I Tried 11 Jarred Pasta Sauces & The Best Was Rich and Authentic

Nothing is quite as comforting as a cozy Italian meal on a cold day. All the ingredients are like a warm hug. You have your gooey cheese, al dente pasta, and of course, the right sauce to elevate the dish.

Making sauce from scratch can be quite an ordeal, so having a few staples in your cabinet for a quick spaghetti and meatball night is sometimes just necessary to press the easy button. After all, making meatballs from scratch takes enough time. There are quite a few varieties on the shelves these days of pasta sauces, so it can be hard to know what some of the best are. Maybe you like something a little sweeter, perhaps a little more acidic, maybe you want a little more flavor from added herbs, or cheeses. Regardless of your preference, there's one that just stands out from the rest.

Good & Gather Three Cheeses

This sauce from Good and Gather has no artificial colors and provides 3/4 cup of vegetables per serving. There are a few flavor varieties out there, two of which we featured in this article, and for the first we went with the three cheese.

The Look:

It first appears pretty thick, but once you give it a little stir, it thins out and is actually a little liquidy. It has a funky smell to it. You can definitely tell that it's full of cheese!

The Taste:

I love a good aged cheese, but this left a weird aftertaste in my mouth. I really didn't enjoy this one.

Too funky for my preference, and I'd rather just add fresh cheese to the pasta afterwards than have it mixed into the sauce, leaving a strong, unpleasant taste in my mouth.

Price Point:

• Cost per jar: $1.69
• Cost per serving: About $0.34

Ragu Traditional Sauce

This sauce from Ragu says that it has been crafted with passion since 1937. Ragu is one of those brands that I find that people either love the simplicity or really dislike it, and are looking for something with a little more substance. However, I wanted to give it a try for myself because it is a big name in the market.

The Look:

This traditional tomato sauce from Ragu appears very thin, and is extremely puréed. It doesn't really look like there's much else going on in there, so I'm just going to hop right in and take a taste.

The Taste:

I grew up eating those little Ragu kits that you can make in the microwave and that's pretty much what you could expect here. Nostalgia aside, it's just ok. It's quite thin and watery, not awful, but nothing to really write home about and not something that I would want to have again with so many other great options out there.

Price Point:

• Cost per jar: $2.24
• Cost per serving: About $0.45

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Francesco Rinaldi Traditional Sauce

The sauce is made with imported pecorino romano cheese and extra-virgin olive oil, ultimately making it appear a good choice on the shelf.

The Look:

With the use of imported pecorino romano and extra-virgin olive oil, I expected a nice fragrant smell and quality. Twisting off the top and peering at the sauce, it just looks like your everyday tomato purée. It doesn't have a very strong smell to it and is relatively thin and finally puréed.

The Taste:

I don't love the flavor of this one. The flavor is simple, there's not much pizzazz to it. I guess if you like a plain or sauce that's puréed quite fine, this could be a good option, but it's just not my favorite and slightly sweet.

Price Point:

• Cost per jar: $2.12
• Cost per serving: About $0.42

Ragú Simply Traditional Sauce

This Ragu Simply sauce doesn't use any added sugar, just simple ingredients like tomato purée, onions, olive oil, salt, garlic, basil, and oregano. I'm not the biggest fan of Ragu's traditional sauces, so I was excited that they came out with a little bit more of a natural version.

The Look:

Like the other Ragu sauce, it's pretty thin and liquidy, but I like that there's no added sugar. It smells very much like Campbell's tomato soup, I'm not really smelling any other ingredients in there. Just from the look of it I'm guessing that it's going to be mediocre at best, but we're going to try it out.

The Taste:

It has a slight sweetness, a little bit of a cheaper, artificial taste to it, despite it advertising eight simple ingredients. It's not the best option out there in my opinion, but better than traditional Ragu sauce.

Price Point:

• Cost per jar: $2.24
• Cost per serving: About $0.45

Good & Gather Tomato, Basil, and Garlic

The Good and Gather sauce has ¾ cup of vegetables in a serving of sauce, which can be a great way to get some veggies in when you're feeding the kids. It also has no artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives.

The Look:

There's not too much of a strong smell to it other than tomato, some of the competitors definitely had a strong basil scent if that was included in the name. The sauce is very finely puréed and a bit thin, bright red color.

The Taste:

If you don't like many frills when it comes to pasta sauce, this is a great option. It's definitely on the thinner side, but has a fresh tomato taste. It's mild and plain, so this one might be a great option for the kiddos.

Price Point:

• Cost per jar: $1.69
• Cost per serving: About $0.34

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Classico Traditional Sweet Basil

I haven't personally used this brand or even really heard of it for that matter, but it looked pretty good so I wanted to include it. I noticed that the ingredients aren't as clean as other options out there, using sugar and citric acid.

