When fellow foodie and blogger Lisa Pietsch started talking about sauce in the forums, I had no idea that there is actually a debate on whether or not to add sugar to spaghetti sauce. In one corner Lisa and I stand, firm in our non-sugar stance. I’ve never tasted Lisa’s sauce, but it looks divine (don’t worry–I’ll share the recipe in another blog), and I can tell you that my sugarless sauce is to die for. When we have church potlucks, people call me and ask if I’ll bring that.
But then Nikki Goodson (fellow Deals blogger) joined the discussion pointing out that her spouse is Italian and he always adds sugar to his sauces and that sauce, well sauces and Italians go together like fish in the sea. So I became curious as to why you’d add sugar to a sauce and I must say that Nikki’s husband is in good company because even Fannie Farmer adds sugar to her spaghetti sauce. So what’s the deal?
A little sugar in sauce reduces the acidity to the tomatoes. It’s not the only thing you can add however, and as someone who is limiting my sugar intake to my morning coffee, I’m just fine with acidic tomatoes thank you very much. You can also add about a teaspoon of baking soda (per 2 cups of sauce) to reduce acidity or my favorite idea thus far: some grated carrots. Carrots are natural sweeteners and I can tell you that the sneaky mama uses them in some of her food to make it more kid friendly.
So which corner are you in? Do you march to the beat of your own tune and NOT add sugar to your spaghetti sauce? Or do you add sugar to reduce your spaghetti sauce to reduce the acidity of tomatoes.
Valorie Delp shares recipes and kitchen tips in the food blog, solves breastfeeding problems, shares parenting tips, and current research in the baby blog, and insight, resources and ideas as a regular guest blogger in the homeschooling blog. To read more articles by Valorie Delp, click here.
Are you subscribed to the Families.com Food Blog? With the click of a button, you can receive an email notification anytime a new blog is posted in the Families.com Food Blog! Just look to the right of this blog and find the subscription center (it looks just like this picture). Click on “Subscribe via Email”. You’ll be instantly subscribed and the email address that you registered at Families.com with will receive an instant notification whenever we post a new Food Blog! Don’t miss a thing – subscribe now!