The Bold Ingredient You Should Try Adding To Marinara Sauce

Marinara sauce is one of those ingredients that, while simple to make, is most frequently snagged from supermarket shelves rather than being prepared at home. While we all lead busy lives and admire the ease of pre-made jarred sauce, there are few things in life as enjoyable as a fresh, robust batch of homemade marinara sauce.

From coating delicate spaghetti to bathing your crispy mozzarella sticks, there are seemingly endless uses for the classic Italian sauce. And making it at home has never been easier. With only a handful of ingredients and modern appliances on your side, anyone is capable of making this outstanding sauce. From the bite of fried garlic cloves to the earthiness of herbs like oregano, marinara has a near-unbeatable seasoning lineup. However, if you've noticed your marinara's flavor comes out a little less interesting than you would've hoped, there's a simple ingredient addition that will undoubtedly boost your sauce: pitted black olives. 

There is a reason marinara is such a crowd-pleasing sauce, and it comes down to its overall mild flavor. While tomatoes are naturally robust and subtly acidic, which is perfect for a rich sauce, marinaras can lack a bit of depth in their flavor profile. If you've noticed this in your own marinara batches, adding black pitted olives may do the trick.

According to Chef Gourmet, many Italian gourmets add sliced pitted black olives to their sauce while it is simmering. The briny tang definitely adds (in our humble opinion) a much needed punch to this relatively lightly-flavored sauce. However, if you're not the biggest fan of stronger flavors in your pasta sauce, or don't fancy black olives, you can opt for  pitted green olives instead. It will be less intense, but still bolden the sauce's flavor, per My Goodness Kitchen.

Try this trick out, and we're positive your sauce will wow at your next dinner party.