Spaghetti sauce night? It’s a classic for a reason! But facing a container of leftovers often inspires a single thought: what now?
Fear not, leftover spaghetti sauce is a fantastic base for a whole host of delicious dishes. Think beyond pasta – transform it into soups, dips, or even a hearty pizza topping. Your tastebuds will thank you.
Want some ideas to get you started? Well, you’re in the right place…
1. Lasagna
People usually have extra lasagna noodles at home. So, if you want to have something fulfilling and fast, prepare the noodles.
Mix it up with the leftover spaghetti sauce. Afterwards, you can add mozzarella and ricotta cheese for a nice creamy sensation. It won’t take hours to prepare this kind of meal.
Of course, you are free to use any kind of your favorite noodle or other pasta varieties, such as ravioli. Add it to mashed potato, add Parmigiano cheese, and voila!
Your ravioli is ready without too much fuss. It doesn’t even have to be complicated. 2 cups mashed potatoes will get along well with 2 cups of the sauce. Top it off with Parmigiano (a handful of it) and you are good to go. Add olive oil (several dollops of it) onto pasta dough.
Insert the mix to the dough, have another pasta dough layer, and cut it off for individual ravioli. Boiling it for 4 minutes should do it. A word of suggestion: Serve it with chopped sage and fresh olive oil.
2. Stuffed Peppers
You can use bell peppers whose seeds have been removed. And for the stuffing, mix up ground meat, rice, and the leftover spaghetti sauce. Bake the peppers until they turn tender.
When you have a pile of bell peppers and you are confused of what to make because you are bored with the regular bell pepper dishes, this one can be a good idea.
Stuffed peppers can be super tasty and the process to make one is quite fun. Simply cut off the top side of the pepper, take out all the seeds, and fill it with the ground meat, rice, and the sauce.
Or if you want to be a little creative, cooked quinoa, marinara, the leftover, and also cheese can do it. Don’t forget to close off the top with the cheese.
Get the peppers into the oven, bake it in 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and wait until the cheese becomes brown and goey, while the peppers are tender. This is a comforting food with a lot of levels of flavors.
3. Sloppy Joes
Do you know that you can make your own Sloppy Joes? It’s a classic sandwich that you can tweak as your heart desires. And it doesn’t have to use regular burger buns as you can also use bagels for a healthier version.
The basic idea is to mix any ground turkey, beef, or even chicken. Serve it up and you have your own comfort food.
You can start by chopping up some onions and saute them. Add in the ground beef, add the sauce, and then add everything else. How you want to prepare the bun or bread or bagel is completely up to you.
But some people would toast them first. Some even apply garlic seasoning to the bun before toasting them up. It really depends on your creativity and how you like your homemade Joes.
Don’t forget to add cheese to complete the whole cooking. Can you use more than one type of cheese? Why not? Don’t hesitate to tap into your creative side and add as much cheese you like.
4. Chili
Do you have your own favorite chili recipe? Why not adding up the leftover spaghetti sauce to that recipe so you can enjoy the extra richness of the flavor?
Adding the sauce will also create this nice and somewhat comforting sense of flavor’s depth to your chili. Not to mention that it will make your sauce thicker, which would be perfect for those who like thicker chili.
And the best thing about this recipe is that you can even adjust the level of heat without compromising the entire flavor.
The general ingredients would be ground beef, beans, and some basic spices, such as onions, garlic, and also paprika. You add up the sauce to these ingredients.
Keep in mind, though, that this recipe involves a lot of simmering, which is responsible for the thick consistency. It’s common to serve the chili with cheddar cheese or sour cream – or even both of them! But again, it depends on your preference.
If you don’t really like the thick and creamy texture, you can skip the cheese. But your chili should be thick. And with the leftover sauce, you can add its own depth of flavor and taste.
5. Meatball Subs
Meatball subs are like sandwiches or hot dogs with tons of meat, deep flavorful satisfaction, and extra creaminess from the cheese.
When you reheat (and mix) meatballs with the sauce, you basically infuse the rich flavor into those meatballs.
You end up with super tasty meatballs which will even add up another level of deliciousness when served with sub rolls, topped off with provolone cheese (the melted type, of course).
Basically, if you have leftover meatballs as well as leftover spaghetti sauce, you can fix one super fast and easily. You can reheat all those leftovers. After you mix them up together, you can add other spices.
Some people like to prepare the bread first with the basil and garlic butter. Add the meatballs to the bread, spread up some cheese, and you can enjoy a mouthful of it. It’s easy to make.
It’s super tasty, and it’s super flexible. You are free to add any spices or even other ingredients to the recipe.
Some people like to add some veggies for the healthy touch, and they aren’t wrong. Such an addition won’t change the tasty result, anyhow.
6. Baked Ziti
If you aren’t familiar with baked ziti, remember about lasagna. People, who know, always think that they are the same.
The basic difference about them is that lasagna uses pasta noodles with wide and flat sheets, while another one would use also pasta but with tube shaped and shorter type. Baked ziti uses pasta that looks like the penne.
Because it’s similar to the lasagna, it’s a sure thing that you use the leftover sauce for it. If you are able to tweak the sauce to make the lasagna, then you can definitely tweak the sauce to make baked ziti.
In general, you can add the sauce to (already cooked) ziti pasta. Add up ricotta cheese and also mozzarella. Yes, you need to use those two cheeses for creaminess and thick outcome.
Bake it until it turns golden brown and it comes bubbly. You can have tasty homemade baked ziti without complicated process.
7. Shakshuka
Shakshuka is a traditional Tunisian dish that includes poached eggs. Poach the eggs in olive oil, tomato sauce, garlic, onion, and peppers, along with cayenne pepper, paprika, and cumin.
You can also make this breakfast meal with the leftover sauce. The basic idea is to simmer the sauce, add the eggs, and bake everything until the eggs are ready.
Some people even use a little bit of garlic and onion to saute, and then add the sauce and liquid for the simmer. After that, the eggs can easily go in.
The simplest dish is to use the sauce, and just add the eggs to it. You can adjust how much pepper or salt that you want to add to it.
Even without the extra addition, the dish is still super tasty. However, being super versatile, you can definitely add up (or even take out) anything to the dish.
Feel free to add another leftover to it. Whether it’s veggies, chicken, meat, or spices, you can never go wrong with it.
8. Pizza
If you are into pizza, why not use the leftover spaghetti sauce as the (pizza) base. And then you can add more of your favorite ingredients. And voila!
You have your own homemade pizza that is quite easy to fix and it doesn’t have to take hours to make either.
And let’s not forget that almost everyone loves pizza, so it would be the perfect usage of the sauce. And to add another level of easiness and flexibility, you can make your own pizza dough or use the store-bought version. The toppings are completely up to you. And you can use more than one type of cheese.
Some people may replace the pizza base with portobello mushrooms for mini carb-free vegetable pizza. The greatest thing about the leftover sauce is the fact that it is just perfect for toppings.
If you don’t have pizza base, toasted bread will do. You can make your own homemade version of bruschetta. Wouldn’t it be great when you can make homemade pizza and bruschetta with the sauce?
Not only you can save up money, you also have the freedom to create your own favorite meal just the way you like it.
9. Ratatouille
We’re not talking about the animated mouse whose dream is to be a chef, but we’re talking about a dish made from eggplant, onions, peppers, zucchini, and tomatoes with a nice combo of basil, thyme, and also garlic.
It’s basically a traditional dish that has become an elevated restaurant-level meal with rich flavor. And how do you use the leftover spaghetti sauce?
You simply saute the sliced zucchini, bell peppers, and eggplant and mix it up with the sauce.
As you can see, this dish is full of veggies, making it quite healthy. No need to worry about the flavor as it’s rich and tasty.
When you saute it, throw in some garlic, onion, and yellow squash first with olive oil. And then add some of the other ingredients mentioned before. Add the sauce slowly.
Go with a cup first, together with half a cup water. Also add basil. Let the cooking simmer for a while. Add the sauce when you feel that it’s necessary. Wait until everything is tender.
10. Tomato Soup
You can also create a tasty and rich tomato soup with the leftover spaghetti sauce. Mix up the sauce with broth so you can make the soup. You use chicken broth, beef, or even veggie broth.
Some people like the soup as it is while others prefer it creamy. If you are the latter, you should add up milk or cream and adjust how much it is to your personal preference.
The simplest tomato soup recipe doesn’t need a lot of stuff. It doesn’t have to be fancy either. The best thing about it is the fact that you can make one easily and fast.
Because you have been using the leftover, you won’t have to spend hours. Besides the sauce, you only need fresh basil for the fresher effect, heavy cream for the velvety texture, water, and butter to balance out the acid (of the tomato) while adding the rich flavor.
All in all, don’t throw or waste the leftover sauce. It’s a valuable stuff that you can turn to other tasty dishes and meals. Keep in mind that leftover spaghetti sauce is super versatile and you can make almost anything without breaking a sweat.
