Meal Planning Around Grocery Sales - 15 Ways To Use Those Jars of Pasta Sauce
In my area there are several grocery stores which feature weekly sales, specifically those “buy one get one free” sales. In watching these sale ads week after week, I have come to notice certain trends in the sale items - they usually repeat the same items after a certain period of time. One item I see almost on a monthly basis is a “buy one get one free” sale on jars of pasta sauce. They come in all sorts of flavors but after a while just the sauce with pasta noodles can get kind of boring. So being the creative cook that I am, I wanted to see just how many recipes I could find that would allow me to take advantage of the sale while bringing some variety to the table as well. Here are 15 ways to use that jar of pasta sauce!
1. Make a homemade pizza. Using one of the pasta sauces, pour the sauce over a pre-made pizza crust. Top with shredded cheese and other toppings such as sausage, onions, green peppers, mushrooms, or pepperoni. Bake until the cheese is melted and the crust is cooked the way you like.
2. Chicken parmigiana. Saute chicken breasts in a skillet until cooked through. Add the sauce to the skillet and simmer to allow the flavors to combine. Serve over angel hair pasta and top with Parmesan shredded cheese.
3. Make french bread pizzas. Slice a loaf of french bread in half. Top with the sauce and add cheese and pepperoni slices. Place in oven until cheese is melted.
4. Manicotti with cheese- Easy and quick manicotti.
5. Crockpot Lasagna - An easy way to enjoy lasagna and let the crockpot do the cooking.
6. Calzones- This is a super easy recipe and I can’t believe I didn’t think of this one myself!
7. Italian Sausage And Peppers in Tomato Sauce - Easy way to whip up a classic Italian dish.
8. Meatball subs - Make your own meatballs and add a jar of pasta sauce. Simmer to allow flavors to combine. Split a hoagie roll in half, top with a couple of the meatballs and drizzle some sauce over top. Finish with mozzarella shredded cheese on top.
9. Italian Pork Chops. Serve with a side salad and french bread for a tasty dinner.
10. Three Cheese Italian Meatballs - Easy meal to put together in the crockpot.
11. Three Cheese Cannelloni - Just one word describes this dish - Yummy!
12. Shredded BBQ Chicken Sandwiches - Looks like a neat twist to the BBQ sandwich.
13. Pepperoni Chicken Pasta Bows - The additional herbs added to the sauce really make this dish.
14. Amy’s Enchilada Bake - Great if you are in the mood for a Mexican dish!
15. Cheesy Crockpot Tortellini - Another quick recipe for the crockpot.
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[...] Meal Planning Around Grocery Sales: 15 Ways To Use Those Jars Of Pasta Sauce I don’t necessarily view pasta sauce as a staple item (I tend to prefer to start with tomato juice, add herbs to it, then boil it to the thickness I like and add my own meat … but I digress), the idea here is brilliant: just keep an eye out for big sales on particular staple foods, stock up, then be creative with them. (@ not made of money) [...]
Wow, what a great way to stretch your food budget. Thanks!
Also makes good chicken spaghetti - a healthy alternative to beef… can just boil the chicken breasts (nice cause it doesn’t dry them out and you don’t have to use any oil), then shred the chicken into lil pieces (I just use big scissors to cut into bite size pieces) . put in a pot with some sauce to stew together. Doesn’t need to be long time, just lil bit of time will make chicken soak up some of the sauce. Spoon onto a little whole wheat pasta and you got delicious and healthy meal.
[...] I am going to do with those 10 jars of pasta, you might check a post I made quite a while ago for creative uses for pasta sauce. If you found this post helpful, you can get free updates by subscribing via RSS or by E-mail. [...]
Here’s a good snack idea that I use often, especially when I’m too tired to make a complete meal.
Often, I use half to 2/3rds of a jar of pasta sauce, so I usually find a half full jar or two in my fridge, most weeks.
I like the garlic naan at Trader Joe’s. It keeps for a long time if you store it in the fridge, and tastes great toasted with hummus on top. When toasted lightly, it’s still very doughy and pillowy and soft–nice texture.
So the snack idea is to toast a couple slices of naan, and to take a half jar of pasta sauce and put it in a bowl and microwave it for 2 minutes or so. Cut pieces of naan in half. Dip the pieces of naan in the hot pasta sauce. This is just about the same as eating pasta and sauce–same ingredients, just different texture. But, it’s much quicker and easier to make, and to clean up. Eat that with a side salad, and you have a nice light dinner or lunch.