Clean Eating Simple Spaghetti Sauce Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the healthiest sauce for pasta? ›

The healthiest pasta sauces get most of their fat from olive oil (marinara) or olive oil and nuts (pesto), not cream or cheese (alfredo). And the good guys don't pile too much salt or sugar on top of your spaghetti.

Pureed vegetables: Pureed vegetables such as cauliflower, zucchini, or squash can be mixed with tomato paste or crushed tomatoes to create a flavorful and nutrient-dense sauce. Pesto: Pesto is made from basil, garlic, pine nuts, and olive oil, which makes it a great low-calorie option.

If the reason you're wanting to “sweeten” the sauce is because the tomato is too tart [highly acidic] then a pinch of baking soda should do the trick. Or if you really like your sauce sweet for the sake of sweetness, then add a carrot or bit of sweet potato while it's cooking.

Choose fish, poultry, beans, and nuts; limit red meat and cheese; avoid bacon, cold cuts, and other processed meats. Eat a variety of whole grains (like whole-wheat bread, whole-grain pasta, and brown rice). Limit refined grains (like white rice and white bread).

Carrot and Beet Sauce

Similar to marinara but with a different flavor, carrots, and beets offer a ton of nutrition and can be supplemented in many dishes that use tomato sauce. Try sauteeing the vegetables with onion, garlic, and olive oil, then blend to desired texture. Add seasonings to taste.

Cheese is an excellent way to add flavor to your pasta without having to rely on sauce. Try mixing your angel hair pasta with goat cheese, and toss in sun-dried tomatoes to make an amazing meal with just a few ingredients. Garlic butter is a terrific way to season all types of noodles.

Like many pasta sauces, Ragu Hearty Traditional Sauce gets its taste from a few additives, including a hefty heap of sodium. There's approximately 420 milligrams of sodium in every portion of this marinara sauce, which is 18% of an adult's recommended daily intake.

More Tomato Sauce Substitutes: Ketchup and Tomato Soup

Add spices to tweak the flavor as needed. A bit of basil is a good choice. Tomato Soup: Add a 10 3/4-ounce can of tomato soup. Then, cut one of the wet ingredients in the recipe back by 1/4 cup to account for the extra liquid.

Do chefs put sugar in spaghetti sauce? ›

However, there is a massive difference between using jarred sauce and making tomato sauce at home, and when it comes to the latter, you'd be surprised how many chefs favor a pinch of sugar in the mix. Bobby Flay has been known to add a pinch of sugar to his tomato sauce, as noted in Food & Wine.

Usually no. But putting (a very small bit) of sugar or even a tiny pinch of baking soda in the tomato sauce can help if it is too acidic, but this is only done if the person cooking it is really in a rush.

"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.

Avoid Mayonnaise With Refined Oils

Traditional mayonnaise with olive oil but contains soybean oil and/or canola oil. Miracle Whip made with soybean oil and added sugars, like high fructose corn syrup. Reduced fat mayo or light mayo (more on this below)

There's no denying that mayonnaise is high in saturated fat. That doesn't mean you should ban it for life. It can be a part of a healthy diet when eaten in very small amounts. If you're trying to cut calories and keep the mayo, many light and reduced fat varieties are available at the market.

Mayonnaise. Yes, most versions you see on store shelves are anything but clean. They're filled with ingredients like soybean oil, high fructose corn syrup, and emulsifiers, which research has shown can lead to obesity and inflammatory bowel disease. So, what constitutes clean mayo?