Easy Homemade Meatless Spaghetti Sauce
Tastier and cheaper than store bought, easy to cook too. I keep plenty of tomato sauce in my pantry so I can quickly pull this together for busy day suppers.
Tastier and cheaper than store bought, easy to cook too. I keep plenty of tomato sauce in my pantry so I can quickly pull this together for busy day suppers.
- Carbohydrate 5.85328667321561 g
- Cholesterol 4.51703124618153 mg
- Fat 1.94613502573917 g
- Fiber 0.560789800195879 g
- Protein 0.789175461330972 g
- Saturated Fat 1.13117072805093 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (81g)
- Sodium 29.7880482583497 mg
- Sugar 5.29249687301974 g
- Trans Fat 0.15737243919084 g
- Calories 42 calories
Step-by-step
- Melt the butter in a medium sauce pan on low heat.
- Add the garlic and cook, stirring often, until it just starts to darken.
- Add all other ingredients. Cover and turn heat to high. Once sauce begins to boil, lower heat to low and simmer for 20-30 minutes.
- Remove bay leaf. Serve over hot noodles.
Stirring the garlic frequently while cooking on low heat prevents scorching before the other ingredients enter the saucepan. When garlic hits high heat too quickly, sulfur compounds release and create a bitter profile that ruins tomato bases. Monitoring this initial phase ensures a balanced foundation.
- Control the heat carefully when blooming the minced garlic in butter; remove the pan from the burner immediately if the edges turn dark brown within 60 seconds.
- Simmer the sauce uncovered for the final ten minutes if excess moisture prevents proper adhesion to pasta noodles.
- Discard the bay leaf promptly after the 20 to 30 minute simmer window to avoid overpowering herbal bitterness.
- Substitute dried cilantro at a strict two-to-one ratio if fresh leaves are unavailable in the produce aisle.
Proper doneness relies entirely on visual cues rather than internal measurements. The mixture is ready when the bright red raw tomato color deepens to a muted brick red and the surface displays a glossy sheen from the rendered butter fat.
