Low Sodium Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

There are quite a few things that I made on a regular basis. Weekly dinner menus in my house usually consist of a chicken day, a fish day, taco day, and a spaghetti day. I've been trying to make more conscious food choices for my entire family. While reading the ingredients and nutrition facts of a jar of spaghetti the other day, I was gobsmacked to learn that every single jar of sauce contained approximately 350-400mg of sodium PER SERVING!!! This is extreme considering the recommended sodium intake for the average person is somewhere on the lines of 1500mg daily. For some people the sodium in one serving of sauce is acceptable. However, a jar of sauce contains about seven servings and most people don't have just one serving of sauce with their noodles. With a single meal, you could easily consume the entire recommended daily allowance of sodium! For people with high blood pressure (like myself) that extra sodium isn't only unnecessary, but extremely unhealthy.

I left the store feeling hopeful though. I've made several food items from scratch and jumped on the chance to make my own spaghetti sauce. Within the hour, I had made a sauce that was sweet, tangy, and had just enough kick of spice that I will only make my own spaghetti sauce from now on. And the best part of it was the entire pot of sauce contained 200mg of sodium, and it was from the store-bought tomato paste! I added ground beef to my sauce, but you can add whatever else you want to the base sauce. Next time I plan on making a mushroom marinara instead of beef.

This is what you'll need for the spaghetti sauce:

6 medium tomatoes

1 medium onion

1 head of garlic (about 5-6 cloves)

1 large bell pepper

1 10-ounce can tomato paste

To taste:

Basil

Oregano

Thyme

Pepper 

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil. In that boiling water, add the tomatoes. Boil tomatoes for one minute. The skin should start puckering and peeling off. Transfer tomatoes to a pot of cold water and peel the tomato skins off in the pot of cold water. Quarter the peeled tomatoes and transfer into an empty pot.

2. In the pot of quartered tomatoes, add the remaining vegetable (all chopped into small pieces), garlic (peeled and chopped as well), and the herbs. Put the stove burner on medium low and allow tomatoes and vegetables to stew for half an hour. Be sure to check the vegetables periodically so that they don't burn to the bottom of the pot.

3. Once tomatoes are mushy and there is lots of liquid in the pot (about 30 minutes), take a a potato masher and mash the remaining large tomatoes up into much smaller pieces. It will literally look as if you are making a stew.

4. Once the tomatoes and vegetables are mashed up, add the tomato paste. Mix all together and season additionally if needed. 

5. Allow spaghetti sauce to summer on low for at least another 15 minutes, taking time to stir frequently.

Once the tomato paste is mixed in, you can add in pre-cooked beef or raw mushrooms. Thicker veggies can be added in with the other veggies before you start stewing them. 

We put our sauce over a bed of blue and green noodles (Chloe's idea!) and served them with salad and garlic bread. This was the first time ever that I didn't feel guilty about spaghetti night at my house! I knew that it was healthy and hearty. The sauce got rave reviews in my house last night. Even our German Shepard, Ascha, liked it! 

I hope you give the sauce a try. It's extremely easy to make and you could put it over anything. I'm thinking about making a baked eggplant Parmesan with my sauce next time.

Happy Friday, everyone! I've worked out every day for the last 12 days. I'm taking a much-deserved day off from the gym, but will be back at it tomorrow! Have a wonderful weekend and I hope to hear your comments on the sauce!