Keep The Nutritional Value In Mind
While adding sugar may make the sauce taste better, sugar is also unhealthy. Avoid it if you are trying to watch your fat and calorie intake, and be sure you check out the nutritional value of the sauce to understand what one serving has.
Even the best jar spaghetti sauce on our list is more fattening that we prefer, which is why we have included the info of each jar in our reviews of the top three.
Rao’s Homemade Sensitive Formula Marinara Sauce
This marinara was formulated without onions or garlic for those who suffer from gastric distress or are following a low FODMAP diet, have IBS, or have many food sensitivities. If you don’t suffer from any of these ailments, don’t bother with this sauce. It’s high in calories and high in fateven if it’s the healthy kind, it should still be eaten in moderation.
Can I Use Dried Herbs
We recommend using fresh herbs if possible. This will give you the best possible flavor. Nothing beats the taste of fresh basil
Not to mention youll feel like youre truly cooking from scratch.
However, you can use dried herbs if you really want to. Dried herbs are often much more affordable than fresh herbs, and theres less chance of any unused bits going to waste in the back of your fridge.
Or, maybe this is the excuse youve been needing to start your own herb garden! Did you know you can easily grow a pot of basil on a sunny kitchen windowsill?
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Why Trust The Spruce Eats
The Spruce Eats writer Alyssa Langer is a registered dietitian and foodie, always curious about the next food or ingredient craze and hungry to learn, and try more. Having worked in cookbook publishing, CPG label data, nutrition writing, and meal kits, her diverse background and varied interests provide a unique perspective that fosters clear, well-researched and trustworthy reviews.
What Is The Best Low Carbohydrate Diet For Diabetics
The best low-carb diet you can choose is a diet with quality. That means that you should always add more fiber and other useful nutrients and protein. Your blood sugar level will tend to rise less quickly and especially not reach high peaks. Add more wholemeal bread, brown rice, vegetables, and fruit to your daily diet.
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Storing Low Carb Pasta Sauce
For those of us who are constantly running around and need healthy, rewarding keto meals in a bind, this low carb pasta sauce will hit the spot!
Low carb foods that end up being the easiest to store and reheat are absolutely some of my faves All you need to do to store this sauce, is to find an airtight container and keep it refrigerated for a few days.
If you make it in a big batch, or even double the recipe, then freeze leftovers for meal inspiration whenever youre in a pinch!
Best Lower Sugar: Prego No Sugar Added Traditional Tomato Sauce
Tomato sauce, and plenty of other jarred products, can be sources of hidden sugars. Prego specifically offers a no-sugar-added variety, so if that’s what you’re looking for, you can be confident the only sugar in the sauce is natural sugar from the tomatoes themselves . This sauce contains all the flavorful ingredients youd expect of a delicious tomato sauce: tomato puree, diced tomatoes, onions, garlic, and more. A 1/2-cup serving contains 6 grams of sugar and 460 milligrams of sodium.
If youre in the mood to seriously dress up your typical spaghetti and meatballs dinner, look no further than Truffs Black Truffle Pomodoro Sauce, which will infuse your meal with that decadent, rich truffle flavor we know and love to order at fancy restaurants. The sauce contains several truffle-containing ingredients to give it a complex truffle flavor, as well as the usual tomato sauce suspects, like tomato puree, onion, and herbs and spices.
A 1/2-cup serving contains 7 grams of sugar and 1030 milligrams of sodium. Keep this product in mind around the holiday season the sleek jar and steeper price tag will make it a great gift for foodie friends.
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Barilla Rustic Basil Pesto
If marinara or alfredo is still not what you are looking for, then this Barilla Rustic Basil Pesto may be a good non-sugar added choice for you.
The ingredients are relatively simple.
It is made with basil, sunflower oil, spinach, garlic, Grana Padano cheese, cashews, potato flakes, pecorino roman cheese, lactic acid, and yeast extract.
However, compared to the other sauces on the list this pesto is not as natural.
It is also the only sauce on the list that is not vegan friendly, and it does have a bit higher sodium content at 20% of the daily value. However, where it shines is its lack of sugar as it has 0 grams of sugar, the lowest on the list.
So, if for some reason sugar content is important to your health and dietary needs or marinara and alfredo sauces are not for you, this Barilla Basil Pesto is an excellent option.
Tips For Low Sodium Spaghetti Sauce
To make the sauce more flavorful you can sub in low sodium chicken broth or wine in place of the water that the recipe calls for. There are some comments below about adding wine to the recipe but feel free to do that if you wish. Again adding wine or chicken broth instead of water is optional.
