anyone have a good healthy spaghetti sauce recipe?

Rebjones612
Rebjones612 Posts: 408
edited September 2024 in Food and Nutrition
So......my family wants spaghetti tonight for dinner.
Don't have a clue how to make it so it would be more healthier.
I always try to stay away from spaghetti because its a pasta and I thought
it wasn't heathy. I will be substituting regular pasta for the wheat pasta but
what about the sauce?
Any ideas?

Also I will make home made garlic bread with 0 cal butter spray, 45 calorie
Sarah Lee bread and garlic powder.

Please help!

Replies

  • Spayrroe
    Spayrroe Posts: 210 Member
    Ragu makes a light tomato sauce, I usually use that. My pasta comes out to about 300 cals per serving (serving size being about 1.5 cups), and I cook up 97% lean ground beef to make it a meat sauce. Also, someone told me that you can get or make zucchini noodles to cut down on the starches, but I've found that the barilla wheat past really isn't that bad for you. Good luck :)
  • WomanofWorth
    WomanofWorth Posts: 395 Member
    I'd love to see a sauce that doesn't have a ton of sodium
  • jamiefire7
    jamiefire7 Posts: 50
    I just take a jar of what ever sauce sounds good and I add zuchinni, onion, yellow squash, mushrooms, fresh garlic and a few seasonings (i.e. oregano, basil) and then I make turkey meatballs. I let it simmer for an hour to an hour and a half and it turns out AMAZING!!!
  • RNewton4269
    RNewton4269 Posts: 663 Member
    I make my own sauce most of the time. Use regular tomato sauce and spice it up with lots of basil and oregano, dill and lemon. I also add some lightly sauteed baby bell peppers to the sauce and onions. If you want it chunky, add some chunky tomatoes in. I think as long as you cut back on the cheese it should be healthy, and I don't add any cheese to mine. Not sure if this is helpful. But good luck!
  • reese66
    reese66 Posts: 2,920 Member
    This is pretty close to the one I make myself.
    I add chicken bouillon or chicken stock and mushrooms. I cut back on the crushed red pepper.
    Use canned tomato that have reduced sodium.

    Another option would be to cook the tomato from scratch which can be time consuming and with the price of tomatoes these days could get a little pricey.

    http://whatscookingamerica.net/Sauces_Condiments/BasicTomatoSauce.htm


    Simple Basic Tomato Sauce

    2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
    1 cup diced onion
    2 to 3 cloves garlic, chopped or minced
    1 (28-ounce) can crushed or diced tomatoes
    2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
    2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
    Salt to taste

    Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and saute until translucent. Add the garlic and cook and stir another 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, red pepper flakes, and Italian seasoning. Season with salt. Cook until completely heated, another 2 to 3 minutes.

    For a smooth sauce, place mixture in your blender or food processor and process until texture that you want.

    Makes approximately 3 1/ 2 cups (enough for 4 to 6 servings).


    Basic Tomato Sauce


    Item Amount Fat Grams Carb Grams Calories
    olive oil 1 tablespoon 0 13.6 120
    onion, diced 1 cup .2 14 60
    diced or crushed tomatoes 1 (28-ounce) can 0 49 245
    Recipe Totals .2 76.6 425

    1/2 cup (1 serving) = .03 fat grams, 12.7 carb grams, 71 calories
  • makena78
    makena78 Posts: 162 Member
    I always add to my spagettit sauce. I add mushrooms, shredded or super small diced carrots (if it's small you won't notice so much), 1 can of diced black olives. In italy they add some form of green peas but don't don't pop when you chew them but are soft like spaghetti. With spaghetti sauce you can use your imagination, just keep things small. And Like RNewton said starting from scratch is good too. It's not hard and unlike what you some people think you don't need to have it on the stove all day. Not even in Italy do they do that except on special occasions.
  • Xaspar
    Xaspar Posts: 726 Member
    Clam Marinara
    Makes 4 generous servings @ 105 calories each.

    1 Tbs Olive Oil (120 cals)
    1 Tbs Minced garlic (5 cals)
    1 can clams (7 oz. = 88 cals)
    1 Tbs italian seasoning (more to taste if you prefer it stronger) for a milder flavor consider adding just basil
    2 cans diced tomatoes (14oz can = 105 calories)

    Heat olive oil, add the garlic to sweat it for just a few seconds (do not let it overcook or it will get bitter)
    Add the can of clams (juice too) and sprinkle the italian seasonings on top... heat thoroughly while stirring and allow the juices from the can to start to evaporate,
    Add the tomatoes and mix thoroughly and allow to heat through.

