What's your favorite jared tomato sauce?
I usually make my own, but there are the times when you need to open a jar and eat. I like Rao's but it's so expensive, even when they go on sale. Other than that I'll buy Trader Joe's Organic tomato sauce just to have on hand or something from Whole Foods if it's on sale. What do you like to keep around?
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re: pasuga
I'll use any on sale but usually get Del Monte in a can, Barilla or Bertolli.
I doctor it with extra chopped garlic, dried or fresh basil, parsley, evoo,
and rinse the jar out with about a 1/4 cup of red wine. Sometimes a can
of paste is added if I use an extra jar of my home canned tomatoes.I usually can 30 quarts of Yakima tomatoes every year that are used
for making sauce, chili and the like.
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Boxed Pomi strained tomatoes, then add some dried spices and garlic, splash of olive oil, teaspoon of sugar and maybe some olives, and you're good to go. Adds like 1-2 minutes of prep time compared to prefab marinara, and has a whole lot less salt, which is an issue for the mister.
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DawneeBabe
Jan 19, 2011 08:12 PM
Nada..Zero...If I need 'sauce'..reach into the freezer for home grown peeled tomatoes...I never have found a commercial 'sauce' that matches real tomatoes, basil from my windowsill and fresh garlic.
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re: DawneeBabe
rudeboy
Jan 20, 2011 06:39 AM
ummmm - that wasn't really the original question. I think we'd all like bushels of fresh peeled organic tomatoes, fresh basil, and organic heirloom garlic bulbs more than sauce from a jar......and a Sicilian grandmother to prepare it.
Funny, though, if that grandmother made it from scratch, and then put it in mason jars, would then it be ruined?
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I haven't purchased a jar of tomato sauce since Aunt Millie's was around.....but if I had to, I would try a brand named *Victoria*. Convenience or not, out of principle I could not purchase Rao's due to the cost..... I rather go to a local Pizzeria and give them the business for nearly the same amount it would cost to make Rao's jarred sauce at home.
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ChefBoyAreMe
Jan 19, 2011 12:13 PM
If you can find it, Alessi is head and shoulders above all others. Practically as good as home made. Imported from Sicily:
http://www.vigo-alessi.com/products/i...
Ingredients: Sicilian Pear-Shaped Tomatoes, Alessi Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Onion, Garlic, Alessi Sea Salt, Basil
That's it...real stuff.
If you can't find Alessi, look at the ingredients on the brands in store. First, avoid any sauce which lists tomato paste or puree as a main ingredient. Also check the oil...if it says canola or anything, there is probably no olive oil in it. Spices, too, look for basil, specifically, and stay away from dried spices. Finally, if it is an ingredient you can't identify, or wouldn't have in your own kitchen, its probably junk. Just for kicks, pick up a jar of Ragu or Prego, and compare the ingredient list to the one above (I'd post the ingredients myself, but interestingly, neither brand website seems to include this info...make ya go hmmm...
It might be tough to find a good one, but if you can find one with a simple, normal ingredient list, that's the one I'd go with...
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The only reason Rao's is any better than any other high quality tomato sauce is because of the large quantities of EVOO they use. That's why you pay more for it, too. No other jarred sauce comes close to their oil content, so when I want to turn some lesser brand (TJ's, for example) into something better, I'll add some good EVOO.
But if I'm using a pre-made sauce, I'll use Sauces n Love from the refrigerated section.
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JuniorBalloon
Jan 17, 2011 08:41 AM
Gia Russa. Expensive, but good.The price inspired me to try and make it myself. I have only bought one or two jars in the last few years. We eat pasta couple times a month.
jb
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I know I'm in the minority, but I think Rao's sauce is horrible. While I rarely eat tomato sauce, Newman's Own Five Cheese is probably the best jar tomato sauce I've had.
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lilgi
Jan 16, 2011 09:03 PM
Cats, I normally don't go to Trader Joe's but I will certainly try Joe's Organic since we also make our own sauce here once a year but run out so quickly.
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re: whitneybee
lilgi
Jan 18, 2011 11:03 AM
I know, I only get them when I must and it's usually to use as more of an ingredient. I find most jarred sauces very acidic, with too much sugar added in efforts to balance, so I've given up on any other one. Additionally, I never liked preparing cans of crushed tomatoes either (I can taste how it's stored, I can't describe it).
