The Clever Reason You Should Add Water To Your Pasta Sauce Jar

Is it just us, or are some food jars specifically designed to prevent us from relishing every last bit left? Take an example of peanut butter or a Nutella jar. As if reaching the remaining gooey goodness at the bottom of the jar isn't devastating enough, the sticky remnants are near impossible to scrape out with a spoon, knife, or even your fingers (been there, done that). After our futile attempts to get every last delicious spoonful out of the jar, we've no option left but to throw it out. It doesn't feel right. It hurts!

And if you're a budget-savvy person, you know how frustrating it can be to toss out jars of jam, tomato paste, or mustard because even the few remaining drizzles at the bottom still pack a ton of flavors. But as there are effective and practical ways to reduce food waste, you can also ensure never to waste an ounce of your condiment again. As you can pour hot milk into a Nutella jar to make hot chocolate (via CookingLight) or use a straightforward hack to make an almost-empty peanut butter jar look new again, there's an easy-peasy hack for sauces, too. For instance, you can effortlessly get every last bit out of your versatile store-bought marinara sauce jar with one simple trick.

If you have a million other things to do or don't have the energy to make a rich slow cooker homemade marinara sauce, even a store-bought pasta sauce can satisfy your taste buds. Don't get us wrong. A pasta sauce made from scratch will always make delectable penne or spaghetti. However, the jarred marinara sauce can also help you whip up a delicious midweek dinner in a short time.

So if you have a jar of marinara sauce and don't want any of it to go to waste, Eat This, Not That has a super handy trick for you. All you have to do is add a small amount of water to the pasta jar, close the lid tightly, and shake it up. Just make sure not to add too much water, as it will dilute the flavor. You can also save a few pasta sauce jars and use this technique when you run out of marinara sauce (a major dilemma).

You can also make store-bought pasta sauce taste homemade by adding cream, cheese, or fresh herbs and veggies (via Bustle). Or you could try this 20-minute fast marinara sauce recipe.