To think that sauces from jars are much nicer than homemade?

[Satine5]

Or am I just a rubbish cook? I don't buy ready meals, but I can't get over my love of ready made sauces. As hard as I try, a can of chopped tomatoes and herbs are never as nice as a jar of good old loyd grossman bolognese sauce. What am I doing wrong? Same with hummus- I tried making my own and it was vile!

Yes, sweet and sour is basically tomatoes, brown sugar, pineapple juice and vinegar.

Again, it doesnt have that horrible gelatanous texture that you get from the jar or the takeaway one.

The trick with any of them is just to try it out and have the confidence to change amounts etc until you get it to your taste.

I disagree with picnic btw, I think homemade sauces have much more taste, the jar ones taste chemical.

Passata here too, my DS is extraordinarily fussy, but would eat pasta with homemade tomato sauce every night if I let him, sometimes I have to make it in a bit of a hurry, when I realise my freezer stocks have run out and it isn't as nice but he still wolfs it down.

If I remember, I do it in the slowcooker, soften the veg first in a frying pan, then let the whole lot simmer for the afternoon. That's how I got converted to passata, tinned tomatoes didn't seem to break down very well in the slowcooker.

Some stuff I make is nicer than jars, tomato pasta sauce, Thai curry
(I make the paste from scratch), bolognese sauce. I have made good humous, but the pesto I made was vile. I also can't make a good sweet and sour sauce. Any shop bought tomato pasta sauce is beyond vile!!!

YABU, for all reasons already given. But homemade hummus is tricky. I've found that loads of garlic oil (no raw garlic) does the trick. And a generous pinch of salt.

rhondajean - surely the point of sweet and sour sauce is the horrible gelatinous texture though?

I've never had success with sweet & sour.

White sauce made in the microwave is brill though, perfect every time.

And passata over tinned tomatoes here too!

Op about a year or two ago i could of wrote your op, its not that you cant cook i find that a very negative thing to say to someone tbh just that you dont know how yet, i tried and tried to make a good homemade tomato sauce and found every attempt vile recipes just wernt working and fresh basil kept dying! so one day i messed around adding my own quantities and using dried herbs and made a gorgeous sauce and now i wouldnt dream of using a jar you can really taste the chemical taste of them once you are used to your own.

For my sauce i use a chopped onion, tin of toms, squeeze of tom paste and squeeze of garlic paste, a good bit of dried basil, oregano and pinch of italian mixed herbs, simmer for good 20 mins blend if you wish, from that you can add extras to mix up the meals i add a beef stock cube and mushrooms when doing bolognese, marscapone when doing pasta bake etc i make a nice sweet and sour using tom ketchup, muscavoado sugar and malt vinegar tastes closest to chinese imo, i have a really basic list of meals i can actually cook and a couple of years ago we lived of jars and freezer food but im getting there it takes time.

Problem im having now is making other sauces cottage pie etc without stock cubes/gravy as im weaning lo.

latte can I ask about using garlic paste. How decent a flavour can you get from it? I use garlic powder or garlic salt and tbh it is a bit hit and miss. Dts find using proper garlic a bit much so I was thinking of changing to paste.

Hijack over, please return to normal service.

the flavour of garlic paste is quite good, it's just garlic and oil. and being in a tube means you can add a little or more.

Ahhhhh! What a lovely, humble, thread OP, I like you :o FWIW I think some jars are great but others (the Dolmio ones for example) are not so good.

I think it gives a better flavour for me than actual garlic but then i did always burn garlic and ruin it lol its very handy too and you can keep adding to taste as you go

I've started using that ginger paste in a tube. It is so handy since I love ginger but if I buy some root ginger I use a bit of it and the rest goes off. It's great.

Yup, garlic paste is great when you don't want chunks of it. Better flavour than powder or granules

Jamie -ministry of food is a must for all new cooks..........
YANBU but you'll never look back if you cook a nice sauce.

definately use passata, add onions, tin of tomatoes peppers, garlic, herbs, and a dash of anything in the cupboard eg worcester sauce, soy sauce, chilli sauce etc. add a stock cube and for a really thick tasty sauce for meatballs chuck in a tin of condensed tomato soup and some frozen sweetcorn.yummy.

I prefer homemade to jars, especially pasta or curry sauce although I will admit to sometimes buying ready made pesto and hummous. It's often a case of trial and error I think, you need to experiment a bit to find a recipe that suits you.

Funnily enough, tonight DH has made himself a chicken curry using sauce from a jar and I am having homemade Dhal which is much nicer imo and actually much cheaper!

My tomato pasta sauce:

Onions, carrots, celery (all finely chopped) and garlic (just crush with the back of a knife) Mix butter and olive oil in a wide pan and cook gently. Add a little water if it starts to catch. Then add a jar of passata, some basil leaves ( don't bother to chop them, the flavour infuses beautifully from the leaves) add a little Parmesan, a small amount of sugar ( to counteract the acidity in the tomatoes) and salt and pepper to taste. If the mouth feel isn't quite right add a little more butter. Heaven!!

I used to find my own homemade pasta sauces gross and boring until I started adding a stock cube! My friend suggested it and it really gives it much more flavour. Adding garlic also adds some yummymess too!

2 parts passata to 1 part red wine. Plus onion, garlic and herbs. Yummy.

YANBU! But then I'm lazy and a crap cook!

I personally think chopped toms give the best pasta sauce where as passata gives an amazing pizza sauce for curry i stopped using jarred sauces but still use a jar in pataks paste, ive not sucessfully made a curry without using paste yet i would like to be able to though

Yabu. So much unnecessary salt and sugar in ready made sauces. Follow a recipe rather than just tinned tomatoes and herbs....

Some brilliant ideas on this thread, thanks all

Much prefer tinned/chopped tomatoes rather than passata as passata has that concentrated intensity so many jars also have. Slowly simmered onions, garlic, tomatoes in olive oil with herbs (I prefer basil), a little salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar is great. If I have time and ingredients, it's even better with carrot and celery with the onion.

I do use Waitrose fresh tomato and mascarpone sauce with spinach and ricotta tortelloni for my children's absolute quick emergency meal - pasta from the freezer and a couple of spoonfuls of sauce plus parmesan. I don't like it myself; it's too bland, but will use up leftovers in other sauces. I have occasionally used jars of curry sauce, but they all have the same salty taste. A jar of sauce is a bit like a tin of baked beans - useful in emergencies (and I know everyone is going to come on here and say how much they like baked beans...)

lattelov3r heinz and kallo do a very low salt stock cubes www.healthysupplies.co.uk/low-salt-stock-chicken-kallo.html?gclid=CJXmoIeozq8CFQHcfAod7EsnBg

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and encouragement