How to keep spaghetti from being watery?

[knoxvol]

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Question. How do you make spaghetti, from sauce bought from the food market, not create a watery substance in the plate when poured over pasta noodles?

It may be because I am using inexpensive spaghetti sauce but every time I cook/warm up spaghetti sauce and put it over spaghetti noodles or pasta of any kind there is water in the plate.

I can drain the noodles and let them set in the strainer for about five minutes, then pour the spaghetti/red sauce over them. There is still watery substance in the plate.

Any suggestions?
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[SES]

No guru, but I would put the pasta in with the sauce and toss it before plating.

 

[Inkstainz]

I'm not sure you can completely get rid of it. My family is italian and we warm up the sauce while we are cooking noodles on a low to medium settin in its own pan. Then pour onto noodles after draining them. It cuts down but doesn't eliminate.

 

[brmaster]

its mainly the sauce, store bought has lot of water, just can tell until you poor it out,
My wife makes her sauce, water is virtually gone, as we plate the noodles then poor sauce to liking.

 

[jb3]

Not a huge red sauce (gravey) person, but we transfer the noodles into a pan with the sauce and toss it to coat. My wife is not a fan of a lot of red sauces, so most times we use brown butter or good olive oil to coat, lightly. I know store bought sauces are inexpensive, but making them taste a lot better.

 

[WestTn Huntin man]

I always bring the store bought to a boil then simmer.Most of the time I make meat sauce fry up some ground venison and add to the sauce. Never had a problem. I wonder if you are over cooking the noodles/pasta ?? It is a very common mistake. Be sure to follow the directions on the box exactly and it should be ok.

 

[Hawk]

Simmer a while longer and the excess liquid should evaporate.

Try another brand sauce and see if that helps.

Patsy's is my favorite store bought sauce. It is higher than many but well worth it.

 

[WestTn Huntin man]

A small can of tomato paste is a good thickening agent. I usually add paste to things like lasagna or a meatloaf topping.

 

[htnseymour]

It's easy really. When you drain the noodles put them back into the pan you boiled them in for ten seconds which will create heat to help evaporate the remaining water. Then add noodles to sauce, not vice versa and they will absorb all the liquid making it more flavorful and less messy.

 

[Crosshairy]

I've also heard to cut a minute off the end of the noodle cook time, and put them in with the sauce while simmering. At that point, the noodles will finish cooking in the sauce, absorbing some of the free water in there and adding flavor to the noodles themselves.

WestTN's suggestion of tomato paste is another one that I've heard before. I didn't have any tomato paste while cooking the last batch I made (from scratch) that was too watery. I ended up throwing a bit of flour in there (sift it in lightly while stirring, or it will clump together like crazy). That worked OK too.

 

[Bayou Buck]

A small can of tomato paste is a good thickening agent. I usually add paste to things like lasagna or a meatloaf topping.

Yup, tomato paste is the easiest way to thicken the sauce. I normally just cook down my sauce until it is thick enough. Also make sure your spaghetti is strained well enough.

 

[WestTn Huntin man]

Think I'm going to faint. 2 people is a row agreed with me.

 

[diamond hunter]

Im married to a woman,but I love wet noodles.

 

[encore06]

My wife and I like to use Ragu's Spaghetti sauce. We brown 1lb of ground beef, then drain the fat, if any. We then add the Ragu and allow the mixture to simmer for 5-10 minutes. Some times we have to add water to thin the sauce.

 

[sgtwebb1]

Think I'm going to faint. 2 people is a row agreed with me.

Better make sure the floor is padded. .. :grin:

I was raised by a pack of Sicilians on Dad's side. ...

If using store bought sauce, to thicken it, it's best to add some tomato paste and simmer on medium heat to thicken/evaporate excess water.
I add extra spices like red pepper, garlic, oregano, and my meats during this step.
Add olive oil to the finished product and sorpresa! � delizioso!

 

[jb3]

Unless the sauce is watery to begin with, the starch from the pasta should hold the sauce.

 

[rdl65]

I usually use Prego sauce but doctor it up a bit. I'll get 1lb. of Itallian Sausage, brown and drain the fat. Dice up half a large onion, add tomatoes,canned from previous year and add garlic salt and oregano to taste. Let all this simmer about 2 hours. This will get rid of the water. Add spaghetti and enjoy.

 

[jb3]

RDL, if you'd ditch the prego, you'd pretty much have your own sauce.

 

[rdl65]

I made some one year when we were canning tomatoes. It was pretty good but to much work. You can take the prego and doctor it up and it's pretty good.