I like to buy the jars of already chopped garlic that are at the grocery store to save time on dicing the garlic myself. You can buy fresh garlic and chop that yourself.
This spaghetti sauce withoutthe ground beef added to it is 1 smart point per serving.
I like to buy the 96% lean ground beef at Wal-mart to add to this pasta sauce. One 2oz serving of this sauce with the ground beef added is 2 smart points.
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Low Carb Tomato Sauce With No Added Sugar
Everyone is always complaining about how expensive different brands of low carb tomato sauces are. Were say to make your own with our recipe thats keto friendly and no added sugar. Yup, its definitely finished in 5 minutes in the blender and instantly you have a low carb marinara sauce. You an use it for zucchini noodles, dipping or when ever your recipe calls for keto friendly low carb marinara sauce.
Low Carb Marinara Variations
Here are a few variations to this low carb marinara sauce if youre feeling a bit frisky:
Adding other veggies into the mix, like bell peppers, mushrooms, or even more garlic, can all enhance the sauce and bring about new pockets of flavor. Plus, more veggies wont break the bank when you plan your low carb food list.
You can also use different or additional herbs. Maybe youre a spice lover and want to add some red pepper flakes to the recipe. Have at it! You can even toast a few herbs ahead of time in a dry skillet over low heat in order torelease their aromas and draw out flavors.
Consider this a blank keto spaghetti sauce canvas, and youre creating your masterpiece!
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More Keto Recipes Like This
The great thing about this recipe is it can be used in so many different dishes. Check out some of our best Italian keto recipes and put that sauce to good use:
- Keto Pasta Thats right, we made low-carb pasta and its absolutely amazing.
- Keto Chicken Parmesan An easy keto weeknight comfort meal thats big on flavor.
- Keto Pizza A low-carb pizza made with our famous fathead dough.
- Keto Pizza Casserole No time to make dough? No problem!
- Zero Carb Pizza Recipe The ultimate low-carb comfort meal.
If you love keto Italian recipes as much as we do, make sure to check out our entire library here.
Did You Make This Recipe
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Primal Kitchen Alfredo Sauce
If marinara is not for you and you are looking for a healthy alfredo sauce, Primal Kitchen is the brand for you.
The biggest perk to Primal Kitchens Alfredo sauce is that it does not contain any dairy at all.
However, it still has the rich and cheesy taste you expect when eating a traditional alfredo sauce.
The ingredient list is also simple containing water, cashew butter, tapioca starch, avocado oil, sea salt, roasted garlic, onion powder, pepper, lemon juice, citric acid, and nutritional yeast.
Though it may seem like an odd list of ingredients, with these included foods Primal Kitchens Alfredo sauce has an extremely low amount of sugar coming in at less than 1 gram of sugar.
In addition to just 15% of the daily value of sodium, this alfredo sauce is an excellent choice for those who want a healthier version of the delectable sauce.
Primal Kitchens Alfredo sauce is also vegan, vegetarian, and acceptable on the paleo diet.
Primal Kitchen Tomato Basil Marinara Sauce
If you’ve gone on any kind of restrictive diet, you might already know about this diet-friendly pick from Primal Kitchen, which boasts an impressive roster of health accolades, from being soy- and gluten-free to being certified Paleo and Whole 30 approved. Plus, it’s made with heart-healthy avocado oil instead of canola or soybean oil, so you’ll get an extra boost of good fats.
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How To Add Sugar To Your Spaghetti Sauce
That secret pinch of sugar is one of the last steps I take before letting the sauce simmer away on the stovetop to thicken up. You can use either white or brown sugar. Personally, I prefer packed brown sugar, but experiment to see which gives you the best results. I also make sure to add a dollop of butter to my pasta sauce. Like sugar, butter mellows out some of the biting acidity and gives the sauce a slightly richer texture thanks to its high-fat content. How much sugar should you add to your spaghetti sauce? You could add a pinch of sugar and keep tasting and adding until the flavor really starts to brighten and become more well-rounded, says Taste of Home Deputy Editor James Schend.
When Im making spaghetti from scratch, I start small with ¼ teaspoon and adjust as needed. The key is to give the sauces components time to come together, just the same as you would if you were adding salt. Buon appetito!
Can I Use Fresh Tomatoes
Sure. We prefer using canned tomatoes to save on prep time, but you can totally chop up your own tomatoes and use these instead.
This also means you can hand-pick your own fragrant, on-the-vine tomatoes from the store for maximum flavor.
Just make sure you have the right amount of tomatoes for this recipe that should be around 14.5oz.
