Why is there so much sugar in my damn spaghetti sauce?!!

Seriously!

My wife makes spaghetti sauce by doctoring a store bought version. I have noticed over the last several months it seemed to have developed a very sweet taste. Initially, I thought it might be ripe tomatoes, they can be pretty sweet at times, but it seems to have gotten worse. On my suggestion, she switched brands. It was better, but still overly sweet. So I read the label.

10 grams of sugar per 1/2 cup. That's damn near twice what milk has, and more than every cereal in the cabinet. Why are they adding sugar above and beyond what is natural?

Now that that is out of the way, who makes a spaghetti sauce that isn't sweet? I need suggestions.

Mezzetta Marinara is one of the few store bought sauces I quite enjoy. No sugar in the ingredients. Not inexpensive, but frequently on sale.

The Campbells on the lower left should have been your first warning that it would be loaded with sugar and salt.

The Newman's Own Marinara I've been buying pretty regularly has 7 g. in the same size serving. And 460 mg Sodium.

Another vote for the Mezzetta marinara sauce here. When I don't have the time or inclination to make it from scratch I buy that stuff.

Buy crushed tomatoes and some good italian tomatoes paste, I hate store,bought sauce. 6 in 1 is an excellent canned crushed tomato.

Visitors from Europe often complain how sweet American foods are. Bread is a big one.

There will always be some natural sugars in tomatoes - they're a fruit, after all!

I refuse to eat chain-store pizza for the same reason. The sauce is universally too sweet.

You can make one easy enough from a can of tomato paste and purée, some garlic, oregano, and onion almost as fast as opening a jar. I try not to use any extra sugar or salt if I can avoid it.

Beyond being food for the yeast, there is no need for sugar in bread. So stupid. I blame Obama. Trump will fix it.

If you make your own gravy (sauce to you non-Italian-Americans) and it's too acidic (which is why they add the sugar), stick a carrot in it while it simmers. Get a can of Marzano tomatoes (peeled), some tomato paste, olive oil, garlic, black pepper (add red pepper to taste for an arabbiata), plus perhaps the browned meat of your choice. Let it simmer for awhile to reduce. Mostly, it's pouring a bunch of stuff in a saucepan and tasting as you go. Other stuff to include (or not): basil, a little red wine (for marinara), some onion, peas (yes, peas). You get the picture. It shouldn't be too thick. Thick sauce is a white people invention and usually comes from adding corn starch. It needs to coat the noodles and stick. Olive oil gives it the stick. Go ahead and fool around with it. With the above ingredients, it will always be edible.

There is about 3-4 grams of sugar in a regular medium sized tomato. So there is that.

If you aren't feeling like making your own... this one isn't too bad. I throw sausage chunks and some crushed red pepper in a crock pot and let them flavor it but it's not too bad out of the bottle.

http://www.ragu.com/our-sauces/old-world-style-sauces/old-world-style-no-sugar-added-tomato-basil-sauce/

I use the hunts canned sauce if im in a hurry. I really like there garlic and herb version.

Fueled by Caffeine wrote: Beyond being food for the yeast, there is no need for sugar in bread. So stupid. I blame Obama. Trump will fix it.

Qft.

In reply to Jerry From LA:

Uhhh... isn't spaghetti a (Italian) white people invention?

benzbaronDaryn wrote: Buy crushed tomatoes and some good italian tomatoes paste, I hate store,bought sauce. 6 in 1 is an excellent canned crushed tomato.

we move a lot of 6 in 1 at my store. Pizza guys swear by it.

In reply to mtn:

That's kind of my point. Why are they adding sugar to something that already has plenty of sugar in it.

I like sweets just as much as the next fat guy, but sweet spaghetti? Not for me thanks.

Sugar is addictive. Our bodies crave it. They seek the sweet. Manufacturers are working on turning into the sloths from wall-e. (Not the bus fightrr, the movie)

I whip up red sauce from cans of crushed tomatess and whatever else i have around. Never a jar of premade. Ive had people ask for recipe but there isnt one.

Seriously, two cans of diced tomatoes with seasoning in them are a pound of ground meat and a tiny can of puree or paste away from sauce. You can even freeze half a can of puree or paste to half the batch.

On topic, once you learn how easy it is to make sauce, you won't go back to store bought.

Yep make your own. Can of sauce. Can of past and a can of crushed. Add seasonings to fast simmer for 20 min. But one hour is much better. The next day after sitting in the fridge it is even better.

In the Philippines, it's practically a dessert with how much suger they add to it.

If you shop at Asian markets, avoid any pasta sauce from the Philippines, unless you want the diabetes.

That said, Ragu is the absolute worst for sugar content.

Newman's Own is, as usual, damned good. Though making it from scratch isn't terribly hard, nor is finishing the pasta in the sauce properly. The trick is getting the timing right so the pasta isn't over or under.

I checked one of the jars of Classico brand sauce and it's 6 grams per 1/2 cup serving size. Store I usually shop at had a killer deal $1 per jar if purchasing five jars this past spring, so I grabbed a few. Would buy more, especially if they come on sale like that again.

I usually just get a large beefsteak tomato (one beefsteak = one person size) or a few roma ones, dice them up and sautee them. Add spices, onions, garlic, other veges, meat if you're into that, in whatever order makes sense. No need to buy canned sauce, it doesn't even save time.

Nice jay, that is a pomadora sauce, you can blanch the tomatoes and skin them, then run through food mill or sieve.