but longer is better. If using it for a quick spaghetti dinner, cook the pasta while simmering.
📋Ingredients options and variations
- Chicken - If using raw chicken, like skinless boneless chicken breasts or chicken thighs, diced into bite-sized pieces. You can also use precooked chicken, like rotisserie chicken, added with the tomatoes.
- Other Meat - you can use other ground meat like Italian sausage, ground beef, or ground turkey. They require cooking prior to adding the other sauce ingredients.
- Skip the meat and make a wonderful vegetarian marinara sauce.
- Tomatoes - Good quality is important - use crushed or diced depending on the texture you like.
- Onion - Grating the onion is the key to a quick sauce with great flavor. You can just dice small, but it will need a bit longer to cook fully.
- Seasoning - the usual garlic, salt, and pepper. The Italian touch comes from basil, which can be dry or fresh basil. But oregano, rosemary, or an Italian seasoning mix could be used. The optional red pepper flakes add a touch of heat.
👨🍳How to make Chicken Marinara Sauce in a crock pot
- You can leave out any meat and make it vegetarian. If using precooked meat, like rotisserie chicken, use about 3 cups. If using raw ground meat, like Italian sausage, ground beef, or ground turkey, you must brown the meat, be sure it reaches a safe temperature, and drain well.
- If using raw chicken, cube the chicken as stated in this recipe, but you can cut the breasts into 2-3 chunks each if you want to shred them near the end.
- The onion can be chopped or shredded.
- Cook on low for about 3 hours in a 3 quart or larger crock pot until chicken is 165°. The main time variation is due to chicken size.
- If shredding chicken, remove the chunks from the pot, shred and then add them back to the crockpot. You could add rotisserie chicken at this point, also. Cook another 30-60 minutes to infuse with flavor.
- If using rotisserie chicken or the ground meat you cooked, add them at the start of cooking and cook for about one hour, but a longer simmer will add flavor.
- A double recipe in a 6 quart or bigger crock pot.
How to use
Usually, you will serve chicken marinara as a simple chicken spaghetti. Just cook pasta like spaghetti or linguine and sprinkle it with some parmesan cheese.
Baked chicken ziti or baked chicken spaghetti would be easy with this sauce. In a casserole dish, add some al denta ziti pasta with mozzarella cheese and bake in a 350° oven to a golden brown—instant Italian comfort food.
FAQs
Marinara sauce is a tomato-based sauce with garlic, onion, herbs and spices. There are many variations with and without meat, some with wine and other additions. It is frequently served on pasta but is also used in other dishes like casseroles.
How to store marinara sauce
Store in the refrigerator for 4 days or freeze airtight for 3-4 months.
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Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
If using raw chicken, trim the chicken breast of any fat. Cut into slices across the grain of the meat about ⅜ inch thick, then cut again the other way to make more bit size pieces. You can leave out any meat and make it vegetarian. If using precooked meat, like rotisserie chicken, add about 3 cups with tomato products. If using raw ground meat, like Italian sausage, ground beef, or ground turkey, you must brown 1 to ½ pounds of the meat, be sure it reaches a safe temperature, and drain well.
Shred onion with the large side of a shredder into a medium bowl. You can also chop the onion instead, just simmering it a bit longer.
In a large skillet, add a tablespoon of butter or olive oil over medium-high heat. Saute the chicken for about 5 minutes, add the onion, and cook until clearing the onion—about 10-12 minutes total. Add the garlic for the last few minutes of cooking.
Add all other spices and tomatoes. Simmer for at least 15 minutes—cook pasta during the simmering time.
📖 Recipe
30-Minute Chicken Marinara Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 to 1 ½ pounds skinless boneless chicken breasts - or thighs
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2-4 cloves garlic - minced or crushed
- 1 onion - medium shredded or diced
- 28 oz crushed tomatoes
- 2 teaspoons dry basil - or 2 tablespoons fresh
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper - optional to taste
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
- 1 pound Pasta of your choice
Instructions
- If using raw chicken, trim the chicken breast of any fat. Cut into slices across the grain of the meat about ⅜ inch thick, then cut again the other way to make more bit size pieces. OTHER OPTIONS: You can leave out any meat and make it vegetarian. If using precooked meat, like rotisserie chicken, add about 3 cups with tomato products. If using raw ground meat, like Italian sausage, ground beef, or ground turkey, you must brown 1 to ½ pounds of the meat, be sure it reaches a safe temperature, and drain well.
- Shred onion with the large side of a shredder into a medium bowl. You can also chop the onion instead-but simmer a bit longer.
- In a large skillet, add a tablespoon of butter or olive oil over medium-high heat. Saute the chicken for about 5 minutes, add the onion and cook until clearing the onion—about 10-12 minutes total. Add the garlic for the last few minutes of cooking.
- Add all other spices and tomatoes. Simmer for at least 15 minutes—cook pasta during the simmering time.
- Perfect for Chicken Spaghetti or other dishes.
Your Own Private Notes
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- An easy recipe to cut in half.
- Use good ingredients. If you use generic tomatoes, you will have generic results.
- The shredded onion released flavor and cooks rapidly. It is the secret of the quick sauce. You can use chopped onion and cook a bit longer.
- Good refrigerated for 3-4 days or frozen for 3-4 months.
- Nutrition does not include any pasta.
Crockpot Option
- If using raw chicken, cube the chicken as stated in this recipe, but you can cut the breasts into 2-3 chunks each if you want to shred them near the end.
- You can leave out any meat and make it vegetarian. If using precooked meat, like rotisserie chicken, use about 3 cups. If using raw ground meat, like Italian sausage, ground beef, or ground turkey, you must brown 1 to 1 ½ pounds of the meat, be sure it reaches a safe temperature, and drain well.
- The onion can be chopped or shredded.
- Cook on low for about 3 hours in a 3 quart or larger crock pot until chicken is 165°. The main time variation is due to chicken size.
- If shredding, remove the chunks from the pot, shred and then add them back to the crockpot. You could add rotisserie chicken at this point, also. Cook another 30-60 minutes to infuse with flavor.
- If using rotisserie chicken or the ground meat you cooked, add them at the start of cooking and cook for about one hour, but a longer simmer will add flavor.
A double recipe in a 6 quart or bigger crock pot.
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
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It was inspired by Americas Test Kitchen's Quick Tomato Sauce (subscription required), a flavorful marinara that cooks in about the time of cooking the pasta.
Editor's Note: Originally Published January 29, 2010. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Jeanne Conaway
This was delicious! I’ve been making a similar sauce for years (my mother called it “meatless spaghetti sauce”) and have used it as a base for many dishes. But I had never before used it for chicken spaghetti. I had been staring at a package of boneless skinless chicken thighs and really wanting to do something other than grill them...again. This was perfect! I did add a small can of mushroom stems and pieces from my Coronavirus stocked pantry, but otherwise followed as written. I will be making this again. Thank you!
Annette
Hi,
I always enjoy seeing your latest culinary creation! I had never though about grating the onions! May have to give it a try!
Thanks,
Annette
imannette.net
Unknown
Thanks!!!! This was an yummy. I added a little bit of rosemary and parsley.
Chris
Great way to save time cooking and cleaning. My wife will appreciate this one!
Steph@PlainChicken.com
Looks great. We love a good chicken pasta dish. Your tomato basil sauce sounds perfect!
Sherry
I've never made homemade pasta sauce; always figured it would take too long, but this look promising. Thanks1