EmailSee Also
For an explanation of how we rank reviews, see our ratings criteria page.
by David Rosengarten
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.
by Editors of Cook's Illustrated
by Editors of Cook's Illustrated
by Carol Ness
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.
by Monica Forrestall
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.
by Samantha Seneviratne
by Kelly Alexander
In this lighthearted but outdated article, Kelly Alexander creates a taste test using NCAA College Basketball-style brackets of 12 "celeb" and "scrub" pasta sauces -- in other words, the fancy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.
by Ed Levine
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."
by Editors of Cook's Illustrated
by Jan Norris
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."
by Editors of Real Simple
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.
by Alisa Blackwood
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.
by G.A. Benton
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.
by James Norton
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."
by Julie Scelfo
by Contributors to Chowhound.com
|
This is our assessment of the review’s relevance, clarity of testing and thoroughness.
Read more about our Ratings Criteria by clicking the link at the top of the page.
|
||
 |
||
|
|
 |
||
|
|
