Homemade Pasta Sauce

Pasta sauce is a staple in our family. We eat it over everything from sautéed cabbage, to “zoodles” (zucchini noodles) to rice pasta or even the occasional special treat of lasagna! Yumtastic!

I love pasta sauce but I don’t like what’s in most commercial brands. Everything from soybean oil to sugar. So, we make our own using a base of pureed or strained tomatoes.

I like to buy whatever quality brand is on sale. I look for a brand with no citric acid (since it’s often derived from GMO corn) and something NOT in a can… because even the BPA free cans may have other stuff in the lining that I don’t want in my food.

So my new go to is now to add seasoning to strained tomatoes that come in glass containers.

My husband has perfected this blend of spices and seasoning…

Ingredients:

• 1 jar of strained tomato We buy ours at Thrive Market. I’ve yet to find them cheaper anywhere else.
• 2 1/2 tsp basil
• 1 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp granulated garlic, OR 1 tsp of garlic powder OR 4 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 2 1/2 tsp sea salt (I use slightly less when I make it but my husband uses more so taste as you go). We buy ours at Thrive Market.
• 1 lb grass fed beef (optional: I sometimes eat my sauce with turkey meatballs)
• Also optional (for you spice lovers) smoked ghost pepper from Trader Joes (My hubby likes to add about a 1/2 tsp of this but it’s SUPER hot so add a little at a time if you want a kick to your sauce.)

Directions:

1. Brown your beef (if using).
2. Add the jar of strained tomato.
3. Add basil, oregano, garlic, onion powder first.
4. Add sea salt to taste (adding  a little at a time until you get your desired taste).
5. Optional: add smoked ghost pepper to taste (warning: this stuff is HOT).
6. Stir and let simmer till sauce is hot.
7. Top over food of choice.

There you have it. This recipe could not be easier. Now you have your own sauce without the added junk. Feel free to play around with seasoning amounts to get your favorite blend. This is just how we do it. You can add it to your favorite pasta dishes. Another favorite of mine is zucchini lasagna!

I totally forgot to take a nice photo of yesterday’s pasta night so here are the leftovers… not as pretty but you get the idea. 😉

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