Spyderco Forums

I used to be the kind of guy who just had to cook spaghetti sauce from scratch. I would let it simmer all day and it would be fantastic. However, with a busy life and getting older, I do not have the time, nor the patience to do that anymore. There are some good sauces on the market in jars that are pretty good. All of them need a bit of jazzing up, however. (I have never found a good one in a can)

Some brands are not worth buying because they are chock full of sugar. A little bit can take away bitterness, but some sauces have simply way too much. However, there are brands that have zero sugar, as well. If I cook the meat in a bit of wine, and add some additional spices it turns out really good.

Do you folks cook all day, or use the modern convenience of sauce in a jar?

I've done it both ways, but I'm content with the quality of jarred sauces. I agree canned sauces tend to be bland, and I always check nutrition labels to check for excess sugar. Or to make sure real cream is used for alfredo sauces.

The only thing I usually make from scratch myself besides the usual stuff is bread. I don't live near any good bakeries, and after spending two years rolling baguettes in a bakery it's hard to go back to store stuff. I'll do salsas too since they're so quick and easy. Takes more time to drive to a store than to whip up a batch.

Been using Ragu in a jar for decades. Before that it was Spatini from a packet.

I have been using Classico. It has zero sugar. Prego and other have too much sugar for me, but taste good. I like the tomato and basil variety, but any will do. There are some others that I will buy, also.

I use sauce from a jar as a tomato paste replacement but cook the sauce as if I am doing it from scratch. I grew up in an Italian family that even made their own noodles but I prefer making a very Americanized spaghetti when I do cook sauce now. It's just me eating it now with my son getting some only now and then.

I do miss my grandmothers though. It had beef, pork and chicken and did cook all day with some prep work done the night before. I can never come close to hers.

Joe

One thing I like to use in spaghetti sauce instead of beef is sausage. The kind that is ground like hamburger and good and hot is what I like. However, mixing some Tennessee Pride Hot Sausage into my beef works, too.

Haven't made a real (slow cooked) homemade sauce in years. Either use Ragu or more often, while my 4 oz. of pasta is cooking, chop up and saute a small onion and clove of garlic in a tablespoon of olive oil, then add half a 15 oz. can of fire roasted diced tomatoes, a tablespoon of tomato paste, a couple tablespoons of pasta water, salt, pepper, and Italian seasonings. Then I dump the cooked and drained pasta into it, add some grated parm, and dig in. Whole process takes less than 20 minutes.

The Deacon wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 05, 2018 1:05 pm

Haven't made a real (slow cooked) homemade sauce in years. Either use Ragu or more often, while my 4 oz. of pasta is cooking, chop up and saute a small onion and clove of garlic in a tablespoon of olive oil, then add half a 15 oz. can of fire roasted diced tomatoes, a tablespoon of tomato paste, a couple tablespoons of pasta water, salt, pepper, and Italian seasonings. Then I dump the cooked and drained pasta into it, add some grated parm, and dig in. Whole process takes less than 20 minutes.

Sounds similar to my method of cooking off the onions and garlic in the pot I used for my pasta while it drains, then warming the sauce and dumping in the noodles. I taught myself to minimize my dishes when I was living on my own in my 20's :p

I'm with Doc Dan and typically use Classico as a base and jazz it up with different ingredients that will vary based on my mood or whatever I have in the house. I can't stand an overly sweet sauce and always avoid sauces with sweeteners that are high on the ingredients list.

I've never made my own. Just go through the ingredients and pick the ones that have whole tomatoes as the first ingredient, NOT tomato past/puree. I really like Rao's but it's also $9 a jar. I also add some ground breakfast sausage to my sauce, I like it meaty.

I always make it from scratch. It is time consuming but easy.

I usually check the shelf in the back of the store that sells the dented cans for cheap and buy the canned tomatoes. When Inhave enough I make a huge batch in a 12 quart stock pot and freeze it. I save empty 16oz yogurt containers and use them to freeze the sauce in. I try to keep my chest freezer stocked with a lot of them. We eat a lot of pasta.

