Today, I am doing Spaghetti Bolognese for dinner, using a jar of Ragu sauce.
I am adding an onion, a couple of crushed cloves of garlic, a spoonful of sugar, a squirt of tomato puree and a little bit of salt.
Is there anything that YOU add to a jar of sauce, whether it is Bolognese sauce or any other sauce ?

Depends on the sauce and what ingredients it has and how it tastes.

I haven't hand Dolmio/Ragu for years but I remember them being sweet anyway.

When the brown sauce and ketchup is nearly empty and it's difficult to shake any more out I add some vinegar and swirl it around.....it then pours easily

Eye of newt and toe of frog, wool of bat and tongue of dog.

Can you get woolly bats ??
Are they like tiny flying sheep ?

I usually make my own curries but the odd time I'm in a rush I use a Lloyd Grossman Balti sauce and add fresh tomatoes, fresh coriander and a pinch of chilli powder. It's surprisingly good.

I sometimes do something similar when I don't have time to faff about with my preferred curry recipe. I'll add onion, a stupid amount of garlic, green peppers, chillies and fresh coriander. For some reason it never occurred to me to add fresh tomatoes; I might give that a try next time.

Adding fresh coriander is something that I've only started to do in the last couple of years. If anyone reading this hasn't tried it before (whether using a home-made sauce or jarred) I urge you to give it a shot, because it makes an enormous difference.

If you want a fairly neutral sauce then go for passata.

There are several varieties ranging from plain, just seived tomatoes, to ones with onion and garlic processed into the mix and also chunky versions.


No added salt or sugar like with pasta/other cuisine sauces but make a great base.

I agree. Passata is the one thing I'd never be without.

If you add all that why don't you just make your own?

Me too.

If i buy an oriental sauce i will normally add my own veg in addition to the meat. I wouldn't add any flavourings though, unless there wasn't enough and i might bulk it out with some soy sauce/chlli sauce.

What's the point in buying a jar of sauce if you going to add lots of your own flavouring type ingredients? You may as well just cook from scratch.

For a bolgnase there is no point in EVER buying a jar though. Its so easy to make a much nicer one yourself, not to mention better value and better tasting too!

It does seem odd. The only things missing from using passata or a tin of tomatoes (or fresh) is herbs. Drieg oregano is popular for Italian sauces.

It maybe that the deal for Rugu jars is a decent offer and works out at good value to buy a jar of it instead of passata/tomatoes?

Saying that, if they enjoy the flavour that ragu and the additions make then fair enough.

Water, to make it go further.

I don't buy pre-made pasta sauce (too easy to make your own - see relevant thread), but if I have baked beans, 9/10 times I'll add some variation of salt, pepper, sugar, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, soya sauce, herbage, onion, bell pepper, mushroom, courgette, tomato puree, bacon, chicken.

Similar story if buy a jar of curry sauce (the cheap Sainsbury's one).

I use red wine to rinse out the jar for anything that isn't vey white or creamy looking.

I can't stand most jar sauces but the Lloyd Grossman ones are in a class of their own. Much better than the cheaper brands - definitely worth the bit of extra cost.

The sweet red pepper pasta sauce is particularly good. Half a jar of that added to a quick home-made tomato sauce (onions, tinned toms, herbs etc) really does enhance it.

Never water, especially to a curry sauce. Sometimes my mum does it and it ruins the sauce. A curry sauce shouldn't be watery..

It makes me cringe when I hear people say they add sugar to pasta sauces! Try some chopped carrot instead if you feel you must sweeten it.

There are few things that aren`t improved by adding mushrooms!

As regards pasta sauce I recommend Newman`s Own Diavolo but I like to sieve it so it`s velvety smooth. Mmmmmm....

If I’m using a jarred sauce it’s because I’m feeling really lazy so no, I won’t add anything to it as it defeats the objective. Except black pepper, I’ll always add pepper.

Mostly though, I’ll just make my own. The only “sauce” I don’t regularly make myself is pesto, but that’s because I can’t be bothered to clean out the blender afterwards and find the jars of pesto just as good and much more convenient. Even then, I don’t add anything to it (aside from the pasta).

To a jar of lemon curd, I always add more lemon juice (to make it more tangy and less sickly sweet).

For the same reason, I also do this with jams and marmalades.

Herbs, white pepper, red wine, stock cube, olive oil, small squirt of tomato ketchup, tomato puree, nutmeg, Worcester sauce, onion, garlic, paprika, mushrooms, lemon juice, red or sweet peppers, carrots and celery.

I don't add all of them every time, but I certainly do it to use things up that are going to go off otherwise.

I suppose I can put so much in that you have to wonder what the point of the jar is, but it bulks it up and does ad its own elements to the flavour.

I only add sugar for children or the elderly!

I fond Lloyd Grossman sauces the best, and I'm not very keen on most of the supermarket own brands. It's a shame Lloyd Grossman sauces don't sell that well. I read a couple of years ago that the company who make them were having trouble selling them and there was even talk about axing them. Perhaps they need a silly gimmick?