Our 5 Essential Super Sauces Will Save Even Your Saddest Weeknight Meal Foo
This story is part of the Healthyish Guide to Sunday, a compilation of recipes, suggestions, and obsessions to make the first day of the week your favorite.
Growing up, Sunday sauce meant one thing: meatballs, braciole, and pork ribs simmering in a dense tomato-y gravy with my grandma waving a wooden spoon at anyone looking for samples before dinnertime. Now, a Sunday sauce is anything that I simply would never make on any other night of the week.
Let me explain: Weeknights are for cooking things with recipes that could be texted to a friend in ten words or less, like “Cook quinoa. Drain.” Or “Fry eggs in olive oil. Eat.” I will readily—and happily!—pull in other preparations that I had the foresight to make that past Sunday, when I had the expansive foresight of someone thinking ahead to the wonders of the week.
Sundays aren't for meal prep in the traditional sense (boil eggs, roast chicken) but rather for stocking up on super sauces that can liven up the simplest middle-of-the-week dinner. Sundays are for stripping the herbs that go into Miso Pesto; peeling and chopping the ginger, shallots, and garlic for Chile Crisp; or finding all the blender parts so I can make Tahini Ranch.
That way, come Tuesday night, when all I can think is “Chop lettuce. Drizzle with Tahini Ranch,” dinner is served.
—Senior food editor Chris Morocco
Photo by Alex Lau, food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich, prop styling by Emily Eisen1/5The Creamy: Tahini Ranch
Tahini ranch is like traditional ranch in that it's silky, salty, sweet, addictive, and everything it touches turns to gold. Tahini ranch is not like traditional ranch in that it's dairy-free (its luxuriousness comes not from buttermilk or mayo but from its namesake, tahini) and more pourable than gloppy. It's earthy and savory in a way that OG ranch is missing (thanks, in part, to the addition of miso), and since we use garlic and onion powder, rather than the fresh stuff, it mixes into a smooth, glossy, drizzle-able sauce with a longer shelf-life (five days!).
We like to spoon it over crispy seared fish, use it as the bed for roasted veg, or just toss it with crunchy lettuce, like Romaine or Little Gem with a jammy egg.
Photo by Alex Lau2/5The Green: Miso Pesto
Unlike Ligurian pesto, usually a chunky mixture of pine nuts, Parmesan, basil, olive oil, and garlic, senior food editor Andy Baraghani's version is simultaneously brighter, bolder, and more indulgent-feeling: With the help of a blender, spinach, cilantro, and miso are emulsified with neutral oil, which allows the vibrant flavors of the greens to shine through.
Spread it on a sandwich, drizzle it over warm grains, crispy shrimp, or pan-fried tofu, or toss it with udon or soba noodles. And since this sauce packs in 4 cups of spinach, you can give yourself permission to count it as a vegetable, right?
If you're not eating it on Sunday or Monday, pop the sauce into your freezer (in small portions if you don't plan to use it all at once), then defrost what you need when you realize you don't have anything for dinner.
Photo by Alex Lau3/5The Spicy: Chile Crisp
Tangy, spicy, crunchy, and addictive, this is the condiment that'll zap even your laziest dinners (read: scrambled eggs, rotisserie chicken, ricotta on toast) back to life. Make it by simmering thin slices of shallot and garlic with oil, cinnamon, and star anise, then mixing in chopped fresh ginger, crushed red pepper flakes, soy sauce, and sugar.
Stock your fridge with chile crisp on Sunday afternoon and it will last for up to one month, but we imagine you'll be through the jar well before that: Eat it over rice with steamed vegetables, seared steak, pan-roasted chicken thighs, miso soup, or braised tofu. You can even stir the crispy bits into a stir-fry or brighten the mixture with lime juice and use it as a versatile vinaigrette.
Photo by Alex Lau, food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich, prop styling by Emily Eisen4/5The Multipurpose Vinaigrette: Ponzu
When your back-pocket lemon vinaigrette isn't making you excited to eat vegetables, it's time to try ponzu, a Japanese dipping sauce that combines soy sauce and citrus. Chris Morocco's version, which will last for four days in the fridge, also includes garlic, ginger, honey, and toasted sesame oil for a sauce that's sweet, zingy, and tart.
Use it to dress chopped salad, roasted salmon, or wilted greens; toss it with cold noodles or with warm white rice topped with sliced avocado and sesame seeds; or make it the marinade or finishing sauce for shrimp or tofu.
Photo by Alex Lau, Food Styling by Susie Theodorou5/5The Pickle: Quick-Pickled Vegetables
Admittedly not a sauce, quick-pickled vegetables function as one, adding the zip, tang, crunch, and color that makes an otherwise-sad meal feel a little out of the ordinary. They're simple to make (whisk together vinegar, sugar, and salt, then use it to bathe your sliced veg) and they can hang out in your fridge nearly forever. Start with red onion, then branch out into carrots, cucumbers, fennel, radishes, and beets. Put them in grain salads and tacos, use them as soup toppers, or perch them atop toast.
