Best Reviewed
Pasta Sauce
- Best gourmet pasta sauce Rao's Homemade Marinara Sauce *Est. $8
- Best supermarket pasta sauce Barilla Basilico Tomato & Basil Sauce *Est. $3
- Best organic pasta sauce Amys Organic Family Marinara *Est. $6
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Best gourmet pasta sauce
- Complex taste
- Quality ingredients
- High price
We found the best review of Rao's Homemade Marinara Sauce from David Rosengarten, who considered 500 sauces, trimmed the list to 125 and ultimately selected three Rao's sauces (including the marinara) among the top 15. A report in Good Housekeeping is good but doesn't identify the other sauces tasted. A Slate.com blind taste test has lots of good detail but is relatively dated (it was published in 2001).
Reviewers frequently cite Rao's Homemade Marinara Sauce as the best (or one of the best) jarred pasta sauces. This sauce is relatively expensive (*est. $8 for 24 ounces), but it doesn't contain the additives that many cheaper sauces have, such as corn syrup. Reviewers say Rao's quality ingredients are noticeable in blind taste tests, and some tasters call Rao's taste "complex," claiming that they can pick out individual ingredients, such olive oil or specific spices. Critics also praise this sauce's thickness. However, if you don't want to spend $8 per jar, supermarket brands such as Barilla Basilico Tomato & Basil Sauce (*est. $3 for 26 ounces) also earn good reviews.
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Our Sources
1. Rosengarten ReportDetails/Subscribe
Food commentator David Rosengarten gathers 500 pasta sauces, cuts the list to 125, tastes them, and identifies the 15 best. Three of the winners are varieties of Rao's, including Rao's Homemade Marinara. Rosengarten says Rao's is "light, acidic, subtle, real, complex."
Review: A Jarring Discovery, David Rosengarten, Mar. 2005
Good Housekeeping asks an unspecified number of tasters to evaluate 20 sauces, but identifies only the top two choices. Rao's Homemade Marinara Sauce wins the competition, thanks to its quality ingredients and "a bit of a kick" to its flavor.
Review: Taste Test: Marinara Sauce, Samantha Seneviratne
3. 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. Rao's doesn't use corn syrup and Prego does; judges say they could taste the difference.
Review: Marinara Madness: Finally, a Tournament that Levels the Wide World of Past Sauce, Kelly Alexander, Dec. 6, 2001
Food writer/commentator Ed Levine tastes jarred sauces from Emeril Lagasse, Lidia Bastianich and Frankie Pellegrino of Rao's. Winner Rao's was thick and had a "complex tomato flavor."
Review: Celebrity Marinara Sauces, Ed Levine, Mar. 2007
Chowhound is a message board populated by folks who stress flavor over brand prestige. This thread includes a number of recommendations from contributors. Rao's sauces are praised.
Review: What's a Good Store-Bought Pasta Sauce?, Contributors to Chowhound.com
Pasta Sauce Runners Up:
2 picks by top review sites.
Bertolli Premium Pasta Sauce, Summer Crushed Tomato & Basil, 13.5-Ounce Pouches (Pack of 6)
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