What, if any, is the difference between spaghetti sauce & marinara sauce?

[maslex]

While watching a cooking show yesterday, she mentioned to use your favorite marinara sauce. I have also seen people say to use your favorite spaghetti sauce. Is there a difference? Even at the store, I have seen jars of spaghetti sauce and marinara sauce. I have always thought they were the same, but maybe not?

We usually do spaghetti & meatballs every Sunday and I will pick up a mixture of canned tomato sauce, puree & paste and then add in some seasonings, parm cheese, salt & pepper, a little sugar and make my sauce. Then drop in my raw meatballs and let it simmer all day.

And when I make chicken parm, I will usually make up the same sauce as I do for my meatballs but top my chicken/noodles with that.

My son wants chicken parm this week and I was just thinking of picking up a jar or two of marinara sauce to try it out. Yay? Nay? Should I just stick with making my sauce as is?

 

[mjkacmom]

I've never heard anyone here use the term spaghetti sauce. It's sauce, tomato sauce, marinara sauce (no meat), or gravy. Jarred sauce is for emergencies only.

 

[QueenIsabella]

Spaghetti sauce can be anything. Marinara sauce is tomato-based and has no meat. It's usually a lighter sauce, just tomatoes.

 

[maslex]

ok thanks.

 

[YachtClubWoman]

To me the terms are interchangeable

 

[jdb in AZ]

I've never heard anyone here use the term spaghetti sauce. It's sauce, tomato sauce, marinara sauce (no meat), or gravy. Jarred sauce is for emergencies only.

My cousin married an Italian and she loves to cook, so I asked her about her favorite spaghetti sauce. She said she just opens a jar of Prego. To each their own.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

I feel like Marinara is not as sweet as spaghetti sauce and not as reduced down. I think it's "fresher" with just tomatoes, basil, onion, and garlic where spaghetti sauce has more herbs, maybe a little sugar...IDK, could be all in my head too.

 

[CarolAnn856]

Marinara sauce is vegetarian and has only a few ingredients: tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, basil, and some seasonings (salt, etc.). Here is a link to the NYT cooking page with a recipe: http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1015987-classic-marinara-sauce

Spaghetti sauce is more of a generic term for anything you put over pasta, and there are a wide variety of ingredients that are used, including meats such as sausage. It's also called tomato sauce or, in some areas, gravy. Growing up, gravy was a meat-based sauce you put on turkey, beef, etc., never a tomato-based sauce for pasta. But when we moved to an area with many people of Italian heritage, I started hearing the term used interchangeably with tomato sauce.

We have a small, family-owned business in our town that sells all kinds of pasta dishes, both fresh and frozen, such as lasagnas, stuffed shells, ravioli, pastas, and sauces. They have their own shop but also sell through some grocery stores, and believe me, their jarred sauces are amazing! They even sell a low-sodium version.

 

[wenrob]

Spaghetti sauce is thicker/heartier, usually you add meat. Marinara is lighter/thinner, usually has chunks of tomato in it, no meat.

There's no shame it starting your sauce with jarred sauce and building from there. Not any different than starting with canned tomatoes/sauce IMO. My former best friend's mother was 100% Italian and her gravy was literally a can of Hunt's tomato sauce heated on the stove.

 

[AppleDumpling]

Marinara is a basic sauce made with tomatoes, olive oil, and usually garlic and basil. Some recipes include onions and other herbs like oregano. Other sauces may be regional variations, for example, Bolognese is meat sauce. Regular (not labeled as marinara) jarred sauce often also has cheese.

Bottom line, if you buy jarred sauce, you should read the label because the recipes can all be slightly different. A lot of them use soybean or canola oil instead of olive oil. (Extra virgin olive oil, EVOO, is supposed to be the healthiest). Also many of them have a lot of added sugar and salt.

 

[mjkacmom]

My cousin married an Italian and she loves to cook, so I asked her about her favorite spaghetti sauce. She said she just opens a jar of Prego. To each their own.

Half of the people here are from Italian decent (including my DH and kids), many 2nd or 3rd generation, who still do Sunday gravy. My mom was Irish - she opened a jar. My friends thought that was weird. It's so easy to make from scratch, and jarred sauce is too sweet for me now.

I know many families who jar their own tomatoes at the end of summer, and you can buy homemade sauce at most delis or meat markets here.

 

[mom2rtk]

Half of the people here are from Italian decent (including my DH and kids), many 2nd or 3rd generation, who still do Sunday gravy. My mom was Irish - she opened a jar. My friends thought that was weird. It's so easy to make from scratch, and jarred sauce is too sweet for me now.

I know many families who jar their own tomatoes at the end of summer, and you can buy homemade sauce at most delis or meat markets here.

The PP didn't suggest that you need to change anything. They just said "to each his own".

We are fine with jarred sauces here as well.

 

[DisAuntie]

The terms are interchangeable here, too. We put gravy on mashed potatoes and meat, not pasta.

 

[Wishing on a star]

Spaghetti sauce is any sauce that you put over/in your spaghetti.
It can be tomato based. It can have meat. Any variation.

Marinara is a fresh tomato sauce, with maybe some seasoning, like garlic and basil.
So, this is a specific term for a specific sauce.

To answer your question, for Chicken Parm, I would def. use marinara, and not a sauce that includes meat or cheese.

