Pasta Sauce Is 10x More Flavorful When You Mix In One Pantry Staple

Look up tips for a good homemade pasta sauce, and you're spoiled with an overwhelming amount of options. While you can try each one and make pasta every day for the rest of your life (sounds like a dream, to be honest), here's a shortcut if you're aiming to make it extra flavorful: add soy sauce.

The salty, umami-rich condiment commonly found in Asian cuisines might sound out of place in the world of pasta, but it's not completely unfitting for this versatile ingredient to find a spot in a variety of dishes. Some dessert recipes even utilize this ingredient. The best part about adding soy sauce is that it can make pasta sauce even more flavorful effortlessly, especially if you're working with a meaty sauce, such as a classic spaghetti pasta or beef and pork ragu. It's kind of like sprinkling your favorite seasoning into the sauce, using it as a flavor booster rather than the main attraction, such as in a Filipino pork adobo. Even just a modest amount of this pantry staple is enough for a generous batch, so when we said effortless, we meant it.

If you don't use soy sauce in the kitchen a lot, now is the perfect time to start. If we're talking about pasta sauces, it can make a variety of bases more complex. Tomato-based sauces are a good place to start if you're still a bit iffy because it can make the sweet-meets-savory character of tomatoes more robust, which works well on a first-timer's palate. A few great examples are marinara and arrabbiata. Soy sauce can also give seafood pasta a nice umami lift while adding a savory depth and complementing its natural umami character. Even buttered noodles can benefit from soy sauce, giving the dish a pleasantly complex saltiness and a nice, mature upgrade.

With soy sauce, a little goes a long way, so add a splash and do a taste test to see how much works for you. A tablespoon or two is a good place to start in a full batch of sauce. For a complete Asian twist, you can also add fish sauce to the mix; it can raise a few brows, but the saltiness it introduces is like no other. You can even try adding oyster sauce and sesame oil, providing an exciting marriage of flavors. Even without them, when given a chance, soy sauce can surprise you — it's a kitchen staple for a reason.