I grew up eating homemade marinara or Sunday sauce on a weekly basis—the best was when my grandmother would make a huge batch and hand deliver it straight to my family. Because of this, I never really experienced Ragu, Rao’s, or the like as a kid unless I got hot lunch at school. Now as an adult, though, I’ll admit to understanding the desire for store-bought options. They’re so convenient, but are they worth it? I wanted to see which, if any, could meet my high standards, so I tried 9 brands solo and on pasta to see how they tasted. Here are my thoughts:
9. RAGU
Right away, the aroma wasn’t similar to any pasta sauce I've smelled before. It reminded me of processed Parmesan cheese, and not in a good way. For a sauce, it’s on the thick side, and doesn’t live up to it’s visual potential. In my opinion, you should practically want to eat the sauce by the spoonful, and this was one I could easily resist.
8. FRANCESCO RINALDI
I turn my nose up at most sauces with added sugar, and I could tell immediately upon tasting that this one did. It's just not a necessary ingredient, because naturally-sweet onions normally do the job. Speaking of, the onions weren’t as soft as I’d expect them to be. This really just didn’t remind me of the marinara sauce I know and love.
7. BERTOLLI
This one really reminded me of that hot lunch pasta I used to eat on occasion in grade school. It was respectable, but nothing to write home about, and that is exactly how I feel about this sauce. The tomato chunks were a little too big, but I could see some fresh onion and basil in there, which are good signs. That said, the sauce just didn’t have that nostalgic aroma I was looking for.
6. BARILLA
This sauce had a lighter orange color, which I always find appetizing. This one also featured smaller chunks of tomato and bits of basil, which is personally how I like my sauce. Unfortunately, I found this to have an off-putting flavor, and sadly, it didn’t improve upon mixing it into pasta.
5. MICHAEL’S OF BROOKLYN
If all I had on hand was a box of pasta and a jar of Michael’s, I’d feel okay about my dinner plans. It wasn’t the best, but it wasn’t the worst, either. That vibrant freshness of tomato was lacking, but there were specks of pepper and pieces of basil and garlic, which is always a nice touch.
4. MUTTI
Initially I loved the pool of oil that was sitting on top of the sauce in the bowl. The reddish, sunset-yellow oil against the tomato sauce was visually appetizing. The texture looked good; I was excited to try! Regrettably, the sauce was quite disappointing. I'm curious if perhaps the oil used wasn't the best, and contributed to that off-putting flavor.
3. MEZZETTA
Similarly, I was heartened to see oil pooling on the top of this one too, but I’m not sure it was olive oil (as it should be!) because it had no flavor. The texture of the sauce is good– not too chunky—and I enjoyed the level of acidity, but ultimately the flavor fell flat.
2. CARBONE
Similarly to previous sauces with oil pooling on top, I wondered how good this one would be. I always take oil as a sign of richness, but again, there was no real olive oil flavor here. I did like the texture and pieces of onion and garlic in this one, and it did better on pasta. Overall, it was probably one of the top picks and proof that names don’t lie!
1. RAO’S
I was immediately impressed with this sauce—from its fragrant aroma, appropriate viscosity, the appearance of basil and some chunks of garlic...it reminded me of a marinara that my mom or I would cook on Sunday for dinner. The salt level was exceptional too, especially considering that I usually would be mixing the sauce into pasta cooked in salted water and tossed with a salty cheese. The acid level didn’t make me pucker or want for additional sweetness. I would definitely feel great about using this in my recipes when I'm short for time (or even when I'm not!).
