Plus, the hint of basil adds an extra unique touch. Of course, not just any jarred sauce is fit for a chef. It’s comfort food at its finest. Similarly, jarred/packaged products can be salt bombs, so, as always, you’ll want to be a diligent shopper and check those labels. Got a tip, kitchen tour, or other story our readers should see? The 10 Best Store-Bought Teriyaki Sauces in 2021, The 8 Best Meat Substitutes and Plant-Based Alternatives in 2021. Even though I know I shouldn’t, sometimes I feel a little ashamed that I’m taking the easy way out. Similarly, this is manufacturer-specific and depends on each sauce’s ingredients and formulation. Credit: Courtesy of manufacturer. Cooks.com - Recipes - Best Ever Spaghetti Sauce. Rao's Homemade Marinara Sauce, Best Keto-Friendly: The sauce, from a jar, hot, tangy, combined in a large skillet with green peppers and onions and ground beef, simmered to perfection, then placed over a plate of hot, just boiled pasta was — and still is one of my favorite dinnertime meals. Who wouldn’t want an an-hours-long-simmered sauce piled atop a mound of spaghetti? In addition to the classic marinara flavor, there's also a spicy option, basil option, and burgundy wine option—if you’re feeling fancy. Simply pop open the jar, and you’re good to go. Yo Mama's Foods Keto Marinara Pasta Sauce, Best Alfredo: A 1/4-cup serving contains 430 milligrams of sodium and 2 grams of sugar. “I find that many of the simpler craft tomato sauces lack salt and taste bland. Our editors independently research, test, and recommend the best products; you can learn more about our Not only is it perfect on any pasta, but it’s also a great foundation for more complex pasta sauces. In a pinch, some chefs swear by taking canned crushed tomatoes and adding seasoning to them. If budget is not a concern to you, splurge on TRUFF’s Black Truffle Pomodoro sauce (view at Amazon), which will dress-up any meal you’re making at home and impress your family and friends. Increase volume In order to reduce sweetness in the sauce, it’s usually enough to increase the amount of the other ingredients. Made with just the essential marinara ingredients, this sauce has a short ingredient list so no need to beware of hidden, unpronounceable ingredients; according to Rao’s, the sauce has "no tomato blends, no paste, no water, no starch, no filler, no colors, [and] no added sugar.”. Tomato sauce, and plenty of other jarred products, can be sources of hidden sugars that you want to look out for. Sure, tomatoes and other ingredients certainly contain some natural sugar that’s inevitable in jarred sauces, but you want to look out for any added sugars, both in the ingredient list and in the nutrition facts panel. This could be because my mom is 100% Italian; it could be that this was the eighties and the options for good-quality jarred pasta sauce were few and far between. If you are new on your homesteading or healthy-eating journey, one of the challenges you may be facing is finding recipes that taste as good as the ones you are used to buying from the store, this was my challenge when finding a Homemade Spaghetti Sauce recipe my family would love. Rao’s, however, has a very short ingredient list and just the right balance of flavor and sweetness. It makes me feel like I’m enjoying some of their classic dishes in my own home! Indulge in the tantalizing flavors of sweet, vine-ripened tomatoes and fresh herbs with Prego Marinara Sauce. Generally speaking, the fewer ingredients, the better, because you’re likely getting more “whole food” ingredients and fewer preservatives/additives in the product. Rao’s Homemade Alfredo Sauce. The sauce has a pleasant tomato flavor that's not overwhelming or … The tomato puree provides the perfect amount of tanginess to balance out the richness of the sauce. For busy weeknights when I can’t be bothered to spend hours simmering sauce from scratch, the stuff in a jar is my best friend. Rao’s has many different varieties of sauces, but we especially love the Tomato Herb option, full of onions, garlic, basil, and oregano. A 1/2-cup serving contains 7 grams of sugar (3 grams added) and 1030 milligrams of sodium. If you want to get a little creative, treat that jarred sauce just like you would a can of whole or crushed tomatoes. Stonewall Kitchen Basil Alfredo Sauce, The 9 Best Store-Bought Alfredo Sauces in 2021, Best Vegan: Cook It. It’s made in small batches in Italy and you can find it at specialty stores or online. Each 1/2-cup serving contains 530 milligrams of sodium and 6 grams of sugar (0 grams added). Allow us to introduce you to the shortcut sauce, a pantry product that can transform even the most basic dishes with little to no effort. Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. Alyssa is a licensed registered dietitian. Ours did! To this day, if I’m making pasta at home and don’t have the time to make my own sauce, it remains my go-to.” — Phillip Frankland Lee, founder and executive chef of Scratch Restaurants group, Buy: Classico Mushroom & Ripe Olives, $3.66 for 24 ounces, “For a quick and awesome dinner at home, my wife and I have fallen in love with the Sugo al Tartufo jarred sauce by Casina Rossa. https://www.bonappetit.com/story/rao-best-jarred-pasta-sauce But, when you’re short on time, having a good jarred pasta sauce in your pantry is a must. Stonewall Kitchen is well-known for its gourmet packaged foods like crackers, sauces, and mixes, so it comes as no surprise the brand would produce a stellar alfredo sauce. Here are their top suggestions. This Tomato Basil sauce from Amy's contains added cane sugar to sweeten up your sauce and to contribute empty calories but it's still one of our best spaghetti sauce brands because it contains less than 8 grams of the sweet stuff. Rao's Homemade Tomato Sauce, Sensitive Formula, Best Lower Sugar: It was the only sauce that contained Parmesan cheese, and the cheesy flavor and herby notes gave this sauce a pizzeria quality. My go-to, post-workout, 15-minute dinner is pasta with chicken sausage, broccoli, and Rao’s Tomato Basil.” — Field Failing, CEO and founder of Fields Good Chicken in New York City, Buy: Rao’s Homemade Tomato Basil Sauce, $6.98 for 24 ounces at Walmart, “When I’m buying jarred sauce, I always look for one that either has little to no sugar listed in the ingredients and one that uses olive oil (no other fats). https://www.marthastewart.com/.../best-store-bought-jarred-marinara-sauce With no sugar added, it has a clean and pure tomato taste. To quiet the voice inside my head, I remind myself that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with using jarred pasta sauce — especially when there are supermarket sauces that are so good, they practically taste homemade! Apartment Therapy is full of ideas for creating a warm, beautiful, healthy home. A 1/2-cup serving contains 6 grams of sugar and 460 milligrams of sodium. The one thing she never cheated on, though, was pasta sauce… It was never from a jar, always from scratch. This will vary by brand, so be sure to check the label to see what the manufacturer recommends, not only for best quality purposes, but for food safety purposes. 8, 2017. In a dutch over or large sauce pan over medium heat brown ground beef. Features: ... To enjoy the best taste of this sauce, we recommend that you heat it before use. By Lindsay Champion | May. Dolmio Original Bolognese Sauce – around £1.75 The market leader, Dolmio recently overhauled their sauce range so it now only uses 100% natural ingredients. We’ve all been there: The feeling of pure exhaustion after a long day, when getting a family-friendly dinner on the table feels impossible. They can often be hiding in packaged/jarred products like sauces. ", "Add it to pasta, pizza, or any other application that would benefit from a veggie-forward, high-quality marinara. The difference today is I avoid using jarred pasta sauces. The sauce ships nationwide and 100 percent of profits benefit their employee relief fund. best-jar-sauces-1019rtf. Despite giving myself this friendly reminder, I still need a little extra validation every now and then. It’s important to me that we support the industry during this difficult time.” — Jason Goldstein, recipe developer for Chop Happy, Buy: Carmine’s Marinara Sauce, $45 for three 32-ounce jars, “If I have to use a pasta sauce from the shelf, I go with Prego’s Roasted Garlic and liven it up