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Ragu Old World Style Organic Traditional
Like Bertolli, Ragu does right by using all organic products in their Traditional sauce. . Unfortunately, their attempt to do right is foiled by their offenses of adding inflammatory soybean oilwhich, we’re happy to say is at least organic, and thus pesticide- and carcinogen-freeand sugar to the sauce.
Things To Consider When Purchasing Jarred Pasta Sauce
As much as we would love to be able to whip up homemade pasta sauce whenever our pasta craving comes calling, it is truly unrealistic.
Now with such high-quality sauces on the market, making homemade sauce is not as necessary, especially when trying to whip up a quick and easy meal.
However, there are a few important features to consider when purchasing store-bought tomato sauces. They include:
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Arent Tomatoes Too High In Net Carbs For Keto
Tomatoes are a fruit, which means theyre a little higher in carbs than most low-carb vegetables. But that doesnt mean you have to avoid them on a keto diet.
Tomatoes can definitely be enjoyed in small amounts without blowing your daily carb budget. This recipe uses just one can of tomatoes over two to three servings, which is hardly anything to worry about.
Not to mention tomatoes are loaded with health benefits! They even contain potassium, an electrolyte thats super important to stay on top of if you follow a keto diet.
In other words, tomatoes are definitely a keto-friendly vegetable. We use them all the time in our Italian dishes. And in our opinion, a keto diet without tomatoes just isnt worth it!
Prego Lower Sodium Traditional
It might be good for your heart because it’s lower in sodiumcompared to the other Prego sauces, that is. But if you’re looking for low sodium, check out our best list of healthy spaghetti sauce brands below for an “Eat This”-approved recipe. Because between the excess amount of sugar and inflammatory omega-6s from the canola oil, this sauce really isn’t as heart-friendly as we’d like.
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How To Eat Keto Spaghetti Sauce
So, youve got your keto spaghetti sauce down, now what?! To be honest, this is one of those low carb recipes that can be added to anything and taste delicious.
The simplest option.Serving this sauce over low carb pastas thatre already prepared and packaged from your local grocery store. When pairing this sauce with a premade low carb spaghetti recipe, dinner will be ready in NO time! Already prepared keto noodles include:
- Shirataki noodles these are thin, translucent noodles, made from the konjac yam. These noodles are often zero-calorie and very low carb, making them a great option to top with this keto spaghetti sauce! Plus, they come prepared right out of the package for very low maintenance, low carb meal prep. THESE ARE AN ACQUIRED TASTE! Test out these noodles to be sure you enjoy their flavor.
- Spiralized veggies stick with zucchini, summer squash or butternut squash for low carb options
- Black bean spaghetti these are higher in TOTAL carbs than the 2 options above, but SO full of protein and a staple in my pantry! If your keto eating plan allows, I recommend giving them a try!
A little more prep.Keto spaghetti squash is another great option if you want to keep the meal in the veggie family. Spaghetti squash will just need to be roasted in the oven, then scraped into noodles for a carb friendly option that yields a lot of keto pasta!
Like I said, low carb meal plan ideas abound!
How To Make Easy Keto Tomato Sauce
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How Long Does Jarred Pasta Sauce Last
Jarred pasta sauce can last from 6 months to 1 year in your pantry. However, all sauces will have an expiration date on their jar. Go by that date rather than when you purchased it.
In the fridge, opened pasta sauce can last between 5-7 days. You can also freeze leftover pasta sauce in your freezer for about 6 months.
Remember, to mark your pasta sauce in both your fridge and freezer so you do not forget the open date.
Homemade Marinara Sauce Versus Store Bought Marinara
Healthy, delicious, sugar-free tomato sauce is hard to come by in a jar or can. Most often it contains ingredients I don’t want in my body, like sugar. For those with gluten sensitivities, buying store bought of any product can be challenging. Most jarred tomato sauces are gluten free, but isn’t it better to be able to be in control of what goes into your body by simply making your own?
It is not as long a process as one might think. Its very simple, economical and tastes even better! It’s much less expensive to buy 2 cans of crushed tomato than it is to buy 2 jars of prepared marinara sauce.
So when you have a hankering for some delicious, authentic Italian sauce , you must try this. You will never want to buy prepared sauce again!
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What Is The Best Brand Of Tomato Sauce
I know that Raos is a big hit with a lot of my friends you know, when we meet at the park for a power walk and discuss the best pasta sauces you can buy. Sure, we talk about workouts, the kids, mom guilt, and all of that. And yes, the discussion often turns to whats for dinner.
Raos has a lot of what we are looking for, such as low-fat content and simple, good-for-you ingredients. The flavor is rich and the consistency is perfect for pouring over your favorite pasta.