I haven't tried TJ's so will pick some up on my next run :)
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re: wonderwoman
westsidegal
Jan 19, 2011 07:23 PM
if you doctor the tj regular canned marinara sauce with fresh garlic and a little good-quality olive oil, you can fool almost everyone.
I know because i've done it.
(the only person who identified any canned/jarred flavor was privvy to the secret)
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Barilla. No weird ingredients, very simple, tastes nice. The roasted garlic is really good. I also love Muir Glen Garlic Garlic. But, Barilla is really inexpensive. We've tried Rao's, but were not impressed at all. We felt that it was really overrated for the price.
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re: lilgi
coll
Jan 18, 2011 01:34 AM
I've worked for companies that were taken over by giant corporations, and the things they would do to save a penny were shocking. At least Barilla still only does Italian food, and not pet food and detergent and so on; from what I've seen, they care about the actual product and not just the bottom line of their acquisitions. And companies can be so devious when they change the ingredients as a corporate money saving measure soon after they take over. Maybe I'm just prejudiced though. Glad I have the luxury to pick and choose.
I rarely use canned sauce anyway, Barilla I stock up on in the fall when it's $1, for "emergencies". At that price, it's hard not to!
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re: lilgi
coll
Jan 18, 2011 11:21 AM
And they come in really nice jars, like Mason jars with ounce markings on them, great for other leftovers. I used to exclusively use my own sauce but found out husband doesn't mind junky Italian food occasionally...probably because he only got the real stuff since he was born! So it's great for the parmigiana and baked ziti stuff that I can live without.
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re: coll
lilgi
Jan 18, 2011 11:38 AM
One other peeve that I have (besides the acidity) is that they tend to overcook the sauce, and the lower the quality the more noticeable it is.
We cook our sauce very little here before jarring, and very little afterwards as well. When we use it over pasta, we only flavor the pasta with it with very little sauce.
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VeggieHead
Jan 16, 2011 07:34 AM
I'm not certain how far their distribution reaches, but Mid's, out of the Youngstown area on Ohio, is a great sauce, as jarred sauces go. A sicilian recipe, very similar to what the guys I worked for many years ago, Mid's has spice, sweet, and great tomato taste.
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re: VeggieHead
For a truly "Special Occasion" sauce; Gustiamo has imported the products of a small Sicilian farmer who makes organic sauce in four versions. They are a little more than commercial sauces , but worth the extra dollars, in over the top taste! San Matteo Farm on the slopes of Mt Etna.
http://www.gustiamo.com/cgi-bin/front...-
re: ospreycove
VeggieHead
Jan 16, 2011 07:58 AM
Sounds like a good one Osprey! Through high school, I worked for a family who came over from Southern Sicily who entrusted me to make huge batches of sauce. If only I had paid more attention all those years ago. Mid's is as close to that Spadaro recipe as I have found.
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I once asked a native Italian woman I worked with this question. I'll never forget the look on her face. Real horror movie reaction minus the scream. I like Classico tomato and basil though it is simple enough to open a can of good tomatoes, season, and add to sauted onions and garlic.
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coll
Jan 15, 2011 01:03 PM
Never thought I'd love a jarred sauce, but Silver Palate is really good. I buy a few when they're on sale, which is often.
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re: coll
rudeboy
Jan 19, 2011 12:24 PM
I got some Silver Palate marinaras on closeout for like $3.50 a jar. I should have bought them all....it was so good. Nornally, they are $8+ in Austin. My Italian Sicilian wife said it was the best marinara she's ever had.
For a cheap sauce, I hate to admit, but I like Emeril's Extra Gaaahhhlic. Go figure......I heat it up with a baby back bone, if I have one.
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re: rudeboy
westsidegal
Jan 19, 2011 07:19 PM
for those of us that live in southern california, the GELSON'S chain of supermarkets normally runs a $4 sale on the silver palate marinara about 3 times a year. . .
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junescook
Jan 15, 2011 12:42 PM
During the late summer DW makes sauce from our tomatoes and herbs and cans it so I've got a supply of that handy to use all year. Apart from that, somebody gave me a jar of M. Batali's that I thought was pretty good. Then there was a sauce called Frank's, I think, and I liked their Fra Diabolo, but that might have been local or regional to CT or Northeast.
