What's Your Favorite Bottled Pasta Sauce?

[awbrig]

I love Rao's original Marinara - 10

Rao's Eggplant - 8

Patsy's 7

Dave's Gourmet - 8

Emerils Vodka was kinda bad but I want to try Bobby Flays sauce...

What do you guys like?

[Stone]

I bought some of Paul Newman's sauce recently after not having had (to my knowledge) store bought sauce in years. I was shocked by how sweet is was -- which was why I stopped using Ragu, Prego, etc.

I think I'll always find time to make my own sauce -- even if it's just garlic in butter -- before using store-bought again (except when my nieces and nephews come over and I don't get the option). However, I 've never seen the brands mentioned above. Are they "gourmet"?

I am curious if people here think there's a store-bought sauce that's worth it.

[awbrig]

yes they are gourmet and cost about 8 dollars a bottle however the rao's brand uses san marzano tomatoes...

you can find them in better grocery stores or fancy food stores...

[swissmiss]

I never buy bottled pasta sauce, but if I did I'd get Sauces 'n Love because it really tastes homemade. Tried Emeril's and Lydia Bastianich's at the Fancy Food Show and they were absolutely awful. I even tasted them again on the last day to give them a second chance, and they were just as bad. Very, very sad when you consider that Emeril's is (according to their promo material of course) the bestselling pasta sauce in the US.

[Celine]

Mom's Fresh Garlic & Basil Pasta Sauce

It's not a thick sauce, but a fresh tasting one full of whole basil leaves and garlic cloves. Since discovering it over ten years ago at Whole Foods, I've turned many grateful friends on to this delicious sauce.

http://www.timpones.com/index.htm

Celine

[Jinmyo]

Just some pomi puree poured over some garlic and anchovies sauteeing in EVOO with good salt and pepper can't help be better than any bottled sauce.

[Elizabeth Ann]

I think most store brands are way too sweet. Corn syrup, in my opinion, does not belong in pasta sauce. Trader Joe's has a decent canned marinara sauce that I sometimes use as a base sauce for lasagna. A friend told me that the Silver Palate brand was good, but I have not tried it.

Elizabeth Ann

[Fat Guy]

Right on, Jin. Bottled pasta sauces and bottled salad dressings are depressing. Even 99-cent cheapo canned tomatoes with minimal enhancement taste better than those $8-$12 sauces.

[jaybee]

Heinz chili sauce with minced onion and garlic mixed in. It works best on white bread instead of pasta.

[Jaymes]

Mom's Fresh Garlic & Basil Pasta Sauce

It's not a thick sauce, but a fresh tasting one full of whole basil leaves and garlic cloves. Since discovering it over ten years ago at Whole Foods, I've turned many grateful friends on to this delicious sauce.

http://www.timpones.com/index.htm

Celine

Ditto Mom's.

Mom's Garlic & Basil Spaghetti Sauce - with fat cloves of whole garlic

Mom's Special Marinara - with butter and cream

Mom's Puttanesca - with black olives and capers

Mom's Caponata - with Sicilian olives and capers

It just doesn't taste a thing like any other bottled pasta sauce I've ever tried.

Don't know who she is, but I love that "Mom" almost as much as my own!!

[Stone]

Heinz chili sauce with minced onion and garlic mixed in.  It works best on white bread instead of pasta.

Do you need help getting the wheels off your new home?

[FoodMan]

I totally agree with Fat Guy and Jin, and can honestly say I have not used bottled patsa sauce in years. Cheaper and much much tastier to whip something simple at home with the $.99 canned tomatoes than buying those sweet bottled brands.

FM

[helen jackson]

Bobo's sugo is great - my only exception in bottled vs homemade.

It is fairly expensive but I always have a jar on hand.

[Ron Johnson]

I am not a fan of bottled store bought sauce, but I don't think its fair to compare a quick sautee of canned tomatoes, EVOO, and garlic to a long-cooked complex tomato sauce. My understanding is that people who use bottled sauce, do so when they need that type of sauce and don't have the time, and the quick-saute type will not suffice.

