Garden Veggie Homemade Marinara Sauce [+Video]

Looking for a healthy and delicious pasta sauce recipe? This garden veggie homemade marinara sauce is packed with flavorful vegetables and can be made in under 30 minutes. Watch the video tutorial and try it out tonight!

Every kid loves pizza, many love spaghetti so a marinara sauce is a great way to get your children to enjoy more veggies. Try vegetarian marinara sauce!

I’ve never been a big fan of sneaking veggies into food as I’d rather my kids learn to love vegetables, but I see nothing wrong with packing something full of them in an easy to eat way like vegetarian spaghetti sauce.

What is Sautéing?

The word sauté (pronounced “saw-TAY”) refers to a form of dry-heat cooking that uses a hot pan and a small amount of fat to cook the food.

Why Sauté?

There’s only one step that I insist on for this entire recipe, please make sure you take a moment to sauté the vegetables before making the sauce. Think of it like corn or grilled corn. Isn’t grilled corn so much more delicious? Same thing with sautéing vegetables for a dish, the heat breaks them down and really brings out the flavor.

I mean, it’s like eating raw carrots with your roast at Sunday dinner or nice and caramelized carrots from baking in the pan with that beefy babe.

I think that’s one of my favorite tips about cooking. To some it may seem obvious but to a large portion of the public something like sautéing everything versus just throwing it all in a pot to simmer may not be.

Ingredients for Vegetable Marinara Sauce

This sauce really doesn’t need much fuss either. A bunch of veggies, a little cheese and a dollop of butter and you’re good to go. The secret is a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. I don’t know why it works but it does. I’ll wait for America’s Test Kitchen to figure that one out. Here is the ingredients list:

• Olive Oil
• Herbs and Seasonings: Crushed Red Pepper Flakes, Kosher Salt, Fresh Basil Leaves, Dried Oregano and Black Pepper
• Vegetables: Garlic, Zucchini, Carrot, Baby Bella Mushrooms, Red Bell Pepper, Yellow Bell Pepper, Orange Bell Pepper and Crushed Tomatoes
• Tomato Sauce
• Brown Sugar
• Butter
• Parmesan Cheese
• Balsamic Vinegar

The measurements and details for each ingredient can be found in the recipe card at the end of the post.

How to Make Homemade Marinara Sauce

Honestly, the most time consuming part of this chopping all the veggies before sautéing them. After that, it’s a total breeze! Here are all the steps:

1. Sauté: Place a dutch oven on the stove top over medium heat and add the olive. Let it heat up until it’s shimmering. Then add the garlic and crush red pepper. Stir for about a mi

6 Ingredient Crockpot Chicken and Rice

This easy and delicious crockpot chicken and rice recipe is the perfect comfort food for a busy weeknight. Just set it and forget it for a warm and satisfying meal.

Throw everything in the crock pot and in a few hours you have a delicious, creamy tender chicken dish that can be served over rice, noodles, or potatoes!

Yup, this Crockpot Chicken and rice is the old classic you grew up eating. We will post the originally recipe of shredded chicken with a soup and cream cheese mixture and add the adaptations that we make.

This Crock Pot Chicken recipe is such a reader favorite that we are often looking to share new chicken recipes you can make in a crockpot. Sadly we sometimes forget about the old recipes so it was time to bring back the classic.

Ingredients for Slow Cooker Chicken and Rice

My favorite thing about this recipe, except for dang good it tastes, is that it uses just 5 simple ingredients that I usually already have on hand. Check this list to see if you already have everything in house:

• Cream of Chicken Soup: You can use store bought or you can make your own. See section below for making it from scratch.
• Butter: I like to use unsalted butter so that I can better control the saltiness of the dish.
• Italian Dressing Seasoning Dry Mix: You can find this by the salad dressings by the other dressing packets.
• Chicken Breasts: Boneless skinless chicken breasts are what you are after. You can even throw them in frozen and it will work great.
• Cream Cheese: Full fat cream cheese provides the best flavor, but the less fat version works fine too. Avoid the fat free.
• Rice: You can make white rice, brown rice, pasta or mashed potatoes to serve with this creamy chicken.

