Anything wrong with using jar marinara sauce to make meatbal

amother

OP ↓

Today at 6:58 am

I keep seeing recipes for the sauce of meatballs, I've always used jarred marinara sauce, somtimes add a little water.
Is there anything wrong with that?
Wondering why it's not so commonly done...

amother

Lilac

Today at 7:01 am

why would anything be wrong?

I used canned tomato sauce because it’s a lot cheaper but that’s the only reason

amother

Brown

Today at 7:03 am

Of course not. Generally if there’s a recipe it’s to make things from scratch. Rarely in a cookbook or on a recipe website will you see recipes that use premade sauces, unless it’s the website of the company that makes that sauce.

Recipe by definition means to make it yourself from scratch. But there’s a huge market of premade sauces for a reason, nearly everyone uses them.

If you just want to know how long to cook it and what temperature, just skip ahead to that part of the instructions

amother

↑ OP ↓

Today at 7:23 am

amother Brown wrote:

Nowadays there are so many recipes for the easiest way, such as dinner done type.

Curious, what's the benefit of making your own sauce?

Taste?
Cost?
Other?

amother

↑ OP

Today at 7:26 am

In general I'm a homemade type of gal and make most things from scratch. Always bake my own challah, baked goods, etc,

But this just seems so easy and not that expensive at $1.99 a jar that I am wondering if there is a reason others don't do it.

iluvy

Today at 7:27 am

Lol
I'll never forget when I was newly married and I painstakingly made my way through a Susie Fischbein lasagna recipe. When I was done, I screamed out loud, "That was just...marinara sauce! I just spent ten minutes making the same exact marinara sauce that comes in a jar!"
I still make the lasagna, which is delicious, but now I use jarred marinara sauce and prebreaded eggplant.

amother

NeonPurple

Today at 7:31 am

amother OP wrote:

Nowadays there are so many recipes for the easiest way, such as dinner done type.

Curious, what's the benefit of making your own sauce?

Taste?
Cost?
Other?

I do for taste and health reasons
A lot of them have sugar which I try to avoid.
I also try to avoid overly processed foods
But my family calls me a food snob and think I’m nuts…

lovecouches

Today at 8:02 am

I live in Israel and the jarred marinara sauces are really expensive. I did find a cheaper way to do it with a smaller plastic container of pizza sauce and a tomato paste so it's easy and cheaper.

amother

Seablue

Today at 8:11 am

lovecouches wrote:

I live in Israel and the jarred marinara sauces are really expensive. I did find a cheaper way to do it with a smaller plastic container of pizza sauce and a tomato paste so it's easy and cheaper.

Yes I do this too! I love the plastic containers of tomato paste, the taste is actually so versatile and can be diluted. Also the produce is from Israeli tomatoes which are delicious. Add basil, oregano, s&p, any other preferred spices or fresh herbs. Dilute with water or milk/cream.

amother

Pistachio

Today at 8:56 am

amother OP wrote:

Nowadays there are so many recipes for the easiest way, such as dinner done type.

Curious, what's the benefit of making your own sauce?

Taste?
Cost?
Other?

There are so many good bottled sauces out there that it doesn't really seem to me a good use of my time to make tomato sauce from scratch. The only time I do is when I have a high yield of tomatoes from my garden and I need to do something with them.
That said, the jarred sauces that I personally like that taste good and have very clean ingredients are pretty obnoxiously priced, so I could understand why someone who wants a healthier sauce but is tight on cash might take the time to DIY.