When I was a kid, many a weeknight dinner started with a jar of, as many of us Southerners term it, “Spaghetti Sauce”.

It wasn’t until I moved to the East Coast that I learned a few things about my beloved Spaghetti Sauce. (Or as Davey and Ava like to call it, “Basketti Sauce”.)

‘Round here, it’s just “sauce” or “gravy”. And people sorta judge you if your sauce comes from a store-bought jar.

Well, I’m here to say that while I’m fully capable of making my own “gravy”, there are just some nights when it is not going to happen.

Sometimes you’ve got to choose between giving into a drive-thru, or pulling a jar out of the pantry. I guarantee you, pulling the jar out of the pantry will result in less calories every time.

I’m also going to let you in on a little secret: That jar of pasta sauce doesn’t have to be relegated to just covering pasta. It can be the start to some pretty spectacular soups too. You can use it in recipes just like you would a good box of stock.

Now, my personal favorite is a brand called Classico. I’ve bought it for years.

(And no, this isn’t a sponsored or even a review post – I’m just tellin’ ya what you’ll find in my pantry.)

The Classico Caramelized Onion and Roasted Garlic is my favorite for everything from pizza to garlic bread dipping sauce, to of course, spaghetti bolognese.

And, like their catch phrase says, they make it like *I’d* make it. No high fructose corn syrup here, thank you very much!

But I’m here to clue you in on my favorite use for that sauce: Turkey Burger Soup. A jar of Classico, some ground meat, a couple of potatoes and a bag of organic mixed vegetables, you, my friends, have dinner on the table, full of flavor and goodness, in under an hour.

With plenty of delicious leftovers too!

When I was a kid, my mom often made this soup, which she called Hamburger Soup, with sautéed hamburger. I’ve lightened the soup up by using sautéed ground turkey instead, but feel free to use whatever you’d like. Ground pork would be equally delicious.

You can also go sans meat all together and beef (hah!) up the vegetable content. Add in whatever vegetables you fancy: mushrooms, zucchini, squash, even cabbage, are fabulous here.

The bottom line is, between the pasta sauce and the stock, you get a robust savory simmered-for-hours flavor, without having to simmer for hours. (Unless you want to, which will only make the soup better.)

[wpurp-searchable-recipe]Turkey Burger Soup – – – [/wpurp-searchable-recipe]