# Embarrassing: How to make Mac-a-Roni style sauce?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassing-how-to-make-mac-a-roni-style-sauce/454251
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [June 25, 2008, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassing-how-to-make-mac-a-roni-style-sauce/454251 "2008-06-25T23:58:22Z")
**Posts on this page:** 14
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2008, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassing-how-to-make-mac-a-roni-style-sauce/454251/1 "2008-06-25T23:58:22Z")
Seriously, I’m embarrassed, but damnit, I sometimes like a can of Mac-a-Roni type pasta & meat sauce.
It’s tasty! Hit’s the spot from time to time. Sue me! :mad:
So how do I make it? Trust me, I can make a mean-ass tomato-ey pasta sauce from scratch. Don’t get pedantic with me; I grow my own tomatoes, green peppers and basil.
How do you make that really salty sweet processed-to-hell tomato sauce they use in the canned stuff we’re mostly supposed to serve to finicky kids?
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### Author:  [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2008, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassing-how-to-make-mac-a-roni-style-sauce/454251/2 "2008-06-26T00:35:06Z")
It tastes a lot like tomato soup to me. (I like adding pasta to my tomato soup to the point where there’s too little liquid to call it a soup anymore.) Maybe tomato soup + ground beef and a little pan drippings?
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### Author:  [@ASAKMOTSD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASAKMOTSD)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2008, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassing-how-to-make-mac-a-roni-style-sauce/454251/3 "2008-06-26T00:44:56Z")
Don’t forget to wave the oregano over it to make it “Italian” (actually sprinkling some in the sauce is optional).
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### Author:  [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2008, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassing-how-to-make-mac-a-roni-style-sauce/454251/4 "2008-06-26T00:45:57Z")
I was thinking plain tomato soup would be the starting point, but just putting some meat and pasta in some tomato soup just wouldn’t be the same. There’s a certain something to the canned stuff. It’s more orange-colored, just for starters.
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### Author:  [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2008, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassing-how-to-make-mac-a-roni-style-sauce/454251/5 "2008-06-26T03:35:06Z")
It’s probably a tomato paste based sauce. But I have no idea in hell how you would reproduce that artificial taste, or why you would want to?
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2008, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassing-how-to-make-mac-a-roni-style-sauce/454251/6 "2008-06-26T03:50:57Z")
It’s just basic tomato sauce, with a bunch of sugar and salt added. Puree your tomatoes, cook over medium heat to reduce, add a bit of basil and the Bad Stuff and Bob’s your uncle.
Or…you could make a real sauce that would taste better and be better for you. Your call.
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### Author:  [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2008, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassing-how-to-make-mac-a-roni-style-sauce/454251/7 "2008-06-26T04:00:41Z")
[QUOTE=devilsknew]
It’s probably a tomato paste based sauce. But I have no idea in hell how you would reproduce that artificial taste, or why you would want to?
[/QUOTE]
Well, the artificial taste is good in its own way, and sometimes you just crave a certain thing. Sometimes I walk two miles (downhill, but two miles still) to get McDonalds. 😃
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### Author:  [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2008, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassing-how-to-make-mac-a-roni-style-sauce/454251/8 "2008-06-26T04:41:10Z")
[QUOTE=Raguleader]
Well, the artificial taste is good in its own way, and sometimes you just crave a certain thing. Sometimes I walk two miles (downhill, but two miles still) to get McDonalds. 😃
[/QUOTE]
Thank you. That’s pretty much it. I KNOW it’s not haute cuisine, but it hits the spot now and then. I can make a (IMHO) great pasta sauce but it’s like, sometimes you just want a [McMuffin](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=464603) and nothing else will do.
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### Author:  [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2008, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassing-how-to-make-mac-a-roni-style-sauce/454251/9 "2008-06-26T13:01:10Z")
It has been more than 25 years since I even looked at a can of pasta like product, but I remember dimly that one of the ingredients was carrots, which may have accounted for the oddly orange color. I can’t find ingredients on line, which probably tells you something about the product, but you could check the label for them.
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### Author:  [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2008, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassing-how-to-make-mac-a-roni-style-sauce/454251/10 "2008-06-26T14:42:28Z")
Here’s a recipe from the Recipe Secrets site:
Homemade Beefaroni
Serves 8
2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
1 lb lean ground beef
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, minced
2 cans condensed tomato soup
1 soup can water
2 t. sugar
Salt and pepper, to taste
Cook macaroni and drain. Brown together the ground beef, onion and garlic. Drain if needed. Mix in the soup, water and sugar to the beef mixture. Add the cooked macaroni and stir. Taste and add salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring often.
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### Author:  [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2008, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassing-how-to-make-mac-a-roni-style-sauce/454251/11 "2008-06-27T01:06:41Z")
I believe a great deal of that special flavor is due to the canning process. I think the high temperature canning process in a metal can is part of its intrinsic flavor and character and might not be duplicable in the home.
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### Author:  [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2008, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassing-how-to-make-mac-a-roni-style-sauce/454251/12 "2008-07-01T04:36:52Z")
[QUOTE=Dolores Reborn]
Here’s a recipe from the Recipe Secrets site:
Homemade Beefaroni
[/QUOTE]
I just made this.
Not bad I guess, but it came out a bit too sugary, and was missing a certain degree tomatoey sour tartness. Maybe I should add a bit of citric acid or vinegar? I used regular elbow macaroni rather than those little ones they use.
Otherwise, it did lack a certain je ne sais quoi that may be what **devilsknew** surmises comes from the can itself.
Perfectly edible, but I’ll have to doctor it a bit, which is what I do with the canned stuff anyway. Can’t eat this stuff without _at least_ adding hot sauce.
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### Author:  [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2008, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassing-how-to-make-mac-a-roni-style-sauce/454251/13 "2008-07-01T04:59:53Z")
[QUOTE=Dolores Reborn]
Here’s a recipe from the Recipe Secrets site:
Homemade Beefaroni
[/QUOTE]
Ah! Beefaroni! I was trying to figure out what the OP was talking about.
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### Author:  [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2008, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/embarrassing-how-to-make-mac-a-roni-style-sauce/454251/14 "2008-07-01T05:17:05Z")
[QUOTE=levdrakon]
I just made this.
Not bad I guess, but it came out a bit too sugary, and was missing a certain degree tomatoey sour tartness. Maybe I should add a bit of citric acid or vinegar? I used regular elbow macaroni rather than those little ones they use.
Otherwise, it did lack a certain je ne sais quoi that may be what **devilsknew** surmises comes from the can itself.
Perfectly edible, but I’ll have to doctor it a bit, which is what I do with the canned stuff anyway. Can’t eat this stuff without _at least_ adding hot sauce.
[/QUOTE]
In home made tomato sauce recipes, the sugar is intended to counter the tart tomato taste, so try using a bit less sugar maybe?