The Best Nightshade Free Marinara Sauce (AIP, Instant Pot)
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This sauce is a nightshade-free marinara sauce that’s made without tomatoes! It’s AIP compliant, as well as Whole30, Paleo, and sugar-free.
If you were to ask me what my favorite food was when I was a kid, I probably would’ve said pizza and pasta. I mean, can you blame me? Who doesn’t love pizza? I grew up in New York in a Jewish/Italian American family, and my dad always used to joke that spaghetti sauce ran through the veins, and thus, mine.
That’s why my heart completely dropped when I first came to terms with my nightshade intolerance at 20 years old. No ketchup? No Caprese salad? No pizza?!
I went about nine months being nightshade free before I was eventually able to discover the glory of red sauce without tomatoes. Wait, what? How?! It’s a veggie-rich sauce made to taste like tomato sauce, but without the tomatoes. SCORE. Over the years, I’ve perfected my own version. It’s just the right flavor and consistency, and it’s made quickly and easily in the Instant Pot. You’re serious about 20 minutes away from having nightshade-free tomato sauce right now.
The Best Nightshade Free Marinara Sauce
The Ingredients You’ll Need For the Nightshade Free Marinara Sauce
Carrots
Carrots are the main veggie in this dish. They have a pretty neutral flavor and their color adds some of the red tint to the sauce.
Beets
This is the main veggie in the sauce that gives it its red color. I know some people don’t love beets, but really
Onion and garlic
These add a ton of flavor to the sauce. Technically, you can leave out the garlic, but you’ll miss a lot of the flavor.
Celery
Another crucial vegetable in this sauce.
Basil, parsley, and oregano
Lemon juice
Lemon juice adds that acidity that tomatoes naturally have without being overly vinegary. I just don’t love the taste of apple cider vinegar in this sauce, but you can use that as well.
The Appliances
The Instant Pot
If you don’t have an Instant Pot yet, I highly recommend it. It’s a safer pressure cooker that also has a slow cooker function, steam function, satuee function, and more. It’s saved me hours in the kitchen and can cook pretty much anything. I’ve included instructions to make this without an instant pot. However, it will more than double the cooking time, so seriously… this thing is life changing.
Vitamix
The Vitamix is one of my favorite kitchen appliances. It just blends so well, and the damper insert is perfect for making chunky sauces like this nice and smooth. You can use other high speed blenders as well!
Some things to consider…
I would not make any swaps rather than what may be noted in the section above.
All of the ingredients listed should be used as is to get a great product.
Your flavor will often vary depending on the veggies you have at the time.
Something that I’ve learned from cooking with real food ingredients (especially vegetables) is that you don’t get that identical product like you would with processed food. The flavor of every carrot is going to be a little bit different, some beets are stronger than others, and sometimes your basil is a bit milder… that’s okay! I’m used to my sauce always tasting just a tad different depending on the ingredients, the season, etc. so if it doesn’t taste identical each time, that doesn’t mean you did anything wrong!
What to pair this sauce with…
Compliant pasta
If you’re AIP, pair this sauce with spaghetti squash or zoodles! If you’re not AIP and can tolerate something like rice pasta or chickpea pasta (which are pictured in the picture above) go for it!
The following AIP recipes…
AIP Nightshade Free Marinara Sauce
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Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil, sub avocado oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 white onion, diced
- 2 ½ cup carrots, chopped
- 1 ¼ cups celery, about 4 stalks, chopped
- 1 ¼ cup beet, chopped
- 1 tbsp fresh basil
- 1 tsp oregano
- 2 tsp parsley
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 cup water
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Add the olive oil to the base of the instant pot and set to saute.
- Saute the onions and garlic for 2 minutes, before adding in the carrots, beets and celery. Saute for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Press cancel to turn off the saute function.
- Pour in the water and lemon juice and add the seasonings. Stir to combine.
- Lock the lid onto the instant pot and flip the the pressure release valve to closed. Press "manual" (it will default to high pressure" and use the "+" button to set the time to 14 minutes. Allow the instant pot to come to pressure and the sauce to cook.
- Once the sauce has finished, carefully release the pressure valve. Once depressurized, remove the lid and allow for the sauce to cool before blending it in a Vitamix or high speed blender until smooth.
- Season further to taste and enjoy!
Notes
- To adapt for the stove, use a large, deep sauce pot to saute the garlic and onion on low heat in olive oil until softened. Add the remainder of the veggies and saute for a few minutes. Add about 1-1.5 cups of water to the pot (just enough to cover the veggies) along with the herbs and bring to a simmer for about 30 minutes or until the veggies are completely softened. Allow to cool. Pour off some of the water if a thicker sauce is desired. Combine all of the of the veggies and seasonings with the lemon juice in a blender and blend until smooth.
- The pasta in the background of the pictures is GF chickpea pasta, and is not AIP or paleo. See suggestions above for more options for what to pair this sauce with.
