• Home
  • Recipes
    • Recipe Index
    • VIDEO SERIES: Learn to Cook on a Budget
    • How-To & Cooking Tutorials
    • Popular Recipes
  • Meal Plans
    • Weekly Meal Plans
    • Freezer Meal Plans
    • The ORIGINAL 20 Meals for $150 Plans
  • Classes
    • Grocery Savings 101 Workshop
    • Freezer Cooking 101 Workshop
    • Meal Planning 101 Workshop
    • Instant Pot Cooking 101 Course
    • My Efficient Kitchen Course
  • Store
    • COOKBOOK: Feeding Teenage Boys on a Budget
    • COOKBOOK: Learn to Cook on a Budget
    • COOKBOOKS & PREP KITS: MyFreezEasy Freezer Meals
    • Whis-Kid Cooking Lessons
    • Erin’s Favorite Gadgets
  • Blog
  • Contact
    • About
    • Press
  • Login

$5 Dinners | Budget Recipes, Meal Plans, Freezer Meals

Budget Recipes, Meal Plans, Freezer Meals and Cooking Tutorials for the Busy Home Chef

Save on Groceries in 2025

Eggplant Marinara Sauce

March 5, 2012 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom 10 Comments

94 shares
  • Share5
  • Tweet
Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

Sign up to receive FREE weekly emails with recipes, coupons and other money saving tips right into your inbox. Become a friend on Facebook too AND/OR join the $5 Meal Plan Family and get meal plans delivered to you each week!

eggplant marinara

I was cruising through the produce department recently and saw that eggplant was priced as “per eggplant,” not per pound. So of course, I looked for the largest one so I could make lots of sauce!

Don’t forget to get the largest one when you see “per unit” prices in the produce department!

So here’s how this goes down…

Dice. Salt. Let sit in colander in the sink.

For at least 30 minutes.

This draws out the bitter juices and will make your sauce much tastier!

Rinse.

Cold water.

Saute.

With seasonings.

Deglaze.

Add crushed tomatoes.

Simmer.

Serve over pasta!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Recipe Recipe Saved!

Eggplant Marinara Sauce

The perfect recipe for when you find eggplants on sale!!
Prep Time30 minutes minutes
Cook Time15 minutes minutes
Servings - 4 servings

Ingredients 

  • 1 large eggplant, diced
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp Italian seasoning
  • 1 tsp minced onion
  • 1 tsp minced garlic
  • 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
  • Salt and pepper
  • Spaghetti or other pasta
  • Side of veggies and/or bread

Instructions

  • Put the diced eggplant into a colander in the kitchen sink and sprinkle salt over liberally. Let sit for 30 minutes. Then rinse with cold water.
  • In large skillet, add the olive oil and saute the rinsed eggplant with the Italian seasoning, onion and garlic for 5 to 7 minutes. Deglaze the skillet with 1/4 cup of water, then stir in the crushed tomatoes.
  • Cook noodles and veggies/bread as directed.
  • Serve Eggplant Marinara over pasta with side of veggies/bread.

eggplant marinara sauce

94 shares
  • Share5
  • Tweet

Filed Under: Budget Friendly Recipes, Freezer Recipes and Freezer Meal Plans, Pasta Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes

These meals are a LIFESAVER!

Want a set of our best selling freezer meal bag holders?! You can now order them right here!

Comments

  1. Liz@PocketChangeGourmet says

    March 5, 2012 at 6:43 pm

    Thanks for hosting Erin!
    ~Liz

    Reply
  2. Justafrugalfoodie says

    March 5, 2012 at 6:56 pm

    Amazing looking marinara!

    Reply
  3. phaedra says

    March 5, 2012 at 8:40 pm

    I prefer the smaller Indian eggplants that I can get for about $1.38 a pound…you get quite a few for a pond and don’t have to salt…I roast with garlic, tomatoes and olive oil and serve with pasta.

    Reply
  4. Ellen says

    March 5, 2012 at 8:48 pm

    That looks worth a try! I usually make eggplant Parmesan when I get eggplant so it would be fun to try something new. I learned you could bread and fry (or bake if you’d rather) the sliced eggplant, then freeze for later. Makes quick work of eggplant Parmesan down the road, especially as I typically make lots of sauce and freeze for later too.

    Reply
  5. Susan says

    March 5, 2012 at 9:25 pm

    I am sorry to ask this but I don’t cook very much and now that I am living in Ecuador I find myself learning to cook from scratch, what does it mean to deglaze?
    Thanks, Susan

    Reply
  6. Christine says

    March 6, 2012 at 11:53 am

    Can you freeze the sauce after you make it?

    Reply
  7. Lacy says

    March 6, 2012 at 7:08 pm

    I have made a wonderful eggplant bolognese recipe from Mark Bittman that is similar to this. I omitted the meat from his recipe and it was fantastic. LOVE eggplant!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Meatball Stroganoff says:
    March 5, 2012 at 6:45 pm

    […] to…$5 Dinner Challenge Tweet function […]

    Reply
  2. Homemade Pizza Rolls and Weekly Menu Plan says:
    March 5, 2012 at 8:13 pm

    […] Linking to…Menu Plan Monday, $5 Dinner Challenge […]

    Reply
  3. Strawberry Jam Dressing | Modern Gal says:
    March 6, 2012 at 8:28 am

    […] at $5 Dinners and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday // March 6th, 2012 in Food, […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Search $5 Dinners

Favorite Meal Planning & Cooking Resources

Whis-Kid Cooking Lessons Grocery Budget Makeover My Freezeasy Erin Chase Store 5DD Freebie Library 20 Meals for $150 Plans

© 2025 5 Dollar Dinners | Disclosure Policy | Copyright Information | Terms of Service/Privacy Policy | Accessibility | Design & Tech Support by Klong Designs



Copyright © 2025 · 5 Dollar Dinners Genesis Child Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in