We love Rao's marinara! It is my go-to. Once I got hooked on it, none of the other jarred sauces even compare. Most of them are 'yuck'.
I make some meatballs, then drain them well, no grease or drippings left.
Then add them to a pan/pot of Rao's Marinara and simmer for a few minutes.

Serve over angel hair pasta, sometimes with some additional fresh made Alfredo on top.
Delish!

There are different terms different people used for different things.
But, to me, Spagetti is long, skinny, spaghetti. Angel Hair pasta is angel hair. etc.
Macaroni is elbow macaroni.

Macaroni and gravy to me is just a completely odd term.
Macaroni is not spaghetti. Gravy is not an Italian pasta sauce!!!!

 

[mjkacmom]

The PP didn't suggest that you need to change anything. They just said "to each his own".

We are fine with jarred sauces here as well.

What I was trying to convey is that just because you are Italian doesn't mean you cook that way, it's more of how you grew up. If I lived in another area, I'd probably use jarred, as well.

There really isn't a lot of good Mexican food here, most people I know buy taco shells, use ground beef and taco seasoning, and top with bottled salsa. Eating Mexican food in San Diego was heaven, didn't know what I was missing.

 

[mjkacmom]

Spaghetti sauce is any sauce that you put over/in your spaghetti.
It can be tomato based. It can have meat. Any variation.

Marinara is a fresh tomato sauce, with maybe some seasoning, like garlic and basil.
So, this is a specific term for a specific sauce.

To answer your question, for Chicken Parm, I would def. use marinara, and not a sauce that includes meat or cheese.

We love Rao's marinara! It is my go-to. Once I got hooked on it, none of the other jarred sauces even compare. Most of them are 'yuck'.
I make some meatballs, then drain them well, no grease or drippings left.
Then add them to a pan/pot of Rao's Marinara and simmer for a few minutes.

Serve over angel hair pasta, sometimes with some additional fresh made Alfredo on top.
Delish!

There are different terms different people used for different things.
But, to me, Spagetti is long, skinny, spaghetti. Angel Hair pasta is angel hair. etc.
Macaroni is elbow macaroni.

Macaroni and gravy to me is just a completely odd term.
Macaroni is not spaghetti. Gravy is not an Italian pasta sauce!!!!

Here spaghetti is spaghetti, macaroni and pasta are the same, gravy is tomato sauce with any kind of meat.

 

[Missy1961]

My dad's heritage is 100% Italian - his dad was born in Italy - and I never heard the term "gravy" used for a tomato based sauce until I read it here. I live in NY too, with lots of other Italians around me. None of us call it gravy. We called the stuff you make from meat drippings gravy.

And I grew up with homemade sauce - my mother, who was of German heritage, made the most amazing sauce. She used canned tomatoes, but she slow cooked them and added all sorts of herbs, spices and tons of garlic. She never added sugar. And she baked her meatballs in the oven, then added the cooked meatballs to the sauce and let them cook together for a few hours. Thank goodness she taught me how to make her sauce before she passed away. I just don't like jarred sauce. I've tried all sorts of brands, but they just don't taste right to me. And making sauce isn't hard, it just takes time. It freezes well, so I spend a few hours making sauce on a Saturday and we have great sauce for a while.

In fact, I was planning to make sauce yesterday, but I didn't want to go out because of the snow. I hope to get out to the store today and then I'll make my sauce. Yum.

 

[Wishing on a star]

My dad's heritage is 100% Italian - his dad was born in Italy - and I never heard the term "gravy" used for a tomato based sauce until I read it here. I live in NY too, with lots of other Italians around me. None of us call it gravy. We called the stuff you make from meat drippings gravy.

Yes, I have never heard the word 'gravy' used for a tomato bases italian sauce, except for posts like the above, here on the DIS.
I think it is a localized regional term.

 

[scrapquitler]

Marinara Vs. Tomato sauce. ... Usually the term "tomato sauce" refers to plaintomato sauce. Marinara sauce includes some combination of olive oil, garlic, and herbs in addition to the tomatoes.Mar 10, 2003
Marinara Vs. Tomato sauce - Chowhound
www.chowhound.com/post/marinara-tomato-sauce-292163

 

[Wendy31]

Here spaghetti is spaghetti, macaroni and pasta are the same, gravy is tomato sauce with any kind of meat.

I'm another one who has only really ever heard tomato sauce/marinara/spaghetti sauce referred to as gravy here on the DIS as well. However, I'm not of Italian descent & don't live anywhere near the Northeast, so I've always just assumed sauce/gravy is kind of like pop/soda/coke.

Just out of curiosity, what do you call the stuff that you serve at Thanksgiving that goes over the turkey & mashed potatoes?

And, here in the South, biscuits & gravy is popular. Normally, it's a sausage gravy which is a flour base. Or, you can get country-fried steak or chicken which is served w/ a white flour-based gravy.

Red Eye Gravy is also common. It's a ham gravy made w/ coffee.

EDITED TO ADD - Linguistic differences as they relate to different regional areas fascinate me. I found this article regarding sauce vs. gravy - http://bostoniano.info/northendspirit/eternal-italian-american-debate-gravy-sauce/

And here's another good one - http://www.slate.com/blogs/lexicon_...te_investigation_into_the_linguistics_of.html

So, according to both articles, it seems like the early Italian immigrants referred to their tomato sauces as "gravy" as a way to fit in w/ the new-to-them American culture.

Also, I never knew that, to Italian Americans, all pasta is macaroni.