The Best Homemade Spaghetti Sauce Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the one ingredient that makes spaghetti sauce so much better? ›

Nutmeg. Nutmeg is the key to boosting earthiness and adding a touch of nuttiness to your spaghetti sauce. Nutmeg also has a slightly sweet flavor, which we know goes great with acidic canned tomatoes. Overall, it accentuates the other ingredients in the sauce and adds complexity.

Tossing in strips of basil, a sprig of thyme or some oregano can take your sauce to the next level. Although fresh herbs might pop a bit more, dried herbs and spices can work just as well. Sprinkling in some red pepper flakes, a pinch of parsley and a dash of salt and pepper can liven up your jarred pasta sauce.

For best flavor, use certified San Marzano tomatoes. Add Parmesan cheese into the sauce while cooking. Use no salt added tomatoes. Use ground beef to cut down on sodium content.

Briny ingredients like olives or capers are another way to brighten up your pasta sauce while also introducing texture and depth of flavor. Roughly chop a handful and stir them into your sauce while it's heating up on the stove.

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.

Great tomato flavor is all about balancing acidity and sweetness. Too much of either can leave you with asauce that tastes one-dimensional. Many sources recommend adding a pinch of baking soda to a sauce that's overly tart, which raises the pH and makes it less acidic.

Season the pasta water well. It's your one opportunity to add flavor directly to the noodles. Add any veggies you like to this, just adjust cooking times accordingly. Certain veggies like carrots take longer to cook so add them earlier in the recipe.

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

Simmer for richer flavor

Low and slow, Bon Appétit confirms that the reason why a simmered sauce is so darn delicious is because it allows water to cook off, concentrating the umami-packed flavors of the tomatoes and balancing the levels of sugar and acidity in the sauce.

If you do not have crushed or diced tomatoes, you can use tomato sauce and tomato paste instead. If using tomato paste, you will need to add 1 cup of water and allow the sauce to simmer. Worcestershire sauce – (Optional) Deepens the flavor of the sauce.

How do you fix bland spaghetti sauce? ›

You can add a splash of vinegar, lemon juice, or wine. Add some sweetness. Sweetness can also help to balance out the flavors in your sauce. You can add a pinch of sugar, a splash of honey, or a few grated carrots.

How to Add Sugar to Your Spaghetti Sauce. That secret pinch of sugar is one of the last steps I take before letting the sauce simmer away on the stovetop to thicken up. You can use either white or brown sugar.

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.

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.

"The coffee adds an underlying depth of flavor that helps to balance the sweetness of the tomato-based ragu," Wilkins explained, adding that it's not very different from adding, say, chocolate to a pot of spicy chili con carne.

"A pinch of sugar is a Southern Italian trick that was used when the sauce was made with end-of-season tomatoes that did not get ripe, or the tomatoes were so tart they needed to be balanced," Chiarello explained to Epicurious.

Adding a bit of sugar to your homemade spaghetti sauce helps to cut the natural acidity of the tomatoes and helps to balance the sauce. For an extra kick, add a sprinkling of red pepper flakes to your sauce. Only add this if you like some spice, though!