The measurements for each ingredient is listed in the recipe card at the end of the post so keep scrolling for all the details.

How to Make Crockpot Chicken and Rice

If you’re looking for the easiest dinner recipe ever, then you have come to the right spot. It is everything a crockpot recipe should be. The prep time is literally 2 minutes. Then start the slow cooker and walk away. Here are the steps:

1. Mix: Add cream of chicken, butter and Italian seasoning to the crockpot and mix together then place chicken breasts in the crockpot.
   • PRO TIP: Spray the inside of your crockpot with cooking spray before adding any ingredients too it and you’ll be happy when it comes to clean up time.
2. Cook: Set the slow cooker to cook on low for 5-6 hours or high for 3-3 ½ hours.
3. Shred: Use two forks to shred the chicken then add the cream cheese.
4. Stir: Stir everything together until smooth. If it seems really thick, add a little milk or chicken broth

Air Fryer Crispy Smashed Broccoli

Discover a simple and tasty way to cook broccoli using an air fryer. This recipe is perfect for busy individuals looking for a healthy and quick vegetable side dish. Those crispy edges are everything!

I have been on an air fryer recipes kick lately and one night I wanted to try something different with our veggies. So instead of roasting our broccoli, I tried cooking it in the air fryer. I loved that I got similar results to roasting it but in a fraction of the time. You can make this recipe from start to finish in less than 15 minutes!

Ingredients for Broccoli in the Air Fryer

First we will air fry the broccoli with a little oil and salt, and we will toss it in a delicious maple garlic sauce. Here are the items you will need to make this recipe:

• Broccoli Florets: cut into similar bite-sized pieces
• Olive Oil: helps the broccoli get crispy around the edges
• Salt: adds flavor
• Garlic: adds flavor
• Maple Syrup: adds a subtle natural sweetness
• Sesame Oil: adds flavor to the sauce we toss the roasted broccoli in at the end

The measurements for everything can be found in the recipe card down below.

Can I Use Frozen Broccoli?

Yes, frozen broccoli works great for this recipe. I would steam it until just heated through and then smash it as written in the instruction. Then proceed with the recipe as written to air fry it.

How to Make Air Fryer Broccoli

Here are the step-by-step directions for making this air fryer vegetable recipe:

1. Steam: We are going to parboil the broccoli first to get it nice and tender before sticking it in the air fryer. Place the broccoli in a steamer basket in a large sauce pan with boiling water. Cover the pan and let it steam until tender.
2. Flatten: Spread the steamed broccoli into a single layer on a cutting board or right in the air fryer basket and smash each one with the bottom of a sturdy drinking glass until it’s about 1/2 inch thick.
3. Toss: Put the smashed broccoli into a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil and salt and then toss to coat. Return them to the air fryer basket or baking sheets in a single layer (you may need to cook them in batches depending on the size of your air fryer) and cook at 400 degrees F for 8 minutes. You’ll want the edges to just start to get charred.
4. Stir: In a small bowl, stir together the garlic, maple syrup and sesame oil and then drizzle it over the broccoli and toss to coat.
5. Serve: Serve immediately while it’s crispy and hot!

The instructions can also be found in the recipe card down below so keep scrolling for the complete recipe.

Watch This Video to See How It’s Done…

Welcome to the weekend, my friends! We woke up in a winter wonderland yesterday and (YAY!) it snowed again last night. I’m loving my view as I sip my coffee and write the newsletter this morning. Our forecast is chilly with a few snowy days scattered throughout January, so I’m grinning happily as I look at the calendar today. 

Over the past six years since we moved to Ohio, we haven’t seen nearly the amount of snow that I anticipated, so this is a fun gift. I plan to bundle up and enjoy a snowy walk later today.

ON OUR MENU THIS WEEK: Classic Pork Carnitas. This is a meal universally loved by pretty much everyone I know, so I’m making a huge batch today to share with friends. We’ll serve the carnitas as street tacos and likely use whatever meat is leftover in a breakfast skillet in a day or two. 

