Is There A Difference Between Jarred and Homemade Sauces?
If you love pasta sauce, then you know there’s a constant debate going on about whether or not jarred pasta sauce is as good as homemade. This is a debate that just goes back and forth, with people choosing one side, and then another. Of course, there are some definite pro’s for the homemade, but there are for jarred sauce as well. Time for a pro’s and cons list.
Pro’s and Cons: Homemade Sauce
Homemade pasta sauce can be the best part of a pasta meal. You sit around your family meal, maybe with some fresh out of the oven garlic bread, and big, juicy meatballs on top of your pasta. Everyone digs in and has a great time. It sounds like a great family meal. The fruits of your endeavor are enjoyed as you finish all the spaghetti on the table. However, homemade sauce takes a lot of time and energy to make! If you’re really making this from scratch, you need all original ingredients. This includes fresh tomatoes (preferably out of your garden), fresh herbs (also out of your garden), onions, garlic, and spices. Then you have to prepare these ingredients and make them into a sauce. You’re chopping, mixing, and stirring everything together into a giant pot of sauce. You could be in the kitchen for an entire day just making this sauce. This doesn’t even include the rest of your meal, like the meatballs that are hand rolled and made, a vegetable, and the delicious garlic bread mentioned before. If you want to spend all day in the kitchen, that’s great, but it’s pretty likely that you have other things that you need to do with your day.
Pro’s and Cons: Jarred Sauce
Jarred sauce is easy to prepare, because it’s already made! You don’t have to slave away chopping herbs and adding spices and creating a sauce because it’s done. This leaves you with more time to spend preparing a real meal for your family. In fact, you can even add to the jarred sauce. You could add more spices, and maybe more herbs for tasting. The modern family just doesn’t have the time to sit down and eat a completely homemade meal anymore, and that’s okay. These days, it’s all we can do to sit down together once a week. It’s commendable to sit down at all with your family, and jarred sauce gives you more time to spend with them. Best of all, it’s easy to save your sauce for another night if you don’t finish it all. Homemade sauce usually needs to be eaten right away, or frozen. Frozen sauce is not ideal, but jars are able to be refrigerated for a few days more. If you crave an easy and quick meal, pasta with jarred sauce is the way to go!