It’s the original pasta sauce. The quintessential complement to any classic Italian dinner. The pre-eminent Italian dipping sauce. The defining symbol of Italian food for many. And now, it’s once again been crowned king of Italian cuisine…
Oh, c’mon… Is there anybody out there who hasn’t figured it out? We’re talking Marinara, the sauce that made tomatoes famous!
Truly iconic…
We throw around certain words such as ‘classic’, ‘authentic’, ‘legendary’ and ‘iconic’ as though they were salted peanuts or jellybeans. And because we use them so freely and stereotypically, they’ve become, to some degree at least, overused and stale. ‘Hackneyed’ is another descriptor grammarians apply to such stale, tired words. Like ‘nice’, many such adjectives have actually lost not only their or-iginal impact, but the finer nuances of their very meanings.
No so with Marinara. Perhaps that’s because it has so many synonyms in the culinary world; so many applications and traditions behind it – and not just in Italian dining.
Whatever you call it…
Marinara has been called many things, according to who’s talking about it. It’s a basic thick, rich tomato sauce that ideally sticks to pasta and slathers other foods it’s been tethered to historically with a tangy, fresh, even fruity, slightly sweet signature flavour.
You and your family may know it as Red Sauce, Gravy, Pasta Sauce, or simply ‘The Sauce’. But those are all just pseudonyms for Marinara.
A little history…
Tradition has it that Marina was first created in Naples, though some historians say it first appeared in Sicily.They do agree on when it entered the collective culinary consciousness: Immediately after the tomato arrived in Europe, brought back by the first explorers es to reach the New World, in hte 16th Century.
“Tomato sauce is first referenced in the Italian cookbook Lo Scalco alla Moderna (The Modern Stew-ard), written by Italian chef Antonio Latini in 1692,” Paesana.com claims. “Meanwhile, a recipe for pasta with tomato sauce appears in the 1790 cookbook, L’Apicio Moderno, by chef Francesco Leo-nardi.”
The specific, some would say defining, form of tomato sauce now known as ‘marinara’ owes is origins to the Italian seafaring culture. ‘Marinara’ translates to ‘seafaring’; colloquially ‘sailor style’. Pasta with Marinara Sauce was the go-to meal of Italy’s merchants during long expeditions at sea.
Fast forward to the 2020s…
The latest Instacart survey of American grocery shoppers confirms that Marinara remains the run-away top choice among all pasta sauces. The food delivery behemoth data-mined its records for 2024 and came up with some interesting numbers.
The short answer to the Pasta Sauce census question is, there are dozens of different toppers out there, hailing from all around the world. But those from Italy still dominate. In fact, four familiar sauces were ordered through Instacart last year which, together, accounted for more than all the other sauces combined
The 2025 Top 10
- Marinara Sauce (20 percent)
- Alfredo Sauce (17 percent)
- Tomato Basil Sauce (16 percent)
- Tomato Garlic Sauce (13 percent)
…for a total of 66 percent. Meanwhile, plain Tomato Sauce came in smack in the middle of the Top 10, in 5th spot, with 12 percent., followed by:
- Pesto (7 percent)
- Tomato and Cheese Sauce (5 percent)
- Meat Sauce (5 percent)
- Vodka Sauce (3 percent)
- Mushroom Sauce (2 percent)
Instacart’s pollsters react…
“While marinara’s popularity didn’t surprise us, what did catch our attention was how some of the least popular sauces nationally stand out in certain cities,”Alex Orellana, Instacart’s trends analyst, noted. “Take Puttanesca in San Francisco, for example — it’s a salty, briny favorite there, even though it ranked lowest overall nationally,”
“Regional trends tell a fun story,” Orellana continues, “like Alfredo being a hit in the South, where creamy, indulgent dishes like mac and cheese are beloved. We love seeing how food choices reflect tradition, convenience, and the unique identities of different parts of the country.”
My take
None of the commenters we consulted about the Pasta Sauce poll, however, spotlighted the oft-committed error of equating Marinarna with plain tomato sauce. They’re far from the am thing! And we’ll be differentiating between them in coming days, in this space!
Until then… Feel free to muse on the Marinara phenomenon – how this single, simple sauce became the world’s favourite companion for pasta, but many other Italian culinary classics, as well!
~ Maggie J.