HELP! My pasta doesn't taste as good as I expected =( What did I do wrong?

Question

I bought the canned sauce for pasta, scrambled some beef with butter and onion, poured the pasta in, heat it till it bubbles a little.

Then I boiled the spaghetti and poured the souce on it.

But it tastes bland....or not as good as the ones I had in Italian restuarant. I thought the sauce is already seasoned. What can I do to improve the taste?

Thank you!!

Answer 1

I don't like most store-bought spaghetti sauces for that very reason -- they're bland. You can juice up spaghetti sauce by adding any of the following that you like: Lawry's Seasoned Salt, fresh minced garlic or garlic powder, fresh chopped onions or dried onions (you'll find them in the spice rack), oregano, sweet basil, parsley, and fennel seed (use sparingly). Freshly chopped spices are always better, but if you have to use dried be sure to pour the spices into your hands, hold them over the sauce, and "rub" them to release the flavor -- they'll just fall out of your hands and into the sauce. Also, be sure to let the sauce simmer for at least an hour to let the flavors of the additional ingredients work their way in. Once you're done, add parmesan and/or romano cheese to taste. Enjoy!

Answer 2

try cooking the meat with no butter or oil and just add lots of seasoning. then cook the pasta and once its ready put some butter on it and then mix it with the meat and once you do that add the sauce and before you serve it on the plate taste it. if its still bland add spices to the sauce to make it to your likening. Try new things out or try getting a recipe for a sauce on line.

Answer 3

You can add some mixed herbs (you can buy them at the supermarket), maybe some garlic, that'd make it taste nice. If you have any Worcester sauce that makes it taste goooood! Did you use minced beef?

Just add whatever you like in that you think tastes good. As long as it's well seasoned it should taste okay. Italian herbs like basil and oregano are good, as well as garlic, like I said.

You could chop up some peppers and add those too, if you like!

Answer 4

maybe its jsut coz u had too high expectations and also because it soundin like this is your first attempt, the more you cook it the more you can experiment with adding stuff or changing little things thats part of the process

psst: did u try parmesan cheese on top(nothing fancy just the el cheapo powdered kinda)

i like to add my own xtra garlic & lots of olive oil when frying the beef . Pasta has to be just right- el dante. we throw a piece up to the ceiling if it sticks its just right

Answer 5

You want marinara sauce, not plain spaghetti sauce. Make sure you drain the oil from the meat before adding it to the sauce.
I wouldn't recommend butter for the meat & onions. try a dash of olive oil instead.
Good luck with your next batch!
CT

Answer 6

I've tried the canned stuff and it wasn't good. Ragu or Prego are much better. I still add my own seasoning to it though & a little sugar. It takes the bite out of the tomatoe.Did you drain the grease off the meat? If not you should have.

Answer 7

Did U Over Cook the pasta?

Answer 8

Use olive oil, crushed garlic, oregano and basil next time. That is, along with tomatoes the basic ingrediants of italian style tomatoe sauce.

Answer 9

no no no get a jar of ragu spaghetti sauce with fresh vegetables in it also cut some fresh bell-pepper green, onion, green onion, mashed garlic put hamburger meat in skillet brown , drain off grease add sauce with one jar of water of the sauce, add some dill spice and basil , get firm spaghetti i think its call bolla, or reg. biol in seperate pot with some olive iol drops in water salt, garlic, biol til done serve with salad in a bag with your favorite dressing brown your meat and simmer in sauce leave veggies out till sauce has simmered for 45 mins you can also add mushrooms if you like after simmer put your fresh vehggies in it and don,t cook to death leave veggies done but wit a litte grispness to it its great and very good takes about i hr for this meal servbe with garlic bread and butter

Answer 10

Add some chipped basil leaves. A little sweet chilly sauce might help too.??