The only sauce I have purchased that was acceptable was Rao's, but it was absurdly expensive. Always look at the label and buy a sauce that does not have sugar or any other sweetener as an ingredient. If they all do, pick the one that has it as close to last on the list of ingredients.

[tommy]

well it's fair to say that anyone who cooks even a little is going to jump on the "make it yourself" bandwagon, myself included.

i will say that i thought rao's was for sh*t, especially considering the 8 dollar price tag. i noticed they've lowered their prices in the past year or so.

[Ron Johnson]

i will say that i thought rao's was for sh*t, especially considering the 8 dollar price tag.

Yes, but did you like it?

[Fat Guy]

My understanding is that people who use bottled sauce, do so when they need that type of sauce and don't have the time, and the quick-saute type will not suffice.

I don't think the average bottled sauce consumer is thinking it through like that.

[Ron Johnson]

True, I guess I was thinking of Mario Batali telling people to substitute bottled sauce for his "basic tomato sauce" in his recipes rather than not make the recipe at all.

[Jaymes]

I am not a fan of bottled store bought sauce, but I don't think its fair to compare a quick sautee of canned tomatoes, EVOO, and garlic to a long-cooked complex tomato sauce.  

My understanding is that people who use bottled sauce, do so when they need that type of sauce and don't have the time, and the quick-saute type will not suffice.  

Always look at the label and buy a sauce that does not have sugar or any other sweetener as an ingredient.  

Cooking for a party of one these days..... and am busy..... don't have time for complex cooking except on the weekends and often I don't want to spend all weekend standing around in the kitchen.

When I finish work, late and tired, I'm thrilled to death to have a jar or two of Mom's in the pantry. I can make a quick eggplant casserole, for example, by thinly slicing eggplant, dipping it in beaten egg and seasoned flour, frying in olive oil, arranging in glass dish, dumping Mom's sauce and some P Reggiano over it and heating it in the MW. I'm eating in fifteen minutes. And eating good.

Here's the list of ingredients for Mom's Puttanesca.... tomatoes, olives, fresh carrots, EVOO, fresh garlic, real butter, real cream, capers, sea salt, pepper, anchovy, herbs and soy. And that's it. Period. No sugar. So what's not to like? Soy???

It's easy to say, "I would never do this or I would never do that" but the fact of the matter is that different times, different circumstances call for different methods.

[mamster]

I stand by my love of Bertolli Marinara With Burgundy Wine. It's nice and tart, good pasta-coating texture, and makes a nice base for improvisation. I haven't found any other jarred sauce I like, and I do often make my own, but we always keep the Bertolli on hand.

[macrosan]

My favorite bottled pasta sauces :

For spreading on the lawn to keep next door's cats out of the garden --- Lloyd Grossman

For stripping paint off wood --- Ragu

For coloring cement mix to match patio paving slabs --- Paul Newman

For eating ----

[=Mark]

So far the Colavita line of jarred sauces are the only ones I can find that contain no sugar or corn syrup. Their Puttanesca sauce is actually not bad.

[SobaAddict70]

Aunt Millie's (which I haven't used in years but grew up on). Is it still made?

Otherwise, none of the above. Pomi or fresh tomatoes is key.

SA

[Stephanie]

So far the Colavita line of jarred sauces are the only ones I can find that contain no sugar or corn syrup.  Their Puttanesca sauce is actually not bad.

Some sauces in the Classico line (such as the Tomato & Basil) don't have any sweeteners. Taste is just OK though.

[tommy]

Aunt Millie's (which I haven't used in years but grew up on).  Is it still made?

Otherwise, none of the above.  Pomi or fresh tomatoes is key.

SA

yes it is still made. and i grew up on it too, and thought it was the best for most of my life. and then i stepped away, and then i went back to it, and then i realized that i had no taste!!!

stay away. stay well away.