How to Thicken Spaghetti Sauce

Thicken tomato sauce with household ingredients.

The consistency of a watery sauce prevents the sauce from sticking to the pasta and causes the pasta to absorb water, leading to soggy pasta and a ruined meal. Thickening tomato-based sauces requires adding tomato paste, pureed vegetables or meat, depending on your desired flavors. Save a watery sauce by fixing it with simple and savory ingredients in time for service.

Things You'll Need

• Natural thickening agent

Instructions

1. Boil the tomato sauce uncovered for five to 10 minutes to evaporate some of the excess water. Stir the sauce so that it does not stick to the bottom of the pan and burn.

2. Add one can of tomato paste to thicken the sauce. Stir the paste into the sauce and reduce the heat to a medium temperature.

3. Add a cream-based product such as butter, heavy cream or grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese to thicken the spaghetti sauce.

4. Puree one roasted pepper and one onion in a food processor if you desire those flavors in your sauce. Add the pureed vegetables to the sauce as a thickening agent to absorb the water. Stir the pureed vegetables and sauce.

5. Pour 1 cup of olive oil into a skillet. Cook hot or sweet Italian sausage, based on your preference, and ground beef for about 10 minutes until golden brown. Add the sausage and beef to the tomato sauce to absorb the moisture and thicken it. This turns your spaghetti sauce into a Bolognese sauce and creates juicy, flavorful meat.

References

• Food and Wine: Tomato Gravy
• Epicurious: Bolognese Sauce