a bit by adding some fresh basil, oregano, and other spices. ", "The ingredient list is relatively short and contains only the ingredients you’d expect of a quality marinara sauce. This jarred classic, produced by the famous Rao’s restaurants, is what you always want to have on hand in your pantry. https://www.sullivansteakhouse.com/best-store-bought-spaghetti-sauces Her work has written for EatingWell and has worked on many published America’s Test Kitchen cookbooks. Stir in vegetables and cook until softened, about 10-12 minutes. The ingredient list is relatively short and contains only the ingredients you’d expect of a quality marinara sauce—no excess ingredients as fillers. The Spruce Eats writer Alyssa Langer is a registered dietitian and foodie, always curious about the next food or ingredient craze and hungry to learn and try more. Plus, the good texture—not too thick or thin—make it a good all-purpose sauce perfect for keeping in the pantry for quick dinners. In most cases, the sauce will likely need to be heated through for a few minutes in the microwave or stovetop, but in certain instances, a sauce may need to reach a certain temperature (if it contains meat, etc. You can also store it for months in the freezer. Some of the best store-bought spaghetti sauce brands include Prego and Barilla, but there are a few others worth the purchase if you’re interested in creating a tasty pasta with tomatoes that haven’t been pulverized and dried. You can start with these store-bought sauces and add your own touches, too. ", "The decadent sauce contains Romano cheese, Parmigiano Reggiano, and Parmesan cheese—plus light cream. The choices in jarred sauce usually range from chunky to ultra smooth with ingredient add-ins like cheese, peppers, onions, garlic, and mushrooms. ", The Spruce Eats uses cookies to provide you with a great user experience and for our, Yo Mama's Foods Keto Marinara Pasta Sauce at Amazon, Stonewall Kitchen Basil Alfredo Sauce at Amazon, Primal Kitchen No Dairy Alfredo Sauce at Amazon, Rao's Homemade Tomato Sauce, Sensitive Formula at Amazon, Prego No Sugar Added Traditional Tomato Sauce at Amazon, TRUFF Black Truffle Pomodoro Pasta Sauce at Amazon, Best Overall: https://www.thekitchn.com/chef-approved-jarred-pasta-sauce-brands-23086904 ), but, rest assured, is still full of the other classic marinara flavors you know and love and expect of a great pasta sauce. If you’re in the mood to seriously dress up your typical spaghetti and meatballs dinner, look no further than Truff’s Black Truffle Pomodoro Sauce, which will infuse your meal with that decadent, rich truffle flavor we know and love to order at fancy restaurants. It's always best to whip up your own pasta sauce — just combine San Marzano tomatoes, basil, and olive oil, and season to taste. Although chefs prefer homemade stuff, they said they enjoy sauces from brands like Trader Giotto's and Rao's. The keyword when fixing sweet spaghetti sauce is moderation. A winning marinara should be bursting with fresh flavors, boast a delicate sweet to salty to tart balance, and complement rather than overpower your culinary creation. In reality, we’re lucky if we have 30 seconds to crack open a jar of pasta sauce and dump it on top of some spaghetti. Luckily, Prego specifically offers a no-sugar-added variety, so you can be confident the only sugar in the sauce is natural sugar from the tomatoes themselves (no high fructose corn syrup, preservatives, or artificial flavors either!). Credit: St. Killian's Cheese Shop and Market. But lucky for us, Rao’s has developed a “sensitive marinara” formulation that doesn’t contain onions or garlic (gasp! https://www.thrillist.com/eat/nation/best-jarred-pasta-sauce-brands For every one of these ingredients, start small and taste the sauce afterward. Trusted Results with Best spaghetti sauce in a jar. And who better to help me stop questioning my love of jarred sauce than professional chefs who admit to using (and loving) it too? Jarred pasta sauce from the grocery store can be easy to prepare, relatively inexpensive, and delicious. This sauce is exactly the right ratio of salty to sweet. The 5 Best Jars of Pasta Sauce You Can Buy at the Grocery Store.