Pasta Sauce Review

Introduction to Pasta Sauce

The only reviewer who has embraced the full range of tomato-based pasta sauces -- a breathtaking 500 sauces in 12 categories -- is David Rosengarten, a former Gourmet critic and Food Network host. Rosengarten's review, which appears in his food-and-wine newsletter, runs on for several slightly breathless pages, but no other reviewer tests as many pasta sauces or describes them with as much verve. We especially appreciate that Rosengarten tasted each sauce two ways: straight from the jar and mixed with hot pasta. By contrast, most reviewers don't disclose exactly how they tasted pasta sauces -- or whether they even tasted them hot or cold.

We also read some smaller round-ups of around two dozen pasta sauces. Rather than relying on a single, opinionated palate, Carol Ness of the San Francisco Gate assembled a panel of chefs and food writers to taste 27 sauces. Food & Wine editors rated 35 sauces, but the magazine doesn't discuss testers' credentials. Unfortunately, neither of these publications lists the sauces that failed to impress tasters.

We appreciate the willingness of some publications, including Cook's Illustrated, Slate.com and the Palm Beach Post, to identify the sauces that missed the mark. These reviews rank-order pasta sauces according to preference. The Post put together a panel of tough-to-please Italian grandmothers, and the resulting article is a particularly fun read. Columbus Alive, Ed Levine Eats and Real Simple all publish reviews of half-a-dozen sauces or fewer. To round out the pasta sauce picture, we read consumer critiques posted to Chowhound.com.

Until recently, many reviewers looked askance at jarred pasta sauce for a couple of reasons: First, making your own sauce requires little more than olive oil, garlic and canned tomatoes, and the process takes about as much time as it takes to cook spaghetti. Second, most reviews say that few jarred pasta sauces have the right balance of sweet, salty, acidic and herbal flavors. More often than not, one flavor (usually cooked tomatoes or musty, dried herbs) overwhelms the others. Many critics also complain about the texture of some jarred sauces, sometimes too runny but other times too dry.

While some reviewers say that homemade is the only way to go, others are downright giddy about newer options hitting store shelves. Until recently, David Rosengarten admits, he despaired of ever finding a superb jarred sauce. After accumulating several hundred jars, however, he started tasting and discovered "terrific sauces…the kinds of sauces you just can't make at home." It's worth noting, however, that Rosengarten dipped into over 500 sauces and eliminated 375 of them after a single spoonful. Clearly, there are some great sauces on the market, but they represent a small fraction of the hundreds available. Be mindful that many of Rosengarten's favorites are only available by mail order, costing considerably more than those found in the supermarket.

So, why are so many pasta sauces unpalatable in the eyes of taste testers? Many contain corn syrup, which can give sauce a gloppy texture, and dried herbs, which can taste stale. Many tomato-based pasta sauces use tomato paste thinned with water instead of diced or pureed tomatoes. Tomato paste can sometimes taste bitter and "canned," and it lacks the freshness and bright acidity of minimally processed, vine-ripened tomatoes.

Cook's Illustrated downgrades Ragú Marinara (*est. $2.50 for 26 ounces), which contains corn syrup, for tasting "heavily cooked" and having a ketchup-like texture. At the other end of the spectrum lies Colavita Marinara (*Est. $5 for 26 ounces) , which has no added sugar or salt and is described as "ultrabland" and "waaay too tomatoey."

The Palm Beach Post's Italian-American grannies found little to like about many of the sauces they sampled. They found Cafe Martorano Marinara (*est. $10 for 24 ounces) too oily, too salty and excessively herbaceous, and they panned Classico Traditional Sweet Basil (*est. $3 for 26 ounces) for being overly sweet and spicy. Slate.com's Kelly Alexander minces even fewer words than the grannies, describing Richfood Meatless Spaghetti Sauce (*est. $2 for 26 ounces), which contains corn syrup and dehydrated onion, as having "more acid than a Phish concert" and D'Agostino Traditional Sauce (*est. $3 for 26 ounces) ashaving a "tinny, canned" taste.

Though taste is highly subjective, of course, we were able to round up the most consistently top-rated sauces from both sides of the price spectrum.