Anything wrong with using jar marinara sauce to make meatbal

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amother

OP ↓

Today at 9:58 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 10:01 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 10:03 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

White

Today at 10:04 am

It's illegal in most countries. Close blinds look doors and muzzle kids.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Today at 10:23 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 10:26 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.

abbie

Today at 10:26 am

Nothing wrong, if your family likes it and it works for you

iluvy

Today at 10:27 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 10:31 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 11:02 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 11:11 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 11:56 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.

zaq

Today at 1:09 pm

Bragging rights, OP, bragging rights. You could say the same about anything. Why do some ppl make challah from scratch (some grow their own wheat, too, but not many), some buy defrost-and-bake, and some buy ready-made? Why do some buy pizza from the shop, some buy defrost-and-bake, some buy pizza dough and add sauce and toppings, and some make it all from scratch including growing the tomatoes?

Of course there are other reasons ranging from preferring the taste of homemade to cost-effectiveness to avoiding ultra-processed foods to avoiding specific ingredients such as sugar, salt, preservatives or allergens.

There are plenty of cookbooks with names like "Practically Homemade" that rely on mostly store-bought prepared ingredients, for people who like the illusion of homemade from scratch but don't like to patchke. For example, fill a store-bought graham cracker pie crust with chocolate pudding made from a mix or bought ready-made in a tub, top with whipped cream swooshed out of an aerosol can, drizzle with chocolate syrup, et voila, "homemade" chocolate cream pie.

What I can't fathom is making kneidlach from a mix. It saves maybe ten seconds of measuring matzah mehl and seasonings, that's it. But I can understand buying ready-made kneidlach.

amother

Denim

Today at 1:19 pm

Personally I never would. I’ve used jarred marinara for pasta but I like my meatballs less sweet and more homemade tasting. I am also Sephardi and is not in my culture

amother

Red ↓

Today at 1:19 pm

Am I the only one who hates the taste of bought marinara sauces?

It takes me 2 mins whilst the onions are sauteing to open a can of tomato paste , crush a garlic and add some dried herbs. It's so much nicer, healthier and way cheaper (I live in Israel so I'm glad I don't need to buy it)

Aurora

Today at 1:24 pm

amother Red wrote:

No. But the few I actually like are pricey.

mathbrain ↓

Today at 1:26 pm

My meatball recipe?

2 Jars of tomato sauce
2 cans water
Half a jar marinara sauce 😜

I just don’t like the meatball sauce very sweet.

Other than that? Do the sauce that works best for you.
My whenever I make meatballs and spaghetti, my family likes to joke and say ‘let’s see what kind of mood ma was in now!’ My ‘recipe’ is never the same.

Sometimes I add cranberry sauce to the sauce for a sweet and sour flavor. Different brands marinara or pasta sauce also make a difference in taste. Sometimes I add zucchini to the ground meat. I use either rice or wild rice or breadcrumbs as a binder; whatever I see first. Always comes out good. Just slightly different each time.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Today at 2:04 pm

Ok so what is the difference between jars of tomato sauce, pizza sauce, marinara sauce?
In my experience, they're all pretty similar

mha3484

Today at 2:06 pm

amother Red wrote:

I only like one kind and its $$ so we have it way less often but most jarred sauces I agree taste terrible.

watergirl ↓

Today at 2:08 pm

I used to make my sauce "from scratch", of course using canned tomato sauce and canned tomato paste, water, and spices. It was fine. One time I wanted to just open a jar and use that, so I did. And the only difference I noticed was the time it took. So I just use the jar and done.

I guess if I was using real tomatos, then it would really be from scratch (which I do sometimes for tomato soup, thank you Dinner Done cookbook). But what I was doing before was not really making the sauce, it was just a different set of short cuts.

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