A delicious and easy recipe for Homemade Spaghetti Sauce that features simple ingredients and doesn’t contain any added sugars.

Make It Yourself Monday

This is our second recipe in the new Make It Yourself Monday Series. The series is designed to feature a new recipe every month that people typically purchase at the store but can often be prepared at home quite easily.

See this Homemade Basil Pesto to view our first of this recipe series.

The Goal –

The goal of this series isn’t to make anyone feel bad about purchasing ready made items….far from it! They are a time saver in the kitchen and sometimes are just necessary. Since a big focus of the Mediterranean Diet is trying to eat as “real” of food as possible, this series is designed to help share easy recipes as well as highlight the importance of reading ingredient labels. For each recipe shared in the series, I also like to share some store bought examples that are good compromises.

Store Bought Spaghetti Sauce

Spaghetti Sauce in a jar is something that I always purchase at the grocery store. We use it frequently at my house for pasta, my favorite Baked Eggplant Parmesan recipe, and even for pizza sauce.

I’ve really been focusing on reading the ingredient label for foods that I typically purchase in addition to looking at the price.

Ingredients That Aren’t Really Needed

When researching common ingredients for this post, I found a lot contained the following ingredients –

• sugar
• salt
• canola or soybean oil
• high fructose corn syrup

I have nothing “against” any of these ingredients but I do know many people that have to watch out for them for medical reasons (watching salt intake for high blood pressure for example) or those that are trying to limit added sugars in their diet. I also don’t think they are necessary for making a great tasting spaghetti sauce.

Salt and Added Sugars

The two major things I would recommend to look for when it comes to store bought spaghetti sauce are salt and sugar.

*It is important to note that tomatoes have naturally occurring sugar but a lot of companies add extra sugar because tomato sauce can tend to be quite acidic in nature. I recommend looking at the “added sugars” section of the nutrition label to find out how much of the sugars are added (versus those naturally occurring) and if “sugar” is listed as an ingredient on the label.

The sauces that I found at a few major grocery stores had the following ranges on their nutrition label –

• Salt = 410-560mg per 1/2 cup serving
• Sugar = 4-9g per 1/2 cup serving

“Healthier” Versions

Many brands offer versions of their spaghetti sauce that state they are “lower in sodium” or contain “no added sugars” compared to their traditional variety.

It is still important on these types to look at the ingredient label and still check the added sugar and total salt content on the nutrient label.

I found multiple brands that sell “Low Sodium” versions that are lower than their traditional counterpart (360mg sodium versus 480mg for a specific brand) but the low sodium version contained almost double the amount of sugar (5g in tradition version to 9g in low sodium version).

The same can be true about “No Added Sugars” versions, while the sugar content may be lower, be sure to still check the sodium content as they are typically still high.

Store Bought Recommendations –

Since I like to be practical, I know making your own spaghetti sauce isn’t always possible or realistic. Sometimes you just have to go for convenience. Unfortunately, sometimes purchasing products that contain real ingredients without a lot of added preservatives, salts, or sugars can be more expensive than some of the other brands.

I do like the following brands –

Rao’s Homemade Tomato Basil –

• Ingredients – whole peeled tomatoes, olive oil, onions, basil, salt, garlic, pepper and dried oregano
• Total Sodium = 420mg per serving
• Total Sugars = 4g per serving (contains Zero Added Sugars)
• Price = typically about $8.99, on sale currently for $6.99 at Safeway

Mia’s Kitchen Bistro Marinara Sauce

• Ingredients – CA tomatoes, tomato puree, fresh onions, extra virgin olive oil, fresh carrots, fresh garlic, sea salt, basil, spices, citric acid
• Total Sodium = 410mg per servings
• Total Sugars = 4g per serving (contains Zero Added Sugars)
• Price = ranges from $5.99-$8.99

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

I was pleasantly surprised how EASY it was to make spaghetti sauce at home. Before recipe testing for this very post, I always envisioned it would require pounds of fresh tomatoes and hours of simmering on the stove to make a good pasta sauce.

In all actuality, you can easily use canned tomatoes and it only requires about 30 minutes from start to finish.

I also like that you control your ingredients. If you don’t like onions, you don’t have to add onions. Don’t like a lot of garlic? Then you don’t have to add a lot of garlic.

The hardest part (for me at least) was finding canned tomatoes that didn’t contain either added sugar or added salt. I finally found this brand that only contained one, simple ingredient – peeled tomatoes. Be sure to read those ingredient lists!

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Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

A delicious and easy recipe for Homemade Spaghetti Sauce that features simple ingredients and doesn't contain any added sugars.

Course condiment, dinner, sauce

Cuisine Italian, Mediterranean

Keyword sauce, spaghetti sauce, tomato sauce

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 32 oz

Author Brynn McDowell at The Domestic Dietitian

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 28oz can of crushed tomatoes
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 pinch red pepper flakes

Instructions

• In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat
• Add the diced onion and cook about 4-5 minutes before adding the garlic and cooking for an additional 1 minute
• Add the can of crushed tomatoes, water, dried oregano, basil, and pinch of red pepper flakes
• Bring to a strong simmer, then reduce to low and allow to simmer for 15-20 minutes, until the sauce is thick and creamy

Notes

This sauce will last in the fridge for up to 7 days or you can freeze it for later enjoyment