Favorite marinara sauce for spaghetti (in a jar, widely available) (1 Viewer)

[Jim517]

Muir Glen organic is very good, as is Cadia organic. I buy them when on sale $3 each.

 

[Malcolm R]

I found Rao's at a Hannaford supermarket in Vermont, so it must be pretty widely available.

 

[Joel Arndt]

For a nationally available brand, another vote for Rao's here. As has been pointed out by others, it is more pricey, but I can definitely taste the difference.

Why don't you offer some brand names available in your local markets other than say Ragu or Prego to see if any of the members have tried them?

 

[Carlo_M]

Not sure if you were referring to me, I did say I'd tried Lidia's, Batali's and Giada's in my original post, as well as Classico and Barilla in a secondary response to someone else who mentioned those. And then the mass market Ragu and Prego of course. I've also tried the Trader Joe's branded one. Decent but unspectacular.

 

[Stan]

I can't really state any specific brand preference, as I don't use a lot of jar sauce, but usually look for those lower in sugar. I have some Muir Glen organic on the shelf right now.

With the mainstream brands like Ragu and Prego, you might as well just melt a candy bar over your pasta. It's cheap because it's mostly sugar for a cheap "sweet" flavor rather than any actual Italian flavors of oregano and garlic.

Same with me, those are ridiculously sweet and cheap, I think some of them even use HFCS, yuck.

I stick with the middle of the road brands, as far as price and flavor, they're fine. We've got a local brand made by "real" Italian grandma. Nothing special, tomato sauce, paste, puree, the basics, etc. Something I could throw together for about a buck. She charges $9, I pass.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I found Rao's at a Hannaford supermarket in Vermont, so it must be pretty widely available.

Shouldn't you be buying Bove's??

Peg and I were really disappointed to learn that the Bove's storefront in Burlington had shut down years ago. We were in the mood for some Italian takeout on a recent trip...but, alas, they were gone!

My mother-in-law just moved to Milton...so I'm hoping we score some free sauce sometime (if we drop enough hints!).

 

[Malcolm R]

Shouldn't you be buying Bove's??

Peg and I were really disappointed to learn that the Bove's storefront in Burlington had shut down years ago. We were in the mood for some Italian takeout on a recent trip...but, alas, they were gone!

My mother-in-law just moved to Milton...so I'm hoping we score some free sauce sometime (if we drop enough hints!).

I tried a Bove's frozen lasagna a few years back and wasn't really impressed. I don't know that I've ever tried their regular sauce. Sounds like you recommend it?

The Bove's restaurant closed in December 2015. There's still Junior's Italian off Exit 16 in Colchester. I think they also have a restaurant in downtown Burlington, if it's still there. I'm not really familiar with other Italian restaurants in the area (though there are a number of them).

 

[Mike Frezon]

I don't know that I've ever tried their (Bove's) regular sauce. Sounds like you recommend it?

I've only had it a couple times...and that was several years ago. But Peg loves it. But then, she's got zero Italian heritage!

 

[DavidJ]

I like to make my own sauces whenever possible. Other than that I've been pretty pleased with Target's Simply Balanced brand, but I prefer their arrabiata. I haven't tried Rao's yet. I looked at picking up a jar today, but $7.39 is too rich for me when it comes to a simple sauce. I'll probably give in and try it one day.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Keep an eye out for sales - occasionally my supermarket will either have the regular jar marked down to $5, or will have the jumbo size at around $8. It survives the freezer really well too if you have leftovers.

 

[MatthewA]

Another vote for Rao's here, even though I never heard of it until I moved to California. Growing up, my mom, whose Baby Boomer upbringing in Virginia was as middle class and WASP as it got (so much so that the introduction of Shake-N-Bake was considered a big deal), and whenever she made pasta, she would usually use Classico sauce, which wouldn't be so bad if it didn't have the same amount of sugar as Ragu and Prego (Newman's Own is just as bad in that respect, frankly). Of course, living in a college town with no shortage of good, locally owned and operated ethnic restaurants (the Italian ones alone left Olive Garden in the dust) raised the bar for home cooking.

 

[TonyD]

BJ’s carries Roa.
We’ve seen three flavors ther.
It’s an extra large jar for $8.

My preference is the Vodka sauce version.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I tried Victoria's again, which is less pricey than Rao's but said to be of a similar high quality. I didn't think it was as good, but it was by no means bad. But Rao's remains my favorite.

When I make a thing of pasta, if possible, I try to save a little bit of the sauce separately and freeze it. Then, if I randomly feel like having chicken parmesan and it's just me, I can fry up a cutlet and have just the right amount of sauce ready to go without having to open an entire jar.

 

[Eve Babcock]

I always use homemade marinara but if I don't have time to make it I use Rao's, Barilla or Preggo

 

[Carlo_M]

Preggo...the pasta sauce with...unintended consequences...

 

[Jim517]

The organic tomato basil sauce at Aldi is very good, and cheap.

 

[JohnMor]

Preggo...the pasta sauce with...unintended consequences...

 

[TonyD]

The organic tomato basil sauce at Aldi is very good, and cheap.

One jar left so we grabbed it.

 

[Edwin-S]

I generally use Catelli's but I don't know if that is available in the States. Newman's own isn't bad. At least to me.

 

[Todd Erwin]

Barilla Roasted Garlic