- All nutrition information is an estimation and will vary.
I’m really wanting to try this ….are your beets cooked( fresh) prior to putting them into pot ? Or canned ?
Fresh 🙂
All of my adult life tomatoes gave me heartburn. This nomato sauce saved me. It’s amazing! It’s now my go-to sauce for everything!
I use half the celery (cooked celery is overpowering to me) and replace it with more beets. And I use balsamic instead of lemon.
Thank you so much for this!
I followed a recommendation from Rachel Bryant at Meatified.com, and made it with canned beets. The beet flavor is less strong that way, and allows the herbs to shine through. I just made this over the weekend and used it in the chicken tortilla soup recipe from this blog. The soup was amazing thanks to this nomato sauce, and I’m excited to be eating the leftovers for lunch at work today.
P.S. I also added 10 kalamata olives.
I used frozen sliced beets last night and it turned out really well
I used canned and it turned out great.
So glad!!
This was my first AIP recipe venture and it was not only delicious and satisfying (and so surprisingly similar to a tomato based marinara), but it gave me confidence that I can navigate this and be successful. My husband and daughter even love it! I added grass-fed ground beef and we’ve had it over zucchini noodles and on cauliflower pizza crust. Going to try Breana’s suggestion of adding kalamata olives to my leftover batch next time.
I am grateful for your blog, Michelle. Thank you!
Thank you SO much, Denise! I’m so happy that you enjoyed it!! 🙂
this smelled amazing while it was cooking, but after blending and tasting the celery taste was a little too strong for me. Next time I would probably do half the celery. I added more seasoning and added 10 kalamata olives and blended again and it helped bring some unami to it. Delicious! Good recipe over all! Thanks!
I made this last night for lasagne, subbing balsamic vinegar for lemons. I did the stovetop method and my blender didn’t exactly hold up to the task; it’s a bit chunky… and SO DELICOUS. I could eat it by the spoonful. Thank you!!
Yay! Glad you liked it, Angelica! I feel like I can eat it like soup sometimes too 🙂
impressed with the tomato-ey flavor. goes great for nomato cabbage roll casserole.
Why does it have to cool before blending? For taste or safety. And I didn’t have oregano (went to the store 3 times and forgot this still, pregnancy brain) so I hope it turns out ok, crossing fingers.
The pressure from the heat can blow the lid off of the blender and make a huge mess and burn you… I’ve done it before and it was not a fun mistake!
I made this sauce tonight, and it is delicious! It tastes just as good as a real tomato sauce to me. Thank you for the recipe, Michelle!
YAY! Thank you so much!! I am so glad you enjoyed <3 thank you for trying and commenting!
I have a abundance of carrots and beets from the garden. Can this recipe be canned? Thanks
I haven’t ever tried canning to be honest! You can freeze for sure 🙂
Hi, about to try this recipe (so excited), I was just wondering if all of the herbs are fresh? You specified fresh basil, but not oregano and parsley, are the other two dried?
I use dried herbs for the oregano and parsley 🙂 Enjoy!
This sounds awesome. If I’m trying to make a low acidic sauce due to acid reflux can I just leave out the lemon juice? Or maybe that wouldn’t matter like real tomato sauce..
If you’re sensitive to it, you can leave it out.
How long does it last in the fridge once made?
I would say about 3-4 days. I like to double it and freeze half 🙂
I’ve not used my Instant Pot, but I’ve made this several times using the “on the stove” method. I like it as a substitute for tomato sauce, but my husband, who usually like beets but doesn’t have to avoid tomatoes like I do, doesn’t care for it. The sauce DOES freeze very well. I add extra olive oil to it because it tends to dry out and burn when put on chicken as a “barbecue” sauce.
Thanks so much Mary!
Can you freeze this?
You can 🙂 I like to double the batch and freeze half in 1 cup portions so I don’t have to make it as often.
OR.. place all ingred except water and lem. Juice in Food processor to chop. Sautee in deep cast iron pan, add water to cover. Cook till tender..cool toss back into blender..with lemon juice. Buddabim.
Can you recommend anything to sub for the carrots? I am allergic.
I haven’t tried any sub for the carrots… sorry!
This a great sub for tomatoes. I have used pimentos to make a nomato sauce. I just add onions and Italian spices, maybe a little brown sugar, then use for compliant pasta, or the occasional pizza. I follow the Eat right for your blood type way of eating. I’m giving this recipe a go for something different.
What can you use instead of carrots, due to carrot allergies?
I don’t know if there’s a good swap for carrots here. Sorry!
try a deep orange squash or pumpkin to replace carrots
Maybe butternut squash???
How long will this sauce last in the freezer
I keep it for about 3 months!
Maybe sweet potatoes or yams?
Thanks for this question, I was going to ask the same thing
Thank you for this practical and very much needed recipe! Do you think the prepared sauce could be frozen?
Thanks so much Marty! It freezes great!! I often freeze it so I can easily have it on hand 🙂