What type of Spaghetti sauce do you use, jarred or homemade?

[SpecialK]

I make my own because my husband can't handle a lot of acid so a thinner sauce is better for him. Turned out we all preferred it so I stopped buying jarred.

 

[PeterPanic]

One of the best bottled sauces that I ever had was made by Healthy Choice. For some reason they discontinued that line, it was a shame, it had the flavor that was most like the homemade that I once toiled over.

 

[pooh4evr]

I wish I knew how to make my own sauce! I would love to be able to!

 

[MrsDuck]

My mom makes wonderful sauce. We usually just buy the jars that are on sale...

 

[disykat]

Opening cans of tomatoes and paste to make sauce just doesn't feel that different to me than opening a jar of sauce.

If I have tomatoes, I make my own sauce. Otherwise I usually use a jar of Newman's Own.

 

[luvmy3jewels]

For those of you who make homemade can you please share a recipe with measurements?

I almost always make my sauce homemade on the weekends and then freeze for an easy week night meal. I'm going to attempt to post my recipe as close as I can (I usually eyeball everything;-) I am not of italian descent and make no claims that my recipe is "authentic italian." I just know it tastes good to me.

Brown 2lbs hamburger, then add 1 medium chopped yellow onion and a few (3-5) cloves of fresh chopped garlic. When the onion looks like it is cooked until almost soft I add 3-4 regular sized cans of diced tomatoes, 1 can of tomato paste, and 2-3 regular sized cans of tomato sauce. (You can adjust the sauce vs. diced tomatos to get the consistency you want. If I am using the sauce to make lasagna I like it to be thicker and heavier on the diced tomato side). I then add (approximately) 1 tsp oregano, 1 TBSP of both basil and parsley, salt and pepper, a dash of dried red pepper, 1tsp of sugar, and 1 bay leaf. I also sometimes add 1/2 cup of red wine, but that's just so I have an excuse to crack open a bottle while I am cooking. Simmer for several hours...the longer it cooks the better it tastes.

 

[kimmyann]

Usually I make my own mainly because we like it better (esp my DH). I just use stewed tomatoes (throw them in the blender), tomato paste & season it & put it in the crock pot all day. Yummy.

 

[ReneeA]

Opening cans of tomatoes and paste to make sauce just doesn't feel that different to me than opening a jar of sauce.

If I have tomatoes, I make my own sauce. Otherwise I usually use a jar of Newman's Own.

This. I make my own if I have tomatoes from my mom's garden. She does lots of canning in the early fall, so I can usually get my paws on some. If I have to buy stewed tomatoes from a can, I'll skip it and just pick up some jarred sauce.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I get ground Italian sausage from the butcher, brown it, and add it to plain Ragu from the jar. I really like it like that. DW makes sauce from scratch that is pretty good. I don't care for the other jarred sauces she buys - too sweet. I really don't care what they're made from, just don't like the taste.

 

[Mandychelle79]

I use hunts out of a can or classico for when we have pasta. If we are making meatball subs- i just pick up whatever is the cheapest.

If I want a THIN sauce, I will make my own with crushed tomatoes, tomato juice and seasoning. But I dont have time to make my own much. The days off I have are prebooked.

 

[klacey1]

Growing up, my father (who was SUPER Irish) would get expensive jarred sauce and add parmesan cheese and spices to add flavor. I always thought it was delicious-- mostly Rao's in my later years in the house. The rare times I had pasta with red sauce in college, I used Classico.
However, when I moved in with my boyfriend, that stopped. He is from an Italian family. The first time we went grocery shopping, I suggested buying a few jars of sauce for busy nights when we wanted a quick meal. The death stare I got! He has literally never lived in a house that had jarred sauce! So for the past few years, I've had nothing but homemade.
He sautes beef and garlic (and sometimes onions), adds pureed tomatoes, some tomato paste, some more garlic, a little bit of salt and sometimes red pepper flakes and simmers it for however much time we have. His nan does large chunks of pork instead of beef-- it's out of this world amazing.

 

[hlg22]

Here are two very quick and easy recipes that are head and shoulders above jarred sauce - I apparently can't post links because my post count isn't high enough, but they should be findable:

101cookbooks.com - search "five minute tomato sauce"

smittenkitchen.com - search "tomato sauce with butter and onions"

I generally make the 5 min. sauce - it's super quick and the lemon zest gives it a nice depth. If I am using it to top a pizza, I'll stir in a few Tbsp. of tomato paste to thicken it a bit and adjust the salt. Either of these can also be tweaked to add cream, browned meat, etc., etc.

