Pasta Sauce: Reviews

Rosengarten Report: Food commentator David Rosengarten gathers 500 pasta sauces, cuts the list to 125, tastes them, and identifies the 15 best.

Good Housekeeping: Good Housekeeping asks an unspecified number of tasters to evaluate 20 sauces, but identifies only the top two choices.

Slate.com: Online magazine Slate.com put 12 sauces through an NCAA basketball tournament-style bracket competition, with Rao's Homemade Marinara Sauce winning the final over the much cheaper Prego.

Ed Levine Eats: Food writer/commentator Ed Levine tastes jarred sauces from Emeril Lagasse, Lidia Bastianich and Frankie Pellegrino of Rao's.

Chowhound.com: Chowhound is a message board populated by folks who stress flavor over brand prestige.

Cook's Illustrated Magazine: Twenty-four reviewers sample nine jarred pasta sauces, discussing ingredients and rating them based on flavor and texture.

Rosengarten Report: Food commentator David Rosengarten assembles 500 pasta sauces for taste testing and identifies the 15 best.

San Francisco Chronicle: The San Francisco Chronicle asks five food professionals to taste 27 jarred sauces, with Barilla Basilico Tomato & Basil Sauce placing a distant second to Sonoma Gourmet.

The Palm Beach Post: Five "Italian grandmothers" taste 10 regular jarred sauces and six vodka or cream sauces, with Barilla placing third in the jarred category (winner La Famiglia DelGrosso Sunday Marinara is about triple Barilla's price). Tasters like Barilla's texture but say it's "too spicy."

Real Simple: Real Simple selects winners in three price categories but doesn't disclose its testing methods or identify the losers.

Health Magazine: Health magazine editors say they tested 15 brands of jarred pasta sauce but list just four of them, with Barilla Basilico among the winners.

San Francisco Chronicle: This newspaper asks five food professionals to taste 11 organic jarred sauces, with Amy's placing fifth (the winner is Italy's Starletta). The review says Amy's is "mild" but has an "overpowering herb flavor."

Health Magazine: Health magazine says it tested 15 brands of jarred past sauce but lists just four of them, naming Amy's Premium Organic Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce the winner.

Chowhound.com: Chowhound is a foodie forum; in this thread on pasta sauce, Amy's gets a mention from a couple of fans, but overall, participants seem to favor gourmet brands like Rao's.