Anything wrong with using jar marinara sauce to make meatbal

b.chadash

Yesterday at 9:41 pm

zaq wrote:

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.

Love your post and I'm all for store bought anything.
But I'm gonna pick on your picking on Challa, because there's actually a mitzva to bake challa. One of the three special mitzvos for women.
So don't lump that in with the rest.
Go buy dessert. And kneidlach.

amother

↑ White

Yesterday at 9:43 pm

amother Bluebell wrote:

Following because I always use jarred Marinara and my sauce comes out thinner and oilier than I would like. Any tips?

It could be the meat your buying someplace use a higher percentage of fat. You can bake meatballs for a few minutes before put in sauce. Only problem with that is that then yoy have requests for plain meatballs....

Raisin

Today at 6:53 am

I moved to a country where there was no jarred on sauce on sale at the time, and once I started making my own it tastes so much better. Its also cheaper.

Sometimes eg erev pesach I use jarred sauce and still don't like the taste, although I am sure some are better than others.

I make my sauce using chopped onions, garlic, veggies if I am in the mood, and a mixture of canned chopped tomatoes, passata and tomato paste which really handily comes in a tube here. Season and done.

↑ zaq

Today at 7:56 am

b. Chadash, I stand by my statement. The mitzvah is not to BAKE challah but to separate challah IF you bake, (do you understand the wording of the bracha?) and it's not specifically challah,for Shabbat or otherwise, but any to-be-baked dough made from chameshet haminim. So your kaiser rolls for Sunday brunch or your yeast buns or your Cuban bread or Southern biscuits or what have you, if you use enough flour, qualify. The difference is that most people don't make a big enough batch of breakfast biscuits and so on to require separating challah.

amother

↑ Slategray

Today at 7:59 am

amother Bluebell wrote:

Following because I always use jarred Marinara and my sauce comes out thinner and oilier than I would like. Any tips?

Try another brand marinara. I like Frescorti in the crockpot. If making in a pot I need a thinner sauce brand.

amother

Cinnamon

Today at 9:13 am

I'm a save-time kind of person, and I still use canned tomato sauce with spices for my meatballs. sometimes a splash of lemon juice and honey. mostly for taste and texture, but cost and health are secondary reasons. If there's bit of sauce in the jar, I might pour in some water and add that to my meatball sauce, but not as the primary ingredient.