Page: 6 of 6
Pasta Sauce: Ratings of Sources
Total of 16 Sources
1. Rosengarten Report
Mar. 2005
A Jarring Discovery
by David Rosengarten
Our Assessment

The boundlessly enthusiastic David Rosengarten, a former Food Network host, gathered a whopping 500 pasta sauces (quickly culled to 125) for taste testing. In this review, he identifies the 15 best, which include Dell'Amore Premium Marinara, Rao's ("light, acidic, subtle, real, complex"), Anjon's Gourmet Marinara ("sexy and loose"), Giorgio Baldi and Jerry's. Rosengarten also covers a seemingly endless array of tomato-based sauces: basil, "fresh," garlic-intensive, puttanesca, shellfish, bell pepper, other vegetables, meat and vodka. We wish Rosengarten had listed the sauces that didn't make the grade, but no reviewer even approaches his level of thoroughness. Unfortunately, this article relies solely on Rosengarten's palate, which he admits favors the kinds of sauces served at Italian-American restaurants in 1950s and '60s Brooklyn.

expand

collapse

2. Cook's Illustrated Magazine
Not Dated
Pasta Sauces
by Editors of Cook's Illustrated
Our Assessment After narrowing the field to national brands, editors taste nine basic marinara (or tomato-basil) pasta sauces. Six sauces are recommended, including two previous winners. Though undated, this article is an update of an older test from 2004.
3. Cook's Illustrated Magazine
Sept./Oct. 2004
Tomato Paste in a Jar
by Editors of Cook's Illustrated
Our Assessment Twenty-four reviewers sample nine jarred pasta sauces, discussing ingredients and rating them based on flavor and texture.
4. San Francisco Chronicle
May 3, 2006
Pasta sauce taste-off yields Hall-of-Famer
by Carol Ness
Our Assessment

Carol Ness rounded up 27 sauces -- eleven organic and 16 non-organic -- and pitted the three winners from each bracket against one another. Tasters included two chefs and several food writers. Sonoma Gourmet is rated the overall winner as the best pasta sauce. Several testers say it tasted fresher than others, and all five indicate they'd buy it. Barilla was well liked, if a little "watery." Starletta, which is made in Italy, got the nod in the organic sauce category, but tasters didn't like its smooth texture. Patsy's, which rated as a winner in the Cook's Illustrated tests, was a loser here, earning just 17 points out of 100.

expand

collapse

Trends for 2002 -- Taste Test: Pasta Sauce
by Monica Forrestall
Our Assessment

Monica Forrestall says that the testers she gathered tasted 35 sauces. Unfortunately, she doesn't tell us who they were or which sauces sank to the bottom in the ratings. Forrestall lists only the top four pasta sauces, which include Rao's Homemade Vodka, Dell'Amore Portobello Mushroom Sauce and Barilla Green and Black Olive Sauce. The latter contains "high-quality" olives, and the texture of the mushroom sauce approaches homemade.

expand

collapse

Taste Test: Marinara Sauce
by Samantha Seneviratne
Our Assessment Seneviratne tries out 20 marinara pasta sauces on a panel of volunteers. The highest rated sauce, Rao's, is "robust, with a bit of a kick." Colavita Marinara was judged "simple and homey" and a "steal." We wish that editors described the testers' credentials, if any, and listed the sauces that didn't make the cut.
7. Slate.com
Dec. 6, 2001
Marinara Madness
by Kelly Alexander
Our Assessment

In this lighthearted but outdated article, Kelly Alexander creates a taste test using NCAA College Basketball-style brackets of 12 "celeb" and "scrub" pasta sauces -- in other words, the fancy stuff and the supermarket brands. The other two testers were Peter, a food writer, and Alexander's husband, "a guy who will eat anything." Curiously, Alexander overlooks Bertolli and Barilla. Helpful ingredient lists are provided. Once winners in each category are chosen, the two face off in the finals. In the end, Rao's pasta sauce went head to head with Prego and won handily. Although this article is a good read, we wish the contestants were rank-ordered. And, as Alexander acknowledges, $10-a-jar Rao's vs. Prego pasta sauce doesn't constitute a fair fight.