I buy a lot of whole chickens and break them down. I freeze the carcasses and make broth from them later and freeze that in 16 oz yogurt containers too. My chest freezer is packed with those containers. There are lots of them with leftover soup in them too.

When I have the time and want something make my ex-wife and daughter smile then I make it from scratch, usually only 2-3 times a year.

For just me, then it's Classico and some extra goodies thrown in along with a 50/50 blend of medium ground beef and Italian spicy sausage browned up nicely and 1 tablespoon of the meat grease added to the sauce.

Add the pasta, or sometimes just a crusty loaf of good garlic bread.... Good Eats.

We have more spaghetti sauces here in Oz than you can poke a stick at and I dare say you'd probably have even more in The States. :rolleyes:

My wife is vegetarian and used to make sauce from scratch but now she buys a jar of sauce as the foundation and adds all sorts of veggies, mushrooms etc and that's what we have. I don't cook and have no idea which type she uses but it ends up pretty good. :)

You can add firm tofu into the sauce for a bit more protein. It absorbs all of the flavors of the sauce. I cook it in with my meat, sometimes. However, you can just cook it in olive oil then add it to the sauce instead of meat.

If I am unable to make a sauce from scratch I will try to go for the jar variety that had the least sugar and added preservatives.

You can also go "half way" and get a can of crushed tomatoes and then add spices and ingredients to make it more complete.

Doc: I really like your idea of the chopped sausage in the sauce instead of ground beef.

Bloke wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 05, 2018 9:34 pm

We have more spaghetti sauces here in Oz than you can poke a stick at and I dare say you'd probably have even more in The States. :rolleyes:

My wife is vegetarian and used to make sauce from scratch but now she buys a jar of sauce as the foundation and adds all sorts of veggies, mushrooms etc and that's what we have. I don't cook and have no idea which type she uses but it ends up pretty good. :)

This sounds great. Tell me more. Do the Aussies and Kiwis grow alot of their own tomatoes or import them from other nations?

Also, do you think a kangaroo would eat a bowl of spagetti with sauce if someone offered it to them?

SpyderEdgeForever wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 06, 2018 6:06 am

This sounds great. Tell me more. Do the Aussies and Kiwis grow alot of their own tomatoes or import them from other nations?

Also, do you think a kangaroo would eat a bowl of spagetti with sauce if someone offered it to them?

With regards to tomatoes SEF, I couldn’t say for certain but most likely us Aussies grow our own. :)

The Kiwi’s don’t grow too much at all. They’re all over here in Oz stealing our tomatoes and interfering with our sheep. :eek:

Kangaroos are fussy buggers and would turn there nose up at a bowl of plain old spaghetti with sauce. They’d want crispy garlic bread and a bottle of Pinot Grigio at very least to accompany it and even then it would be touch and go if they weren’t happy with the table service. :rolleyes:

Bloke wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 07, 2018 12:53 am

SpyderEdgeForever wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 06, 2018 6:06 am

This sounds great. Tell me more. Do the Aussies and Kiwis grow alot of their own tomatoes or import them from other nations?

Also, do you think a kangaroo would eat a bowl of spagetti with sauce if someone offered it to them?

With regards to tomatoes SEF, I couldn’t say for certain but most likely us Aussies grow our own. :)

The Kiwi’s don’t grow too much at all. They’re all over here in Oz stealing our tomatoes and interfering with our sheep. :eek:

Kangaroos are fussy buggers and would turn there nose up at a bowl of plain old spaghetti with sauce. They’d want crispy garlic bread and a bottle of Pinot Grigio at very least to accompany it and even then it would be touch and go if they weren’t happy with the table service. :rolleyes:

I want drunk kangaroos... so long as they don't get mean when they drink.

Doc Dan wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 07, 2018 7:44 am

Ah, hahaha, ah, hahaha, ah, hahaha! :)

Too funny Doc! :cool: