To an Italian or someone of Italian origin, this is no debate: homemade tomato sauce is better. In the real world however, both homemade and store-bought sauce have their pros and cons. The three things you should compare when considering the two types of tomato sauce are:

* Ease of use
* Taste
* Storage

Contrary to what most people will say, making tomato sauce yourself is not difficult.

It only takes about 15 minutes or so, and another 15 to simmer the sauce. That's it. Buy a can of crushed or pureed tomatoes, add diced onions & garlic to it and simmer in a pot on the stove. Add a bit of salt, pepper and whatever other spices you like and you're done. Total time spent: 30 minutes or less. Of course this is significantly longer than if you used a can/jar of store-bought sauce. All it takes is the time to open the container and warm up. Of course it's harder to change the spice combinations it if you've bought a flavored tomato sauce, but if it's the way you like it when you bought it, then you're all good to go.

Taste is, in my opinion, the biggest reason why I wouldn't buy tomato sauce already made. Making it myself lets me adjust the spices as I like, add or subtract depending on my mood. Sure, there's a base set of spices I add every time, but I tweak it every time. This is the fun of cooking. Store-bought sauces are much harder to tweak taste-wise, because they typically are already spiced and/or flavored. If the sauce is the way you like it (garlic & basil, or primavera), then you're all set and off you go. I have noticed that different brands of the same "flavor" do taste different, so you may have to try a few before finding the one you like.

Unless you do your own canning, store-bought sauce is going to last longer in your cupboard than homemade, provided you don't open it. Once you open it, the store-bought will last roughly the same length of time as the homemade, which is a couple of days. Freezing your homemade sauce helps to store it longer, so that you can use it whenever you want. You won't be able to freeze store-bought sauce until you open the container though.

So, depending on your taste buds, you may find that either homemade or store-bought tomato sauce will find its way to your table. Either way, it's not a bad or incorrect choice, just a preference. So boil up a pot of pasta and enjoy some tonight!

Learn more about this author, Julia Borgini.
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