 

[Sam81]

I do both.
My goumba Sicilian American father in law

You do realize that is a derogatory word. As an Italian American it is extremely disrespectful.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Mostly we used Classico, which is jarred. We started using this years ago, once we found out they don't add sugar and extra stuff. For example, here's the ingredient list for "Tomato and Basil":

Tomato Puree (Water, Tomato Paste), Diced Tomatoes (Tomatoes, Tomato Juice, Citric Acid, Calcium Chloride), Salt, Basil, Garlic, Olive Oil, Onions, Dehydrated Garlic, Spice.

My wife has a recipe for homemade that her mom gave her, but we haven't made it in years. But MIL tries to bribe me with it when we come to visit.

 

[Diznygrl]

I used to think I didn't like jarred sauce because all I ever had was Prego or Ragu...can't remember which one. I found it to have too much of a sugary taste. Then I discovered the now defunct Five Brothers sauce, and my perception of jarred sauce changed. Now I use Classico or Newman's Own.

 

[KristaTX]

I'll tell you another great sauce I have had was Newman's Own Marinara sauce. It was some of the best Marinara sauce I have ever had. I bought it for the kids to use with Mozzarella sticks. But it is all natural I guess and doesn't have much if any preservatives and when I left the jar in the fridge for a few days after it was opened it got all moldy and green QUICK. I was surprised when I went to use some and it had only been in the fridge for 2 or 3 days and it was ruined.

I don't use that for Spaghetti because my husband wouldn't like a sauce with actual chunks of Tomato in it. And that Marinara has chunks of Tomato in it.

But I really love Newman's Own products.

Otherwise I usually use a jar of Newman's Own.

I also like the Newman's Own Marinara sauce, and I use that as a base to add a bunch of stuff to (meat, green onions, tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, etc). I've never had that mold problem, though, so maybe that was a bad batch or it sat out too long before it went into the fridge?

I am going to try the Costco/Kirkland's brand after reading about it on here, though. I never really even thought about trying it.

 

[JVL1018]

You do realize that is a derogatory word. As an Italian American it is extremely disrespectful.

Really? Around here it means friend, definitely not derogatory.
We have a pizza place named xxx pizza,but is locally known as Goumba's because the owner(Italian) says. Hey goumba! when his customers walk in the door.
Sorry if you were offended, none intended. I removed it from my post, as I'd hate for anyone else to have the same issues with the word. I am of Italian descent, as is my husband, so we definitely would not be using any terms that would be disrespecting ourselves.

 

[Ginny Favers]

Really? Around here it means friend, definitely not derogatory.
We have a pizza place named xxx pizza,but is locally known as Goumba's because the owner(Italian) says. Hey goumba! when his customers walk in the door.
Sorry if you were offended, none intended. I removed it from my post, as I'd hate for anyone else to have the same issues with the word. I am of Italian descent, as is my husband, so we definitely would not be using any terms that would be disrespecting ourselves.

I did not think it was derogatory, either. We have a restaurant around here named Goomba's, too... but I suppose any word can be derogatory if you say it nastily enough!

 

[Jedana]

Only homemade.

I have two recipes. One makes a roaster full (I have a big family) and is done in the oven. The other is stovetop, and takes about 3 hours.

Stovetop one is easy--- 2 boxes tomatoes (I dislike canned--I like to use some puree and some chopped); 1 onion, 2-3 cloves garlic, basil, oregano, salt, pepper, 1lb hot Italian sausage, 1TBLS tomato paste (tube), 3-4 TBLS red wine vinegar. Saute the sausage and onion until done. Add tomato paste and garlic and saute about a minute. Add a little water to get all the good stuff off the skillet bottom. add tomatoes, seasonings and vinegar. Simmer 3 hours. stir occasionally.


The other one is about as complicated. It uses ground beef as well as the Italian sausage, more of everything (and I mean more, 10 boxes of tomatoes more), and cooks in the oven at 250 for 8+ hours. I'll add more water if I find it thickening too much.

 

[North of Mouse]

We hate the jarred sauces, any brand, tastes like eating sweetened tomato sauce. I always brown my meat, add onions and peppers, garlic, olives, wine, saute, add spices (fresh, if possible) then add diced tomatoes, maybe one can of tomato sauce, and simmer a long time. Yummy!

We never eat anything with tomato sauce when dining out. It is usually just gross to us.