Clean Eating Simple Spaghetti Sauce Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the healthiest sauce for pasta? ›

If you are buying a jarred or canned sauce, choose a tomato-based (marinara) sauce rather than a creamy sauce. Creamy sauces usually have more saturated fat and calories. Eating too much saturated fat has been linked to heart disease. Tomato-based sauces also contain more nutrients like vitamin A and lycopene.

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.

Use a light hand, as a little baking soda goes a long way. For a batch of tomato sauce, start slowly with a mere 1/8 teaspoon. Give it a stir, taste, and see if you need more. You will notice the tartness start to fade, giving way to a sweetness.

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).

Instead of the usual tomato-based sauce, you can try healthier alternatives like pesto made with fresh basil, garlic, nuts (such as pine nuts or almonds), and olive oil. Another option is a sauce made from roasted vegetables like bell peppers, zucchini, and carrots blended with herbs and a little olive oil.

Canned Tomatoes

With a can of tomatoes, you can pull together a quick tomato sauce in about 20 minutes. Start by sautéing some finely chopped onion in a pot with olive oil, then add a bit of minced garlic when the onion has softened. Add the tomatoes, and season to taste with salt, pepper, and chili flakes.

Best Tomato Sauce That Could Pass As Homemade: Rao's

It was as if you could taste the late-summer ripe tomatoes bursting through alongside fresh herbs. It's a little pricier than the others but considering it could easily pass as homemade, it's worth it.

What should I use instead of tomato sauce? ›

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 Italians put sugar in spaghetti? 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.

About 3 to 4 garlic cloves, minced. Carrots- While carrots are not a traditional ingredient for spaghetti sauce or pasta sauce, they are the secret ingredient here that helps thicken the tomato sauce while also adding natural sweetness. I use 2 carrots (smaller carrots are okay to use).

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?