Valerie Bertinelli makes 4-ingredient sauces you can use on just about anything

Adding a fresh, flavorful sauce is a great way to improve almost any dish. In addition to providing taste and texture, sauces are also great because there are so many easy-to-make varieties. Food Network host and cookbook author Valerie Bertinelli is joining TODAY to share a few of her favorite in-a-pinch sauce recipes. She shows us how to prepare chunky fresh tomato sauce, lemon vinaigrette and homemade hummus.

Valerie Bertinelli's Fresh Tomato Sauce by Valerie Bertinelli

This recipe proves that you don't have to spend hours stirring over a hot stove to make an amazing tomato sauce. This bright, fresh sauce comes together with just four ingredients in about five minutes.

Valerie Bertinelli's Lemon Vinaigrette by Valerie Bertinelli

I love this lemony vinaigrette because it takes mere minutes to make and instantly brightens up everything from salads to seafood and so much more.

Valerie Bertinelli's Hummus by

I'm a huge fan of hummus, but when I'm craving this creamy dip, I just don't have the patience to wait for chickpeas to soak overnight. For a quicker version, I use canned garbanzos. Just toss them in a blender with a few flavorings to get to snacking fast!

If you like those simple sauce recipes, you should also try these:

Giada's Checca Sauce by Giada De Laurentiis

Greek Lemon-Garlic Sauce (Ladolemono) by Michael Psilakis