Why is my pasta sauce so bland?

[Spilledmycoffee]

Dd (2.5) would happily live off pasta and asked for it tonight. We didn't have a jar of sauce and I didn't fancy going back out. I'm usually pretty good with a tin of tomatos and some herbs and spices, but pasta sauce has always eluded me. Tonight dd would only eat her pasta if every mouth full had a mound of cheese on it because it was so boring. Can anyone suggest where I might be going wrong? I'd love to stop buying the jars because they're so full of sugar and salt (although perhaps that's the secret?!)

Tonight's sauce was:

1 tin tomatos
Half a stock cube
Pepper
2tsp smoked paprika
2tsp italian herbs and spices
1tsp onion granules
1tsp garlic powder
1tsp oregano
1/2 tsp coriander

It wasn't bad it was just really tasteless. Whats would the above need to make it taste better?

Passetta sauce is half the price of a tin of tomatoes

I always keep a basil plant on the windowsill use fresh garlic and onions. As others have said dried herbs lose something in the process. We grow in a couple of tubs in the garden, sage, thyme, parsley, rosemary, even through the winter you can dash out for some when cooking.

Onions and garlic in butter. Sweat until soft and sweet. Turn heat up add glass of red wine. Bubble furiously to burn of the alcohol and reduce (about 2 mins). Add Italian herbs at the bubbling stage. Once reduced in with the toms and salt(helps to break down toms) and bubble quite furiously then turn down to a simmer. Leave for 40 mins to an hour stirring occasionally. At the end add creme fraiche and a splash of red wine vinegar (adds an amazing sweetness) and a good pinch of Parmesan and some ripped up fresh basil.
Done and perfect.
After Jamie Oliver. Never fails

There doesn't seem to be any oil or fat in your recipe at all. I know it's a cliche but fat really does carry flavour. Just frying the onions and/or garlic in a good glug of olive oil will make a big difference. And definitely passata rather than tinned tomatoes, otherwise you have to cook it down for hours to get any flavour. Passata is a good shortcut.

One fat glove of garlic, 2 tins of whole plum tomatoes, Salt (at least half a teaspoon), Pepper, Sugar, Fresh basil to finish
Simmer until it has thickened and the tomatoes disintegrate

For me it’s the quality of the tinned tomatoes that makes the biggest difference- However we find some of the jarred sauces unenjoyable as they are way too salty and sweet for us. It might just be that your DD is used to those flavours being strong.

Start with frying off either frozen Soarito or make your own with finely chopped celery, onion and carrots. Add one or two chopped red or green peppers, chopped garlic and when softened add a tablespoon of tomato purée and a carton of passata along with oregano.
Simmer for at least an hour, add a slosh of red wine and season to taste.
Utterly delicious especially with added cooked meat balls!

A splodge of Heinz tomato ketchup is my secret ingredient.

I’m shamelessly placemarking to try some of these ideas as my pasta sauce is often somewhat insipid. I suspect that actually the secret ingredient is as shecamefromgreece said, time, which I never leave enough of!

I will try again either tomorrow or Friday and put all this into practice because it all sounds really good, thank you .

Fresh herbs are awkward because I have rabbits but I might try it again. Even windowsill is hit and miss - I once left the kitchen window open to come back and find a rabbit sat on the windowsill polishing off my basil

I discovered last year - when cooking soup with my Cubs - they the secret to a good sauce or soup is celery sautéed in butter with the onion and posh stock cubes.

If you can be arsed, peeling and using fresh tomatoes is well worth the effort. I add chopped up fresh toms to sweated onion and garlic and tomato puree, chuck in fresh basil leaves and simmer for an hour, then blend the sauce until it's smooth.

Try a dollop of red current jelly to give your flavours a boost.

dried herbs are fine

You really dont need a stock cube in a tomato sauce. its too salty. If anything you want to bring out the sweetness. Bit of red wine is also good

Tomato purée, Worcestershire sauce, balsamic vinegar and salt.

I put anchovy’s in mine to give it some gutsy flavour

I once left the kitchen window open to come back and find a rabbit sat on the windowsill polishing off my basil

Balsamic vinegar and a red wine stock pot always add another level to pasta sauce

A tomato sauce needs a bit of sugar in it , I usually add a glob of honey

Agree with a teaspoon of sugar, longer cooking time and my special ingredient is anchovy paste. It doesn't taste fishy, just salty and rich.

And I wouldn't add coriander or paprika, my normal sauce to use with mince is:

Mince, Onion and garlic and celery fried in a pan, drain fat and bung in basil oregano and some mixed herbs (I know they both feature in the mixed herbs but I add them separate too) and tomato puree and cook off.

Then I add a tin of chopped tomatoes, balsamic vinegar and a Tesco red wine stock pot. Tastes immense

Salt and cook on low for longer. Sometimes a bit of balsamic or lemon will give it a lift but the best tomato sauces just need time.

Well my much loved and always eaten pasta sauce is just a tin of tomatoes, pinch of sugar and salt and loads of that frozen chopped basil, simmer for about an hour. It’s lovely. Never put onions or garlic in.

Love the bunny & the basil

A go-to in our house with added benefit of knowing some veggies are going in... tastes and looks like plain tomato sauce and takes no time at all:

3 pack of peppers, chopped
Onion, chopped
A few carrots, chopped
A few cloves of garlic, peeled if you can be bothered
(Any other random veg works in addition, to the above, which are the minimum ingredients.)

Drizzle with olive oil, season if you want, roast in the oven for about half an hour.

Chuck roasted veg in a blender with a tin of tomatoes and some tomato purée. Makes a great sauce for a pasta bake (grill with cheese on top) or just as a quick sauce mixed in with cooked pasta.

Put anything you don’t use into ice cube trays to use again for a quick meal.

Agree with PPs you need to cook it from scratch

One onion diced.
Two cloves garlic.
Swart these in butter and olive oil until softened.
Add some fresh thyme.
Cook off a healthy glug of red wine.
Then cut up 3 big handfuls of tomatoes in to chucks and add in to pot with a bit of water.
2 tbsps of tomatoe purée
If you have the end min of a Parmesan then add this in (I freeze the end hubs of mine and add them in frozen)
If I have a few sundries tomatoes I'll add those too and then blend.
I usually add a good 2 tsps of sugar too
Simmer for at least half an hour until it has really reduced down and is almost the consistency of ketchup. Loose but not watery. Holding together but not puréed.healthy knob of butter in at the end with a mound of Parmesan. Lid back on and leave off the heat for 5 mins. Then give it all a good stir.
Salt and pepper it liberally.
You can then blend this for a really smooth sauce or keep as is

Add the pasta to your sauce and toss it for a really smooth and consistent flavour. Mix in a splash of the pasta water too to make it all blend.
Yum!