Substitute spaghetti sauce for tomato sauce?

[Chickysmom]

Can I, and how would I, substitue pre-made spaghetti sauce for tomato sauce in a chli recipe? After looking through my pantry I see I have tons of spaghetti sauce but am out of tomato sauce and would like to use some in my next batch of crockpot chili.....any suggestions?

 

[goodeats]

Spaghetti sauce is going to have italian seasonings in it (basil, oregano, etc). I don't think it would taste bad in chili, but give it a different flavor than plain tomato sauce. I believe spaghetti sauce is thicker than tomato sauce (depending on the brand), so I would maybe water down the spaghetti sauce a little big before using it in chili.

 

[TnTWalter]

if you have that. I have done it before with no problems as I always use garlic anway and sometimes oregano too. The only thing is if it's more of a sweet sauce [extra basil, etc.], just be sure to counter balance with pepper & salt and your other typical chili spices.

Enjoy.

Trish

 

[Chickysmom]

YAY!! Thanks for the advice! Looks like a big pot of chili is in the workd for next week and then into the freezer stock pile! AND I won't have to buy anything extra and will get to use up some of the spaghetti sauce I have on hand....apparently I have issues/fears of running low on that stuff and I have a ton! LOL

 

[pospisil]

That's so funny you asked this! My brother was just telling me this afternoon that he had used spaghetti sauce in his chili instead of tomato sauce the other day. He's one of those throw-a-bunch-of-stuff-in-the-crock-pot-and-see-how-it-tastes kind of cooks, so I don't know the specifics of what he did, but he said it was thicker than normal, and had a really good flavor to it.

Good luck!

 

[pearlieq]

I would just throw it right in there. I guess you could water it down if you think it's too thick, but in general the same spices that are in spaghetti sauce (garlic, oregano, etc.) are also in chili. I don't think anyone would really notice.

 

[calie_j]

I use spaghetti sauce for chili all the time. It tastes great to me but then I've never made it with tomato sauce so it might seem strange to you.

 

[swilshire]

I don't think you can really go wrong with chili. DH makes a great pot of chili, but it turns out different every time. He walks into the pantry and grabs anything that looks like it would fit.

I try to tell him when I particularly like a version, hoping he will duplicate it the next time. It never happens.

Sheila

 

[powellrj]

I can usually find spaghetti sauce on sale and I usually stock up. Because of this, I use spaghetti sauce in lots of my recipes. I make beef stew, vegetable soup, chili, goulash all using spaghetti sauce instead of tomato.