Best Basic Meat Sauce Recipe - Simply Scratch (2024)

FAQs

How do you make a sauce more tasty? ›

Even better, season it! Taste the sauce once it's warm and add some seasoning. Maybe it needs a touch of salt, red pepper flakes, or some fresh garlic to liven it up. You could add dried or fresh herbs too: oregano, basil, thyme, tarragon, parsley—they're all great!

You could simmer the sauce for a few more minutes — this will reduce some of the liquid and leave you with a thicker sauce. For a quicker fix, make a slurry with one part water and one part cornstarch. Stir the slurry slowly into the sauce until you've reached the desired thickness.

Sauce making begins with a flavor base of aromatics, reductions of wine, vinegar, or other spirits, the addition of flavorful liquids, including stocks, milk, or cream, and various seasonings.

To thicken a soup, stew, or sauce, leaving the lid uncovered is ideal. "It must be off, or semi-covered, if you are slowing down the reduction process," says Stephen Chavez, chef-instructor at the Institute of Culinary Education.

Lose the fat, keep the flavor.

Be sure to drain the fat from the meat before adding it to the slow cooker. Although using a lean beef like ground sirloin already cuts some of the fat, draining the meat is one more smart step to preventing a greasy sauce.

This will give the sauce a more pungent and aromatic flavor. Dried herbs: Dried oregano, basil, and parsley are all classic Italian herbs that go well in spaghetti sauce. Add 1/2 teaspoon of each to the sauce. Red pepper flakes: If you like a little heat, add a pinch of red pepper flakes to the sauce.

Pungent fresh herbs like thyme, rosemary, sage, tarragon, and marjoram can liven up tomato sauce with their bold, distinctive flavors. Add 1 to 2 sprigs of one or more of them to your favorite sauce, cover, and simmer at least 5 minutes to allow them to infuse in the sauce. Remove the sprigs before serving.

Why add cream cheese to spaghetti sauce? ›

It may sound a little unusual to add cream cheese to a pasta recipe, but it adds a tangy note and rich creaminess to the sauce. You can also add extra seasonings and other ingredients to the base recipe to fit your personal taste.

Reduce Your Liquid

One way to make your soup or sauce thicker is by reducing it in a saucepan. For this tip, try dividing your liquid in half, then in two saucepans, reduce your sauce to a low heat simmer. Reducing a liquid can also cause the flavors to become more pronounced and vibrant.

Briny ingredients like olives or capers are another way to brighten up your pasta sauce while also introducing texture and depth of flavor. Roughly chop a handful and stir them into your sauce while it's heating up on the stove.

Flat or bland sauce likely needs a hit of something acidic to lift and enhance its flavors, such as a small splash of high-quality, flavorful vinegar, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, or a few drops of not-too-fiery hot sauce.