My Secret Ingredient for Making Jarred Pasta Sauce Taste Better Than Homemade

Growing up in a household full of chefs, my family has always had high standards for our meals. Dinners were often multistep affairs. Even on the nights when my parents reheated a frozen meal, they still added a bit of their own pizzazz. One of the most popular next-to-no-work meals they’d put together? Spaghetti noodles with jarred marinara. 

MSG, or monosodium glutamate, is a flavor enhancer that is the sodium salt of glutamic acid. It’s a form of salt that is made by combining glutamic acid — an amino acid found in many foods and proteins like tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, and certain meats — with sodium. 

Ajinomoto Umami Seasoning is unmatched in the kitchen when it comes to enhancing flavor. It is a very common ingredient used to enhance the savory flavor that we know as umami that has no taste of its own, but makes everything it touches 100x more delicious. It works on the taste buds similarly to salt but, unlike salt, it doesn’t add extra sodium, making it a kitchen superhero especially to those looking to reduce their sodium intake. 

It was long, and wrongfully, villanized back in the 1980s, and is misunderstood by many Americans. Throughout the rest of the world, MSG is proudfully, and happily, used in cooking to make things just taste … better. 

Like so many other seasonings, flavoring is all about personal preference. A little goes a long way when it comes to Ajinomoto Umami Seasoning, so I personally add a pinch, or about 1/4 teaspoon to a jar of marinara sauce (or about 1/2 teaspoon to homemade sauce if I’m making larger batches) to really brighten the umami flavors of the tomatoes. 

But that’s just the beginning. Ajinomoto’s MSG is something to play around with — after you try it out for yourself, I’m confident that you’ll be on your way to adding it to everything. I sprinkle it on eggs and in soups. One of our contributors even uses it to rim a margarita. 

What recipes are you enhancing with MSG? Tell us about it in the comments below.