Toddler-Approved Italian-Style Spaghetti Sauce

My Italian-style spaghetti sauce is made from whole tomatoes. I have a picky three-year old eater who loves to eat “macarrones.” Macarrones, in Spain, is a plain tomato-based spaghetti sauce. He eats it in school, so he expects me to make it for him too. When you ask him what he wants to eat, it’s always macarrones. Once, I made him my really good (at least for me and my husband!) bolognese pasta, which is red sauce too, but it has ground beef. My toddler ended up just eating the pasta and leaving the ground beef behind as left-overs.

I find the macarrones too plain because it doesn’t have protein like ground beef to make it more filling. So I’m always looking for ways to make it healthier. I’m happy to report that after several attempts of making plain spaghetti sauce, I finally got it figured out. I used to buy loads of tomatoes from the supermarket and boil them, peel them, then simmer them to make the spaghetti sauce (because hey, nothing beats fresh, right?). But since I’m a busy mom who has to clean the house, cook, and work at the same time, I found a healthy balance to making an almost-fresh Italian-style spaghetti sauce. I buy whole canned tomatoes that are already peeled. Win!

I’m sure you can buy them in your local supermarket, but if you can’t find it there, you can order it from Amazon. Here’s a link: Cento San Marzano Peeled Tomatoes, 28 oz

I just mix garlic, onions, and lots of carrots (it makes the spaghetti sauce sweeter), together with the canned tomatoes, simmer them together for 30 minutes, and then blend them to make my toddler-approved Italian-style spaghetti sauce! I always under-season at the beginning and really season at the end with salt and pepper according to my taste. I also add a small amount of banana ketchup to give it a sweet and spicy kick (it’s my secret weapon and a very Filipino ingredient to use). If you don’t have it, you can always substitute with sugar. It cuts the acidity of the tomatoes, giving the spaghetti sauce a more balanced flavor profile. UFC Banana Ketchup is my brand of secret ingredient, in case you’re interested:

To blend the spaghetti sauce all together, I just use my 3-in-1 immersion blender which blends soups and also serves as a mini food-processor. This tool is a kitchen workhorse, so if you have limited space in your kitchen for appliances and need to choose, this should be included in the your list of kitchen tools.

I know everyone’s toddler will have a different type of pasta that they like, but for sure, my toddler loves this one. He can eat it all day everyday. So here’s the recipe for my toddler-approved Italian-style spaghetti sauce for macarrones. It’s a tomato-based sauce with a simple, fresh, and clean taste and flavor profile. This makes a lot so you can freeze some for another day! I also use it as pizza sauce! I hope you and your toddler will like it!

Toddler-Approved Italian-Style Spaghetti Sauce

Spaghetti Sauce made from Entire Tomatoes

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Servings 3

Ingredients

  

• 1 28 oz can whole peeled tomatoes
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1 pc onion diced
• 2 pcs carrots sliced
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1/8 cup UFC banana ketchup can substitute 1 tbsp. sugar
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

 

• Heat olive oil in pan. Saute garlic and onion.
• Add carrots, can of tomatoes, and dried basil.
• Simmer for at least 30 minutes.
• Blend using immersion blender.
• Add salt and pepper, to taste, and banana ketchup.
• Mix with pasta or use as pizza sauce.