The 1-Ingredient Upgrade That Makes Store-Bought Pasta Sauce Taste Homemade

I frequent a fantastic, warehouse-style grocery store near my house. In one aisle, there's an entire wall dedicated to pasta sauce. Top to bottom, I can see jar after jar of everything from the most bare-bones sauce all the way to fancy, restaurant-quality options. Of course, they come with price tags to match.

With a toddler in the house, pasta and sauce are a staple meal. That’s why I started to find ways to spruce up store-bought pasta sauce—I want to make the budget-friendly jars rival the more expensive options.

So far, I've found the best method is to select a mid-range marinara and add a generous spoonful of tomato paste, then stir it all together as I warm it up in a saucepan. 

Why I Add Tomato Paste to Sauce

Tomato paste is an umami ace up your sleeve. This thick concentration is everything decadent and amazing about tomatoes without the moisture, skin, and seeds. The rich, intense flavor that remains is culinary gold.

I find that whether you add a spoonful from a can or a squeeze from a tube, tomato paste enhances the overall richness and flavor of any jar of pasta sauce. Even better if it's a tomato paste that comes with herbs added!

The only issue with buying a can of tomato paste for your sauce is that you'll have a lot of paste left over. The extra will last a few days in the refrigerator, but I freeze spoonfuls of tomato paste on parchment paper or in ice cube trays. Then, when the pre-measured chunks are frozen, I transfer them to an airtight container to prevent freezer burn. 

How To Achieve the Perfect Consistency

When adding a spoonful of tomato paste to store-bought pasta sauce, the key is to find the perfect consistency. Depending on the brand, the additional tomato paste could begin to make the sauce thicker than you might have wanted. No problem. This is when saving a little bit of the pasta water is a strategic move. The pasta water will thin out the sauce until it's exactly the right consistency, and that starchy water also helps the sauce stick to the noodles. 

Why You Should Buy Different Brands of Sauce and Paste

A friend of mine, who had one of those Italian grandmothers we all dream about, told me her secret for the best tomato-sauced dishes. She recommended that when making pasta sauce, I buy the tomato products from several different brands. So often, one brand might use the same techniques to grow and process all of its tomato products. Its tomato sauce, tomato paste, and canned tomatoes might taste relatively the same.

However, if you buy each tomato ingredient from a different brand, you're more likely to get different tomato notes in each can, resulting in more interest and depth of flavor in your dish. Ever since then, I make sure to buy one brand of pasta sauce and a different brand of tomato paste.