Weeknight Pasta Sauce With a Little Extra Support

There are some dinners that show up again and again in family life, not because they are exciting, but because they work. Pasta night is one of them.

It is familiar, flexible, and usually met with very little resistance. On busy evenings, that familiarity matters. When everyone is tired and hungry, dinner that feels predictable can be a relief. This recipe is not about reinventing pasta night. It is about supporting it. Because when a meal already works, it is the easiest place to build a habit that lasts.

Why Pasta Sauce Is an Easy Place to Add Secret Vegetables

Tomato sauce is warm, savory, and forgiving. It simmers gently and blends easily, which makes it one of the simplest places to use Secret Vegetables powder. A single spoonful stirs right in. There are no extra steps, no extra dishes, and no change to how dinner feels at the table. The sauce still tastes like itself. The routine stays intact.

This is exactly how Secret Vegetables is meant to be used. Quietly. Consistently. In meals you already trust. It is not about hiding vegetables or tricking anyone. It is about taking advantage of moments where adding a little extra support feels natural and doable.

Everyday Weeknight Pasta Sauce With Secret Vegetables

This recipe uses a store bought marinara because that is how most weeknight dinners actually happen. If you make your own sauce, the same approach applies.

• Serves four to six
• Time about twenty five minutes

Ingredients

• One tablespoon olive oil
• Two cloves garlic, minced
• One jar twenty four ounces marinara sauce
• One teaspoon dried oregano or Italian seasoning
• One spoonful Secret Vegetables powder
• Salt and pepper to taste

Optional additions depending on what your family likes

• A splash of cream or milk
• Red pepper flakes
• Grated parmesan

How to Make It

Warm the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook briefly until fragrant. You are not looking to brown it, just to gently wake it up.

Pour in the marinara sauce and stir to combine. Bring the sauce to a light simmer.

Once the sauce is warm, sprinkle in one spoonful of Secret Vegetables powder. Stir well so it fully blends into the sauce. Let it simmer for five to ten minutes, stirring occasionally.

Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add any optional extras your family enjoys, then serve over cooked pasta.

That is it. No extra steps. No complicated timing.

Why This Works for Real Life

Pasta sauce is already a background player in many meals. It coats noodles, gets scooped up with bread, and disappears into bowls without much thought.

Secret Vegetables powder is designed to work the same way.

It blends smoothly into the sauce so the dish still tastes like the dinner your family expects. There is no announcement, no new routine to explain, and no separate food project happening alongside the meal.

For parents, that often means less negotiation at the table. For caregivers and grandparents, it means an easy way to support family routines without changing them. For busy adults, it means a familiar meal doing a little more work for you.

Making It a Repeatable Habit

The power of this recipe is not in doing it once. It is in how easily it fits into rotation.

If pasta night happens once a week, that is one consistent moment where vegetables quietly show up. Over time, those moments add up without requiring extra effort or decision making.

Some families keep the Secret Vegetables pouch right next to the stove so it is easy to remember. Others add the spoonful automatically when the sauce hits the pan, the same way they add seasoning.

There is no right way. The goal is simply to make it feel obvious.

A Small Change That Sticks

This recipe is not about creating the perfect plate. It is about easing the mental load of dinner and feeling supported by the choices you make most often.

When meals stay familiar and habits stay simple, consistency becomes easier. And consistency, more than perfection, is what helps routines last.

One spoonful. One familiar meal. One less thing to overthink at the end of the day.