World's Best Spaghetti Sauce Recipe + Video | The Bewitchin' Kitchen (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.

It is widely held that Italian immigrants began adding sugar to their sauce to make up for the overly acidic tomatoes they were forced to work with in their new home. But the history of sugar in pasta sauce actually goes back to Italy itself.

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.

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.

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.

Yes, sugar might make the sauce taste better, but good old baking soda is an alkaline that will help balance the excess acid. A little pinch should do the trick.

Long, slow cooking concentrates the flavors and brings out sweetness by breaking down carbohydrates. Some of those carbohydrates caramelize, giving rich, "brown" flavors like those in cooked meat. Let it go too long, though, and you can over-concentrate the flavors.

"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.

Why add butter to pasta sauce? ›

Step 5: Add Fat

A small amount of fat—extra-virgin olive oil or butter—is essential to good pasta sauce texture. Without fat, you have at best watery sauce (nobody has ever said, "Waiter, my pasta is not quite wet enough"), and at worst sauce that over-thickens with starch alone and takes on a pasty texture.

Simmering at a low temperature for an extended period also encourages the sauce to reduce and thicken. This reduction concentrates the flavors of the tomato sauce, making it richer and more intense.

You can use either white or brown sugar. Personally, I prefer packed brown sugar, but experiment to see which gives you the best results. I also make sure to add a dollop of butter to my pasta sauce.

Add brown sugar to your tomato sauce to make the overall flavor even richer. Whether it's white or brown sugar, adding just a tablespoon of it to tomato sauce will make the flavor really pop.

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. We've always preferred adding a bit of sugar. It can't neutralize acidity in the same way that baking soda can, but sugar does change our perception of other tastes.

Step 4: Add Pasta Water

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.

Sauté garlic and chopped onions or mirepoix (which are chopped onions, celery, and carrots) in butter or olive oil, then deglaze the pan with the jarred pasta sauce. Those caramelized vegetable bits will add a lot of flavor! Sautéed mushrooms would also be an excellent addition to store-bought pasta sauce.