We're two moms who got worn out by the weeknight dinner juggle and decided to do something about it. We're also a seasoned personal chef, food writer, and cook on TV (Catherine) and a Whole Foods buyer and culinary instructor with a background in food access policy (Jaqueline).
We connected through all kinds of things like our love of cooking, finding humor in the every day challenges, a no-nonsense New England sensibility and a love of Peloton, but ultimately knew that together we could help busy people with more than just dinner on their plate.
Our mission is simple, and stems from our experience as parents, professionals and humans with a multitude of interests and responsibilities: nourish all the parts that make you whole.
Our sauces and dressings were designed to transform a rotisserie chicken, a can of beans, or a box of pasta into dinner. So whether you want to give leftovers new life, simmer a soup, or simply pop a jar and pour over a box of pasta, we’re here to help you get a healthy and delicious dinner done.
Our ethos is about embracing the mess and chaos that are an inevitable part of feeding families while living fully. Eating well while filling your own cup is a juggle, but it’s all good.
not just a recipe
serves
picky kids, busy professionals, flavor fiends
prep time
5 years and counting
best served
with whatever you've got in your fridge
Start a chili, whip up enchiladas, or simply pop and pour on pasta, greens, or grains - it’s all good!
ingredients
1 personal chef and food writer
1 Whole Foods buyer turned culinary instructor
2 heaping cups of tenacity and grit
1 mission to nourish all the parts that make you whole
instructions
1. Work nights and weekends while convincing someone to put your sauce recipe in a jar.
2. Rack up credit card debt on a co-packer, and miles on your SUV delivering sauce to beloved Boston markets.
3. Push through complicated pregnancies, pediatric cancer, and a pandemic. Mix in as much wicked humor as humanly possible.
4. Get good feedback from your crew of food snob friends, tantrum-ing toddlers, vegans, carnivores, home cooks, and takeout lovers.
5. Quit your jobs to create more delicious meal-starting sauces and dressings in your home kitchens.
6. Launch in stores across the country (including Target!)
7. Never stop hustling to help busy families get dinner done.
you've asked, we'll answer
What do you mean when you say your sauces are meal-starters?
There are many ways to utilize not just sauces and dressings beyond pasta and salad (although they are equally delicious on both). Whether you want to use up that rotisserie chicken in enchiladas, whip up an easy and impressive shakshuka, or transform takeout rice and a bag of greens into the tastiest desk-lunch - with a quick pop and pour, our sauces and dressings (and simple recipes) will get you from kitchen to table in no time.
Where did the original not just sauce recipe come from?
One of Catherine’s personal chef clients had a farm share, which meant every week she was tasked with turning a box full of veggies into a week’s worth of meals the whole family would love. What started as a sauce for spaghetti and meatballs soon became a chili starter, a shakshuka base, a sauce for enchiladas and more!
How did you start the business?
In 2018. when Jacqueline was 6 months pregnant with her first child, Catherine cornered her in the Boston Public Market on a lunch break, handed her the recipe for 10 Veggie sauce, and asked if she’d like to build a business putting meal-starting sauces in a jar. Jacqueline said yes, and they were off to the races where they began selling small batches in the Boston area.
Soon The Boston Globe got wind of it on local market shelves and proclaimed not just pasta sauce was “like having your own personal chef in a jar.” With a bit more momentum and a production upgrade, retailers across the country began to place orders for our multipurpose pantry staples. We’re now at over 400 locations, feeding hungry bellies around dinner tables at the end of busy days - and growing! Check out or store locator for a retailer near you.
How do you come up with new recipes?
Because our founders and other team members have a strong recipe writing, personal cheffing, and culinary instructing background, we know that a big part of the dinnertime battle isn’t just cooking - it’s getting inspired and finding recipes that work! We know how to turn dinner ideas into tested, delicious and doable recipes that all kinds of food lovers will enjoy. The team creates every new sauce or dressing in their home kitchens, testing on food-loving friends, in particular their children, in order to get the recipe just right. Check out our recipe blog for inspiration.
what's cooking?
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