Making this sauce with whole grain spaghetti noodles is one of my “veggie heavy dinner that’s not a salad” staples. I throw veggies, tomatoes, and some spices into a pot and BOOM. Dinner made, and the sauce sticks to the noodles. Also it’s freezer friendly.

Best of all, if you have kids, this sauce is WAY easy to sneak veggies into. Just blend the sauce together after it’s all cooked to eliminate any evidence of those “gross nasty” vegetable chunks and get a nice smooth texture. (Just make sure to remove the bay leaves first!)

The photos above are the same sauce. The one on the left (on top) is the original, and the one on the right (on bottom) is blended and dressed up with some cheese and oregano. I mean just look at how dreamy smooth and unthreatening this sauce looks. Your kids won’t even know they’re eating carrots, or celery or onions or whatever their food-aversion of choice is.

If you’re watching your sodium or sugar intake, this sauce has less than half the sodium and sugar than the leading canned brands and is packed with way more nutrition. Trust me. You can also add some lean protein to this dish by adding some ground turkey, or if you want to get fancy, try making my home made “tender turkey meatballs”. They’re so worth the extra few minutes it takes to put them together.

When I prep this sauce for the freezer I don’t bother cooking any of it. I just chop up all of the ingredients and put them all (except for the olive oil) into a gallon sized bag and lay it flat in my freezer. When it comes time to use it, I thaw it in cool water until I’m able to break it up into small enough pieces to throw in a crock-pot or into a pot on the stove. It’s simple meal prep at it’s finest.

Print Recipe

Veggie Spaghetti Sauce

Course

Main Dish

Cuisine

Italian

Servings

real people

Ingredients

• 2-3 tsp olive oil $0.03
• 1 medium onion, diced (1.5 cups) $0.36
• 1 tbsp garlic, minced $0.06
• 3 medium carrots, grated (1.5-2 cups) $.024
• 3 stalks celery, finely chopped (.75-1 cup) $0.24
• 1 bell pepper, diced $0.88
• 1 6 oz can tomato paste $0.67
• 1 15 oz can tomato sauce $0.79
• 2 15 oz cans diced tomatoes $1.62
• 1 tsp chicken bouillon $0.03
• 1 tsp oregano $0.45
• 1 tsp parsley $0.78
• 1 tsp black pepper $0.10
• 1 tsp basil $0.42
• 3 bay leaves, broken in half $0.27
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese (optional) $0.60

Course Main Dish Cuisine Italian Servings real people Ingredients 2-3 tsp olive oil $0.03 1 medium onion, diced (1.5 cups) $0.36 1 tbsp garlic, minced $0.06 3 medium carrots, grated (1.5-2 cups) $.024 3 stalks celery, finely chopped (.75-1 cup) $0.24 1 bell pepper, diced $0.88 1 6 oz can tomato paste $0.67 1 15 oz can tomato sauce $0.79 2 15 oz cans diced tomatoes $1.62 1 tsp chicken bouillon $0.03 1 tsp oregano $0.45 1 tsp parsley $0.78 1 tsp black pepper $0.10 1 tsp basil $0.42 3 bay leaves, broken in half $0.27 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese (optional) $0.60

Instructions

To Serve Immediately:

1. On medium high heat in a sauté pan or Dutch oven, heat olive oil with garlic and onion until the onion is soft. Meanwhile, grate the carrots, and chop up the celery and bell pepper. (I cut the celery into quarters lengthwise so they're long skinny strips and then continue to chop them up into tiny pieces.) Add the veggies to the pan as you prepare them. There's no particular order they need to go in, just get them in so they can start softening and keep the onions from burning!)
2. Add all the remaining ingredients and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and let the flavors meld uncovered for AT LEAST 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. I would recommend letting the sauce simmer and reduce for an hour or more so the bay leaves have some time to release their warm delicious flavor.
3. When you're ready to eat, cook the noodles according to the instructions on their packaging. When they're done cooking, add a few tablespoons of the starchy noodle water to the sauce to help it stick to your noodles and thin it out to your desired consistency. This works best if you've let your sauce reduce for 45+ minutes. If you don't want your sauce to be thinner than it already is, skip out on adding the noodle water.
4. TIP: To be sneaky and make this sauce kid friendly, blend it all together after it's cooked so there are no "nasty" chunks. (Just make sure to remove the bay leaves first!)

Freezer instructions:

1. Label a freezer safe, gallon, zip lock bag with "Veggie Spaghetti Sauce" and write these instructions below: 1. Thaw --> Crock Pot low: 6-8 hours, high: 4 hours OR 2. Thaw --> Stove top uncovered 1+ hours, OR until heated through 3. Use noodle water to thin and serve. (optional)4. remove bayleaves and blend for kids
2. Put the gallon bag into a bowl. This will help support the sides of the bag so the contents don't spill out like they would if you were to set it on the counter. Combine all of the ingredients except for the olive oil and noodle water into the bag. I promise it all fits!
3. Seal up the bag with as little air remaining inside as possible and lay it flat in your freezer overnight. The next day you'll have a delicious bag of frozen sauce that you can store in whatever position you'd like! This sauce will keep frozen for 4 months.
4. TIP: To be sneaky and make this sauce kid friendly, blend it all together after it's cooked so there are no "nasty" chunks. (Just make sure to remove the bay leaves first!)

Recipe Notes

Serving Size: 1 cup

Servings: 11 cups

Pricing:

Total for sauce: $7.54

Cost per cup: $0.69

Nutrition per Serving: (1 cup)

Calories: 95

Protein: 3.8 grams

Carbs: 15.2 grams

Fat: 2.2 grams

Sodium: 389.5 mg

Sugar: 8.1 g

Fiber: 3.9 g

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