Worth Every Penny

$2.56. That is how much this 6lb can of crushed tomatoes cost me at Sam's Club. I used it to make homemade tomato sauce and have enough for:

Spaghetti and meatballs
2 Lasagnas
2 Spaghetti and meat sauce
1 pizza
1 manicotti

Since it is impossible for me to follow a recipe as written (usually because I'm missing an ingredient or two), I started with this this recipe, made my changes, and came up with this:

6lb (102 oz) can of crushed tomatoes
6 oz tomato paste
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 can of water
1 1/2 T salt
1 1/2 T parsley flakes
1- 1 1/2 T dried basil
3/4 T oregano

Saute onion in oil. Add rest of the ingredients and simmer 1-2 hours. Freeze in 5-6 c portions to use for future meals.


This sauce was not as thick as we are used to. I originally made it with a whole can of water but will only use half a can next time. My mom also suggested using tomato paste to help thicken it, so I plan to do that next time too. It may end up taking more than the 6 ounces, so that ingredient is just a place to start.

Overall, I was super excited about how this came out. I plan to use this anytime a recipe calls for sauce. It certainly will be a money saver. I know I could get my total cost down if I took the time to grow my own tomatoes, but since this is now where the garden used to be, I'll splurge and spend the $2.56!