Know of any tasty lower sodium tomato sauces

Or is it cook it from scratch time again?

Probably. :happy: So many of the prepared sauces are full of sodium and sugar. If they aren't, they tend to be outrageously expensive for what you get, in my opinion.

I've been able to get pretty low sodium canned tomatoes and it is really easy to throw them in a pan with some sauteed onion, garlic, basil, etc. The result is delicious and it doesn't take too much time.

Of course, now there is so much concern over the BPA that is present in the lining of all tomato cans that cooking from whole tomatoes has gotten even that much more appealing than canned.

I make a quick sauce out of Hunt's Tomato Sauce and Hunt's Diced Tomatoes. If we want it thicker, I add a can of Hunt's Tomato Paste. All three are available in a Low Sodium option and they also come in flavors to save you some extra work.

I have a recipe for a biggest loser sauce, its kinda a marinara, but we use it for spagetti sauce too, its crushed tomatos, tomato paste and some spices etc

If you can find it, the Pomi brand strained tomatoes (there are other varieties, too) in cartons are really good. All natural and *sodium free*. I used it the other day to make a simple marinara- sauteed garlic, onion in olive oil, add in herbs and tomatoes and a bit of sugar (1 tsp) and a smidge of sea salt and ground pepper. It was so good, I wanted to have more spaghetti just to eat more sauce!

I have some left over still, so I think I may use it in a squash/zucchini casserole. Thanks for the idea! :happy:

If you can find it, the Pomi brand strained tomatoes (there are other varieties, too) in cartons are really good. All natural and *sodium free*.

Yes! I just found this stuff at my neighborhood grocery store. The ingredient list is one item long: tomatoes. Now we're talking!

Also, those cartons are BPA free!

I still like to make it from fresh-picked tomatoes. I've been promised some from some friends who apparently planted "a million" tomato plants. I'm looking forward to those ripening up.

Yes, that sounds even better! My parents are growing tomatoes and always give me a ton starting around August! I have a new use for them, I guess (though I just love 'em plain sliced up on a plate!!)

i am so looking forward to tomato season (4 more weeks for me!)

tomato sauce is extremely simple to make and you can pack in extra veggies... some variations

our basic vegan sauce is the following:

1tbs olive oil
onion
garlic
crushed or pureed tomatoes
a little bit of salt
seasonal and /or dried herbs

that's pretty lean in its own right... we vary it by season adding

greens: kale, spinach or chard, chopped
squash: patty pan, zucchini or crookneck
mushrooms: crimini or button
sometimes we add peppers, olives, etc.

the sauce will store well in the fridge and will also freeze well.

we use cans of tomato in the winter and spring (though we eat less spaghetti in the winter) and fresh in the summer and fall.

whole tomatoes can be frozen, too. if you know how to can, even better.

i didn't put amounts of things because it really depends on how you like it. i use almost a whole head (depending on the size) of garlic in my sauce... i really love garlic, so my specific recipe may not be to your liking, but the point is that it's easy and quick to make and you can drastically reduce the salt when you make it fresh.

remember salt is in many prepared foods because it is a preservative and safety issue for shelf life extension. in prepared foods, you really do want all the salt. it keeps you from getting sick, but a good idea is to dilute it with fresh ingredients whenever possible.