Sonny And Cher's Famous Pasta Sauce Swaps Ground Beef For Something Better

Cher has made some of the biggest hits of the last few decades, but she can also whip up a mean pasta sauce. On their podcast, "Table Manners with Jessie and Lennie Ware," the hosts interview big names in music, culture, and politics, chatting with them about "food, family, and everything in between." A-list names are no strangers to their table, but an entertaining episode with none other than Cher revealed what she would be cooking if the hosts came to her house. The answer was emphatically her pasta sauce, which features chicken.

Cher avoids red meat for health reasons, so while her sauce once included it, she now prepares it with chicken breast. She says the sauce is so well known among her friends that she's gone so far as to create labels for her "Diva Pasta" and give the sauce as gifts at Christmas. While sauteed chicken breast features prominently in her signature main, it also relies on a base of sauteed onions and garlic, tomato paste, tomatoes, mushrooms, and spices like oregano, sweet basil, and Italian seasoning.

On the "Table Manners" podcast (via YouTube), Cher emphasized the longevity of this dish in her repertoire, sharing that she learned to make it from Sonny's mother. And in true Sicilian mother fashion, there is no recipe — everything is done to taste. Cher said she adds each of the ingredients and then brings it to a high, before reducing to a simmer, and then goes back to see "have I done a good job. What am I missing?" The hosts ask if she tastes the sauce as she goes, and she seems taken aback. "Of course," she exclaims. "How can you do it without tasting?" At that point, she adds more of whatever is lacking, noting it's most often mushrooms because she never adds enough. The host notes that it sounds almost like a chicken cacciatore, but in sauce form.

The conversation then turns to Cher's pasta of choice, which is angel hair. This shape is divisive amongst the hosts and clearly the broader public, as some claim angel hair is a misstep because it can quickly go mushy. But Cher is clear in her appreciation, declaring, "I like it, but nobody else does." So if you're looking to step up a basic tomato sauce, take a page from Cher's chicken-focused staple and use what you like. It's also helpful to keep in mind these homemade pasta sauce tips: incorporating fresh ingredients, adding a Parmesan rind, and using canned San Marzano tomatoes.