I’ll be making my Grandma’s German Pancakes with Orange Sauce for brunch after church tomorrow. We have a bowl of oranges on the counter and after I use a few for the carnitas, the rest will be perfect for a batch of orange sauce.

As it often is, Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese are back on the menu. This is a much-loved lunch or dinner for the whole family when the weather gets chilly. 

All the ingredients we love in classic Chinese egg rolls come together in this Egg Roll Stir Fry recipe. Once you’ve served up these irresistible bowls of deconstructed egg rolls, your family is likely to ask for this meal again and again.

These Sweet and Sour Meatballs with bell pepper and pineapple are one of the easiest crockpot meals to make. I serve this over steamed rice and it is a dinner that my boys devour every time.

I have a ham shank tucked into the back of the freezer and it’s destined for the crockpot this week. Tender chunks of ham meld with earthy green beans and hearty potatoes in this super simple Crockpot Ham, Green Beans, and Potatoes recipe.

Crunchy toasted Brioche topped with jam and almonds creates an irresistible pastry called Bostock. As simple as it sounds (and is to make) once you’ve tasted it, I’m willing to bet that you’ll be telling everyone about it.

What I’m CRAVING: The weather outside may be cold and snowy, but I start craving ALLL the vegetables and Read more

Favorite Easy Vegetable Stir Fry

Craving a tasty and healthy meal but don’t have a lot of time? Look no further! Learn how to whip up a delicious vegetable stir fry in under 30 minutes with this easy and flavorful recipe.

I lived on stir fry in college.

Didn’t we all?

And actually, why was that? To be honest, we didn’t eat a lot of stir fry growing up and I have never lived or experienced anything to do with Asia outside of a restaurant here and there, and even then, it wasn’t even stir fry I ordered!

With our oldest off to college for her very first semester I’ve found myself reflecting on my young adult years a lot and at times even being a little envious of the time of life she is stepping into. It’s the best, hardest, strangest few years and I wouldn’t trade them or my stir fry for anything.

Now that I’m a little more grown up I’ve taken the veggies and sauce, and even a side of my FAMOUS Teriyaki Chicken Quesadilla (also a college must have) and raised the bar a little. It’s still easy, still quick, but now it’s even more flavorful!

What is Stir Fry?

Stir fry is a Chinese cooking technique where you stir-fry small bites of meat and/or vegetables in a wok or skillet over high heat with a little bit of oil. It usually include a light sauce of some kind for added flavor.

What Do You Need for Vegetable Stir Fry?

Grab your grocery cart and head to the produce section for this recipe! We are grabbing almost one of every vegetable there (ok, not really, but I love veggies so the more the merrier!). Here is what you will need:

• Peanut Oil: vegetable oil is a great alternative
• Vegetables: Red Bell Pepper, Yellow Bell Pepper, Sugar Snap Peas, Carrots, Zucchini, Mushrooms, Broccoli and Baby Corn
• Sauce: Low Sodium Soy Sauce, Garlic, Fresh Ginger (1/2 teaspoon ground), Brown Sugar, Toasted Sesame Oil, Chicken Broth and Cornabys EZ Gel (see notes for cornstarch)
• Garnishes: Green Onions and Sesame Seeds

The measurements for each ingredient can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post.

Steps for Making Stir Fry Vegetables

Stir fry is one of those meals that I fall back on when I need to get dinner on the table in a hurry. It takes less than 30 minutes to get this veggie-packed recipe on the table. Here are the basic steps:

1. Sauté: Start by heating oil in a cast iron skillet (or wok) and then add all the vegetables that need a little longer to cook. Sauté the vegetables until they start browning.
2. Add: Toss in the remaining vegetables and sauté a little longer until everything is tender.
3. Sauce: Whisk all of the ingredients for the stir fry sauce together in a small bowl then pour it over the vegetables. Let the vegetables simmer until the sauce thickens.
4. Garni