Marcella Hazan has a classic tomato sauce with onion and butter that is amazingly simple—just tomatoes cooked with a whole onion, butter, and salt to taste of course. It is as delicious as it is simple. Even better, it is still delicious with canned tomato sauce and no salt.
If you're short on time or energy, there are lots of salt free marinara sauces on the market. My favorites are from Trader Joe's and Sprouts. See my Tips, below, for how to add more flavor to a jarred marinara sauce. Whatever sauce you use, toss it with spaghetti and low sodium meatballs for a quick and comforting weeknight meal. Or cut the carbs by serving over zucchini noodles!
Servings: 8
Sodium: 120 mg sodium (includes 4 meatballs, about 1 ounce each) Time: 1 hour
Sauce Ingredients:
1 28-ounce can unsalted tomato sauce
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and halved
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
Other ingredients:
1 pound spaghetti or other pasta, cooked according to package
Optional - fresh basil, ground black pepper, balsamic vinegar, or nutritional yeast for serving
1) Combine tomato sauce, onion, and butter in a small saucepan and simmer, covered, for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2) Meanwhile, make low sodium meatballs.
3) About 10 minutes before the sauce is done, cook pasta according to directions. Toss hot pasta with sauce and meatballs, and sprinkle with fresh basil, black pepper, a splash of balsamic vinegar, or nutritional yeast to taste.
TIPS:
-Trader Joe's also makes a great low sodium marinara sauce without all the butter. Sprouts has one also. I'll add a little more flavor to jarred marinara sauce (about 24-25 ounce jars) by adding 1 tablespoon of tomato paste and then heating it up to combine. Let the sauce cool for 5 minutes than add 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, 6 cloves of pressed raw garlic, and lots of fresh basil. You could even add a touch of heavy cream!