The Look:

From the initial look of it, it's thin and a little liquidy, but has plump juicy large pieces of tomato scattered throughout the sauce. It's definitely speckled with basil, but not as much as some of the other options like Bertolli.

The Taste:

If you like a sweeter sauce, this is a great option. I did notice that the ingredients aren't as fresh as some of the other options out there, but honestly, it still tastes great. There is sugar in it, but not much and if you like a sweeter sauce, this is a pretty tasty option. I wish the basil flavor was a little more prominent, but it's still a decent option.

Price Point:

• Cost per jar: $2.98
• Cost per serving: About $0.60

Carbone Marinara Sauce

The Carbone marinara sauce uses fresh ingredients, which immediately draws me to it. That's definitely something I look for traditionally when picking out spaghetti sauce is to keep on hand. The ingredients include imported Italian peeled tomatoes, tomato purée, sea salt, basil, onions, olive oil, sea salt, basil, garlic, and oregano.

The Look:

It has a bit of an oil film at the top and a glossy look to it. Right away, it looks very oil heavy. They advertise that they use the finest ingredients, slow cooking the sauce that's made in small batches. Sounds good to me, so let's give it a try!

The Taste:

It smells really mild and creamy, showing that the oil is really prominent in the sauce. This one has a distinct flavor, and clearly uses a lot of olive oil, but good olive oil. That's the most prominent flavor in the sauce, where usually you taste the basil or garlic more. It's nice and subtle, not too acidic. I don't think it's bad, just meets a specific preference.

Price Point:

• Cost per jar: $8.49
• Cost per serving: About $1.42

Prego Traditional Sauce

Prego is another popular brand in the game, so I wanted to factor in their traditional sauce for this round up. For such a well-known brand, I feel like their ingredients could be cleaner, using added sugar, tomato juice, canola oil, and dried ingredients or extract instead of fresh options.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

The Look:

Right away, I noticed that it is very fine and thinly puréed with speckles of basil. When I poured it on the pasta, it definitely dispersed a little liquidy, which I don't prefer.

The Taste:

Honestly, it's quite flavorful and has a slight sweetness to it. I really enjoy this one, although it's not as fresh as some other options and has canola oil instead of olive oil, but if you're looking for a good flavor, this is a solid traditional option from Prego.

Price Point:

• Cost per jar: $2.59
• Cost per serving: About $0.52

Rao's Homemade Marinara Sauce

Rao's makes all natural, premium marinara sauce and has been around for 120 years. They prioritize using quality ingredients like Italian whole peeled tomatoes, olive oil, onions, salt, garlic, basil, black pepper, and oregano.

The Look:

The sauce looks thick and hearty, with pops of green basil. With Rao's use of clean ingredients, I was excited to give this one a try on some pasta.

The Taste:

I expected this one to be my favorite because I've heard a lot of people recommend Rao's sauces. It's mild in flavor and tame. The sauce is even ever so slightly sweet, with sporadic chunks of tomato. Definitely a solid option out there, but still not my favorite and I was surprised about that.

Price Point:

• Cost per jar: $6.79
• Cost per serving: About $1.36

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Bertolli Tomato & Basil

The sauce is flavored with other natural flavors, and made with olive oil and no artificial colors. Bertolli includes tomato purée in addition to basil, onions, garlic, and spices among other ingredients.

The Look:

From the first look, the sauce looks hardy, with a lot of small pieces of basil throughout it. I gave it the smell test, and noticed a strong smell of sweet, fragrant basil.

The Taste:

When they say tomato basil, they definitely mean tomato basil. This has a really strong basil flavor and a juicy tomato flavor and texture. This is a great sauce to season a dish if you love the taste of basil or you're making something with fresh mozzarella.

Price Point:

• Cost per jar: $2.88
• Cost per serving: About $0.58

Mezzetta Marinara Sauce

Mezzetta has been around since 1935 and uses no added sugar, no preservatives, and non-GMO ingredients in their sauce. I had high hopes about this one because of the attention to detail in the ingredients. They use Italian plum tomatoes from Italy's San Marzano region, California plum tomatoes, imported olive oil, fresh onions, sea salt, fresh garlic, fresh basil, black pepper, and spices.

The Look:

At first glance, I noticed how thick the sauce was. There aren't any big chunks or anything surprising like that throughout, but it has a heartiness to it. The sauce isn't too liquidy and has a nice smell of fresh tomatoes.

The Taste:

This is by far my favorite! You can tell that every decision was well thought out, including what regions the tomatoes came from, the quality of the ingredients, and the pleasant texture. It was consistent throughout, with the ingredients evenly distributed in each bite of sauce.

Price Point:

• Cost per jar: $3.98
• Cost per serving: About $0.80

When it comes to jarred spaghetti sauces, the winner in my eyes is Mezzetta. If we didn't try your favorite, drop it in the comments!