    Serve over pasta.
  • donicagalek
    donicagalek Posts: 526
    No idea how many calories/serving for a couple of reasons:

    1. To you, what's a serving? :-)
    2. I've never measure how much this makes exactly.

    However:

    Fry a links worth of Italian sausage (remove the casing) in a pan with a medium diced onion and some sliced, fresh mushrooms until the meat is cooked and the onion/mushroom are transluscent/cooked. Drain as much grease off as you can. In a sauce pot, dump 5 cans diced tomatoes with the juice, a can of tomato paste, the meat/onion/fungi mix, and some salt/Italian seasoning to taste. Mix over medium heat until it starts to simmer/boil. Serve over pasta (or whatever). :-)

    Notes:

    A *lot* of the seasoning taste comes from the sausage - omitting it makes a huge difference. The best you could attempt is maybe only using half a link. The onion takes the tartness out of the tomatoes so they are also important. Without the paste, unless you want to be simmering the sauce down all day - it'll be massively watery.
  • perrytyra
    perrytyra Posts: 357 Member
    As long as you make it yourself, spaghetti sauce is already healthy. To make it healthier, you can use less meat. I always add a bit of sugar. I don't know if there is some other way to take out that acidic taste, if there is, I would love to know. I figure it is still much less sugar than is in most jarred sauces.
  • lilviotch
    lilviotch Posts: 9
    As long as you make it yourself, spaghetti sauce is already healthy. To make it healthier, you can use less meat. I always add a bit of sugar. I don't know if there is some other way to take out that acidic taste, if there is, I would love to know. I figure it is still much less sugar than is in most jarred sauces.
    The best way to take out the acid is to let it simmer all day that way you don't have to add sugar!! I usually prepare mine the night before and in the morning before I leave for work I put it on the stove and let it sit all day!! Someone mentioned a clam recipe I have done this as well and it is so good if you like seafood and knocks your cal count by a 1/3...:smile:
  • godblessourhome
    godblessourhome Posts: 3,892 Member
    add zuchinni, onion, yellow squash, mushrooms, fresh garlic and a few seasonings (i.e. oregano, basil)

    i agree. 'hide' veggies in your sauce (even if it is canned).

    i saute up zucchini, green peppers, shredded carrots, cauliflower and then puree/chop before adding to the sauce. i sometimes add broccoli. oh and spinach is good too. chunks of portabello mushrooms and eggplant have a beefy taste and texture to them, so cook them in with your meat.
  • baisleac
    baisleac Posts: 2,019 Member
    In a 4-6 quart pan or crock pot:

    1/2 lb ground beef crumbled, cooked and drained
    1 medium onion diced
    1 pint sliced mushrooms
    1 green bell pepper (diced if you like them, in strips so you can pull them out if you don't like them... but they cut the tomato acidity.)
    4 Tbsp minced garlic
    4 Tbsp. oregano
    3 Tbsp basil
    1 Tbsp thyme
    1 tsp ground bay leaf (or 3 bay leaves snapped in half, you'll want to pull these out before serving)
    Anything else that sounds good, veggie or spice wise
    Enough Low sodium diced tomatoes to cover everything else (maybe a couple inches from the top of the pan.

    Stove top pan - Cook, covered, for 2-4 hours stirring occassionally.
    Crockpot - Cook on low for 6-8 hours, stirring occassionally.
  • BigBoneSista
    BigBoneSista Posts: 2,389 Member
    Store bought sauces that I use

    Dellallo Roasted Garlic Pasta Sauce has lower sodium 1/2 Cup is 90 calories, 300 sodium, 7 carbs, 0 sugars, 1 protein

    Walnut Acres Organic Low Sodium/Fat Free Tomato & Basil Sauce 1 cup is 40 calories, 20 sodium, 9 carbs, 7, sugars, 2 proteins
  • ejmcam
    ejmcam Posts: 533 Member
    I'm italian so jar sauce never makes it into my house!
    saute Onion and garlic in a tiny bit of olive oil until soft. Add a 28 can of all natural crushed tomatoes, and 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes(drained), some fresh basil, and some black pepper. You can add 1/4 cup of red wine for flavor (I always do) and let it simmer for an hour or so. Really simple and YUMMY! If you like more to it, add some zucchini or sliced mushrooms. if you like meat, brown 1/4 pound of extra lean ground beef and throw that in, You can also add some chicken or turkey sausage, cut into 1 inch pieces.
    adjust amounts to your taste, but calories are low and everything is fresh!
  • brityn
    brityn Posts: 443 Member
    I use Trader Joe's jarred sauces. They're delicious!

    1/2 pkg lean ground turkey breast
    1 tsp. canola oil
    1/2 large yellow onion finely diced
    1 zucchini or your favorite squash finely diced
    1/2 pkg of sliced mushrooms
    1 tsp. garlic salt
    Your favorite jarred spaghetti sauce

    Brown turkey halfway over medium heat in canola oil. Add all the veggies and cook til turkey is fully cooked and veggies are soft. Add sauce and heat through.
  • fteale
    fteale Posts: 5,310 Member
    I use passata, it's just pureed tomato, so as healthy as you can get.
  • dls06
    dls06 Posts: 6,774 Member
    Bea's Brooklyn's Best Marinara Sauce. 80 cal. Low in sodium 140mg per serving. Good for jar sauce. Whole Foods
  • ProudMomoftwo
    ProudMomoftwo Posts: 525
    Thank you for this!
This discussion has been closed.

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