expand

collapse

8. Ed Levine Eats
Mar. 2007
Celebrity Marinara Sauces
by Ed Levine
Our Assessment

In this entertaining and relatively recent article, veteran food writer Ed Levine samples jarred marinara sauces from Emeril Lagasse, Lidia Bastianich and Frankie Pellegrino of Rao's. Bastianich's sauce, which closely tracks her own published marinara recipe, disappoints Levine, who finds it insufficiently thick and weakly flavored. Lagasse's "weak and thin" pasta sauce was even worse, but Rao's was "luxuriantly thick, with a complex tomato flavor."

expand

collapse

9. Cook's Illustrated Magazine
Dec. 2006
Pasta Sauces with Cheese
by Editors of Cook's Illustrated
Our Assessment In this taste test, editors round up eight tomato sauces that contain cheese.
10. The Palm Beach Post
Jan. 18, 2007
The Nonnas Have Spoken
by Jan Norris
Our Assessment

Jan Norris assembled a panel of five Italian-American grandmothers to judge 16 jarred pasta sauces. Winners included La Famiglia DelGrosso Sunday Marinara, Gia Russa Tomato Basil and Eucavani's A La Vodka Sauce. Surprisingly, the grandmothers downgraded Rao's Tomato Vodka for lacking creaminess and tasting "pasty," though this brand is predominantly well liked by other reviewers. Barilla bested six other brands that cost more, but some grannies considered it "too spicy."

expand

collapse

The Best Jarred Tomato Sauces
by Editors of Real Simple
Our Assessment

Editors of Real Simple list their top three jarred pasta sauces in several categories, but don't say how many sauces were sampled, and fail to identify the losers. In the under-$3 category, Barilla Marinara earned praise for its "distinct herb flavor" and "abundance of garlic and tomato." Testers loved Victoria Marinara's simmered taste, and Mom's Spaghetti Sauce took first in the over-$6 category for its garden-fresh taste. If this article disclosed who tested the sauces and how many were tested, we would give it a higher ranking.

expand

collapse

Taste Test: The Marinara Showdown
by Alisa Blackwood
Our Assessment

Alisa Blackwood says that Health editors tasted 15 brands, but only four are listed here. Three are winners -- Bertolli Tomato & Basil, Amy's Premium Organic Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce and Barilla Basilico --- but Mario Batali All-Natural Basic Tomato Sauce tastes overwhelmingly of thyme. We wish this review not only described the methodology and criteria used, but also listed the sauces that didn't make the grade. Curiously, this article says nothing about the sauces' nutritional content.

expand

collapse

13. Columbus Alive
Jan. 31, 2006
I Did It Their Way
by G.A. Benton
Our Assessment

As travel becomes more expensive, Benton decides to put together a line-up of jarred sauces from what he calls "NYC destination restaurants" that he could enjoy in his own home. Patsy's "rich, chunky, and very garlicky" sauce is the champ. Rao's, which was "relatively fresh-tasting," places second, and Cleveland's Own Little Italy ("because Cleveland is a much easier potential getaway") pulls up the rear with its distinctly "cooked" taste.

expand

collapse

14. Chow.com
Apr. 2008
Microwave Pasta Sauce
by James Norton
Our Assessment

Writer James Norton rates new bagged pasta sauces from Ragú and Bertolli on taste and marketing. Ragú tastes "a little brighter" than the jarred stuff but is ultimately judged "weak." The Bertolli sauce is is favorite, as he says it tastes like "actual pasta sauce" that "tastes simmered" and "robust." Neither sauce can hold a candle to homemade, but Norton suggests the Bertolli sauce as a "pantry stocker."

expand

collapse

15. Newsweek
Mar. 1, 2004
Food: Tomato Sauces
by Julie Scelfo
Our Assessment Julie Scelfo lists five tomato-based pasta sauces without preamble. We have no idea how many sauces, if any, were taste-tested. We're not even sure whether the sauces are listed in order of preference. Rao's Italian Pepper and Mushroom gets the nod, as do Dell'Amore Premium Marinara and Muir Glen Organic Italian Herb Pasta Sauce.
16. Chowhound.com
As of May 2008
What's a Good Store-Bought Pasta Sauce?
by Contributors to Chowhound.com
Our Assessment A forum user asks for suggestions for more varieties of non-marinara pasta sauces, with multiple responses. Posts in this discussion thread are all over the map, but a few jarred sauces garner multiple mentions, including Rao's, Bertolli and Patsy's.

Back to top