My grandma swore by adding a pinch of sugar to tomato sauce. Thought it was nonsense until my batch in Denver last winter.

3 comments

3 Comments

Tried the sugar trick with some cheap canned tomatoes last year and it totally changed the game. It cuts the acid without making it taste sweet at all, just rounds out the flavor. I read somewhere it works because some tomatoes are more acidic depending on where and when they're grown, so that Denver batch makes total sense. Now I keep a little bowl of sugar next to the stove just for this lol.

the_lucas2mo ago

Yeah, the altitude thing is a solid point. I wonder if it also works with a tiny bit of grated carrot for the same reason, cooks down and adds a natural sweetness.

linda_wood1mo ago

Oh man, my friend in Colorado Springs had the same lightbulb moment! She made a huge pot of sauce that was way too sharp, and after reading a tip from @taylorhunt, she stirred in maybe half a teaspoon of brown sugar. It totally fixed it, just made the tomato flavor pop without any sweet taste. She said it was like magic for her high-altitude tomatoes.