8 Ways to Elevate Canned Spaghetti Sauce (2024)

FAQs

What can I add to canned spaghetti sauce to make it better? ›

Spice It Up

Adding fresh herbs to your canned pasta sauce makes it taste like it came straight from the garden. While the pre-made sauce may already include some herbs, adding your own will help enhance those flavors. Tossing in strips of basil, a sprig of thyme or some oregano can take your sauce to the next level.

Use wine.

Red wine gives the sauce added richness and robustness, while white wine imparts a fruity flavor. Incorporate the wine early in the cooking process, just after the vegetables have softened. Then, let the wine cook down and reduce almost all the way.

Fresh or dried herbs will also add flavor to pasta dishes.

"I use a lot of parsley, either fresh or even dried," Montillo said. "Oregano, garlic powder, onion flakes, black pepper all work well in a variety of sauces."

Flavor It

Even better, season it! Taste the sauce once it's warm and add some seasoning. Maybe it needs a touch of salt, red pepper flakes, or some fresh garlic to liven it up. You could add dried or fresh herbs too: oregano, basil, thyme, tarragon, parsley—they're all great!

It may sound a little unusual to add cream cheese to a pasta recipe, but it adds a tangy note and rich creaminess to the sauce. You can also add extra seasonings and other ingredients to the base recipe to fit your personal taste.

Cornstarch: Make a slurry of half water, half cornstarch and whisk until smooth. Cornstarch is a powerful thickener, so start by whisking in no more than 1 tablespoon of the mixture per 2 cups of simmering sauce; stir and simmer for 2 minutes, check the thickness, and repeat with more slurry as needed.

Whole Milk or Heavy Cream: Add a splash and let the sauce simmer for a few minutes to thicken. Hard Cheeses: A half cup of grated parmesan, pecorino, or other hard cheese adds a deep savory note to the sauce. Fresh Cheese: Try adding a scoop of ricotta, mascarpone, crème fraîche or even simple cream cheese!

Once the pasta is in the sauce, add pasta water. This is the most vital step in the process. Starchy pasta water doesn't just help thin the sauce to the right consistency; it also helps it cling to the pasta better and emulsify with the fat and cheese you're going to be adding.

It is widely held that Italian immigrants began adding sugar to their sauce to make up for the overly acidic tomatoes they were forced to work with in their new home. But the history of sugar in pasta sauce actually goes back to Italy itself.

What does putting milk in spaghetti sauce do? ›

It sounds unconventional to use milk in a meaty red sauce, but upon further investigation, it makes total sense why Italians swear by it. According to our Food Director Amira, not only does milk add a rich flavour to the bolognese, but it also “helps cut through the acidity of the tomatoes and red wine”.

Whether you can pronounce it or not, Worcestershire sauce is an easy, effective way to load up spaghetti sauce with umami flavor. It is salty, tangy, and has lots of potent vinegar, all of which cut through tomatoes to create a soothing, savory flavor.

Herbs such as parsley, oregano, onion powder, garlic powder, fennel, black pepper, basil, celery seeds. Either fresh or dried will work. Fresh has more powerful flavor. I also like to use extra tomatoes, onions, peppers if I need to use them up.

Stir in some freshness.

Fresh herbs make all the difference in any pasta sauce, so if you have some lying around, they will really perk up a jarred sauce. Obviously, basil is classic, but thyme, rosemary, sage, marjoram, and oregano are all great in pasta sauce. Fresh parsley also makes anything sing, as do chives.

Testing has shown that some current tomato varieties have pH values at or above pH 4.6; a few have values of pH 5 or even higher. Adding the recommended amount of bottled lemon juice or citric acid lowers the pH of all tested varieties enough to allow for the safe process of water bath canning.

Cornstarch: Make a slurry of half water, half cornstarch and whisk until smooth. Cornstarch is a powerful thickener, so start by whisking in no more than 1 tablespoon of the mixture per 2 cups of simmering sauce; stir and simmer for 2 minutes, check the thickness, and repeat with more slurry as needed.

The purpose of adding a pinch of sugar to tomato sauce is to balance the acidity of the tomatoes (per The Guardian). Every good cook knows to taste the sauce before adding any potentially unnecessary ingredients, and sugar is no exception.