Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
Silky Roasted Roasted Red Pepper Marinara, a robust and flavorful sauce that features the smoky sweetness of roasted red peppers with aromatic garlic, onions and herbs! Perfect for pasta, pizza, or as a dipping sauce!

Why We Love This Roasted Red Pepper Sauce for Pasta
Sick of plain old spaghetti with marinara for dinner? I’ve got a solution!
Roasted Red Pepper Marinara. That is, marinara made with red bell peppers instead of tomatoes.
Roasted Red Pepper Marinara is bright, tangy, and slightly sweeter than classic tomato marinara, with a rich elegant essence.
Its silky texture coats pasta beautifully, and makes a marvelous dip for mozzarella sticks and calzones. In fact, there are instances I like it better than tomato marinara, God forbid.
Spread it over crusts for a unique pizza topping, or slather it over a meatball sandwich!
Our Roasted Red Pepper Marinara recipe is healthy, veggie-packed and can easily be made vegan by substituting oil for butter. It’s also gluten free!
Ingredients You Need
- Red Bell Peppers – fresh and sliced
- Garlic – for a depth of flavor. Use garlic with the skins on, since you are roasting it first!
- Butter – butter adds a silky smooth flavor, but you can use olive oil too!
- Red Onion – or any onion you have on hand
- Carrot – one large carrot or a few small ones
- Italian Seasoning – to season this sauce up to perfection
- Salt & Pepper – to taste
How to Make Roasted Red Pepper Marinara
Cut red bell peppers into strips and lay them out on a baking sheet. Broil in the oven until the skins turn black. Then place the peppers in a sealed bag to steam and loosen the skins.
Meanwhile sautรฉ shredded onions and carrots until very soft.
Once the black waxy skins are loose, peel them off and place the roasted peppers in a blender or food processor.
Blend the roasted red peppers and garlic until very it is a smooth and creamy texture. Pour the puree into the sautรฉed veggies and simmer to thicken.
Season with herbs, salt, and pepper. Done!
Serving Suggestions
Give Roasted Red Pepper Marinara a try with traditional or gluten free pasta to serve as a filling pasta dish! Serve with your favorite proteins like grilled chicken or shrimp! Don’t forget to serve it with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese, too.
As a side dish, I recommend serving garlic bread or a simple salad like a kale caesar salad!
You can also keep this roasted red pepper pasta sauce on hand as a pizza sauce or dip! It would be amazing paired with some mozzarella sticks.
Tips & Tricks
- For some added creaminess, add a dash of heavy cream at the end! This will lighten the color and balance the bold flavors.
- For a bit of spice, add a pinch of red pepper flakes to the mix!
- As with any pasta dish, this red pepper sauce goes well with a garnish of fresh basil and parmesan cheese on top.
- Add more veggies! This is already a veggie-packed recipe, but even more vegetables would go well here. Try adding mushrooms, zucchini or eggplant!
Frequently Asked Questions
Roasted red pepper marinara is a pasta sauce that is made with roasted red peppers instead of tomatoes! It is a great substitute for when you want something different than a typical tomato-based pasta sauce.
Store any leftover sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days! Or, you can freeze this sauce in a freezer safe container for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before using.
Looking for More Pasta Recipes? Be Sure to Also Try:
- Classic Marinara
- Roasted Red Pepper Pesto Pasta
- Chicken Pesto Pasta
- Baked Spaghetti Pie
- Creamy Pesto Sauce
Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
Ingredients
- 10 red bell peppers
- 6 cloves garlic, in skins
- 5 tablespoons butter (olive oil for vegan)
- 1 large red onion, peeled
- 1 large carrot
- 1 tablespoon dried Italian Seasoning
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to broil. Cut the bell peppers into 3-4 sections each, removing the stem and seeds. Lay them out on a large baking sheet, waxy-side-up. Place on the upper rack and broil until the skins are mostly black. Then add the garlic cloves to the baking sheet and broil another 1-2 minutes.
- Use tongs to move the blackened peppers to a large paper grocery bag, or a large plastic zip bag. Seal the bag tightly and let the peppers steam for 15 minutes to loosen the black skin.
- Meanwhile, shred the onion and carrot on a grater. Add the butter, onions, and carrots to a large deep skillet or sauce pot. Set over medium-low heat and sautรฉ the veggies until they are very soft.
- Once the roasted red peppers have steamed, pull the black waxy skin off each piece and discard. Peel the garlic cloves. Place the soft roasted peppers and garlic cloves in the blender. Puree until smooth.
- Pour the pureed peppers into the skillet, and add the Italian seasoning, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper. Simmer for at least 10 minutes before serving.
Have you tried using jarred roasted red peppers for this sauce? Iโm thinking for when fresh peppers are out of season. What about making a large batch to can or freeze?
I just made this with jarred bells and it turned out perfect. ย I added a few dashes of balsamic vinegar to give it some verve. ย I make red bell pepper sauce a lot and freeze it in batches with no issues. ย
Just made this, it’s delicious! I was looking for a “marinara” sauce with no tomatoes that would work with a kidney-friendly diet, and this is perfect. I even cut down the salt (for the same reason) and it’s still great. How long will it stay good in the fridge? Thanks!
I made every recipe you posted last week and this week, and this is my favorite. Although I’m crazy over regular marinara, this puts it to shame. Thanks for giving me my new go to pasta sauce.
its looking so yummy. Thanks for sharing its recipe.