The Fishy Addition That Makes Store-Bought Spaghetti Sauce Taste Heavenly

Who knew America's least favorite pizza topping could become your favorite way to level up a weekday spaghetti night? When you add anchovies to your store-bought spaghetti sauce, the end result is anything but fishy — unless by fishy, you mean suspicious — because your pasta will taste suspiciously rich and flavorful despite starting with an ordinary jar of marinara.

An anchovy or two breaks down easily, bones and all, when you saute it in olive oil along with your choice of aromatics, like garlic and herbs. These tiny fish have a deceptively big taste, so a little goes a long way when it comes to adding depth and complexity to your tomato sauce. Try using avocado oil instead of olive oil for pasta sauce to saute your aromatics for a more neutral-tasting option that allows your anchovies and other flavor boosters to really shine through.

The sauce-boosting superpower of anchovies comes from their highly concentrated umami flavor. Umami is a Japanese loanword that's used to describe deep, meaty, savory foods. It's one of the five basic flavors, along with sweet, sour, bitter, and salty. Umami comes from glutamates, which are amino acids found in certain vegetables, meat, fish, and fermented foods. Jarred spaghetti sauce that can be lacking in depth can benefit from the umami boost of anchovies to balance out excessive sweetness, acidity, or that hard-to-describe, "something's missing," phenomenon.

Anchovies haven't cornered the market on umami, so no worries if you can't — or would rather not — introduce them to your spaghetti sauce. Miso paste, made from fermented soybeans, offers a vegan-friendly umami boost when sauteed with your aromatics. Or, crumble a block of protein-rich tempeh to upgrade your spaghetti sauce. Tempeh is another form of fermented soybeans, and an excellent source of umami that brings a meaty texture to your store-bought sauce, making a quick vegan bolognese that will become your go-to on meatless Mondays.

Mushrooms, too, can add body and flavor to jarred sauces, and thanks to their natural umami profile, they don't need to be fermented like other umami foods to bring out their deep, savory notes. For optimal flavor, choose dark-colored mushrooms like shiitakes or portabellas, and opt for dehydrated mushrooms over fresh ones for a more potent punch of umami goodness. Hungry for more ideas? Check out even more ways to add umami boosters to store-bought tomato sauce.