The Easiest Way to Make a Jar of Pasta Sauce Taste Homemade (2024)

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The Easiest Way to Make a Jar of Pasta Sauce Taste Homemade? ›

Stir in some freshness.

A generous sprig or two of fresh herbs like basil, parsley, rosemary, or sage can all amp up the flavor of a jarred pasta sauce. Alternatively, some of those herbs, like parsley, sage, and rosemary, can be great minced up and gently fried into fresh olive oil before adding the sauce to the pot.

Simmering the pasta sauce allows the flavors to develop and become more robust. Ideally, you should simmer the sauce for at least 15-20 minutes. However, if you have more time, you can let it simmer for up to an hour for even deeper flavors.

Add butter

Yes, that's right. Toss in a few tablespoons of butter, and let it melt into the sauce. If you've never tried it before, it might seem strange, but a little butter makes tomato sauce rich and smooth, and also balances out too much acidity, which is common in jarred sauces.

To make your sauce rich and luxurious, finish it with a pat of butter, a splash of cream or coconut cream, or a spoonful of yogurt, crème fraîche, or sour cream. 13. Swirl in some high-quality olive oil Adding a glug to the sauce just before serving gives it a similar richness and shine to butter without adding dairy.

Freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano

Parmigiano Reggiano, the name-protected Italian cheese, is a surefire way to add a umami and depth of flavor to a jarred Alfredo sauce. Freshly grate a few inches of the cheese, then whisk it right into the sauce as it's warming on the stove.

Do Italians put sugar in spaghetti sauce? ›

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.

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.

Starting with good quality tomatoes and crushing them by hand offers great flavor and texture later on. The combination of butter and oil releases fat-soluble aromatics and gives the sauce a creamy texture. Slowly cooking the sauce in the oven creates rich caramelization without burning.

Add fresh herbs (basil, oregano, rosemary, bay leaf), and let them simmer to give a punch of fresh flavor.

With simmering, the result is more subtle with a slight thickening developed over a longer period of cooking time. The longer cooking time gives the flavors in each component of your dish more time to mix, which is why sauces simmered for hours are always more flavorful.

Once the sauce has reached a simmer, turn the heat down to low and continue cooking slowly. This allows the flavours to blend together and the sauce to become thicker and tastier. A really simple - but effective - trick is to always keep the lid on, so as to preserve the aroma.

Red pepper flakes, dehydrated or fresh garlic, dried oregano, parsley, or basil, or an Italian seasoning blend are all good options. Dried herbs and spices should be added at the beginning of the cook time so that they have time to bloom.

HOW TO TAME OVERLY ACIDIC TOMATO SAUCE WITH SUGAR. For every 3 cups of tomato sauce, add ¼ teaspoon of sugar at a time until the desired flavor is reached.

When I'm making spaghetti from scratch, I start small with ¼ teaspoon and adjust as needed. The key is to give the sauce's components time to come together, just the same as you would if you were adding salt.