I Just Discovered Rao's Secret New Sauce and It's Seriously the Best
Over New Year's, I took the kids to New York City and stayed at Royalton Park Avenue. Both nights we were there, my daughter ordered pasta with marinara sauce from the kid's menu, which was legit. The sauce was a touch creamy, with small chunks of tomato, and my 9-year-old daughter declared it was "the best pasta in the whole wide world." In hopes of recreating it, I headed to the Whole Foods pasta sauce aisle. (My go-to's are usually Carbone or Rao's Marinara, both delicious.) I've tried the Vodka sauce from both brands, also great. However, while perusing the sea of red, I noticed another creamy red that I had never seen before: Rao's Creamy Marinara with Mascarpone Cheese. In short: Stock up now — if you can find it.
As a journalist who regularly writes about food, I was shocked that nobody had ever told me about this sauce. "It doesn't taste like the Royalton's, but it's the best sauce I've ever had," my picky 9-year-old daughter declared as she took a bite of her supersized Rigatoni smothered in the sauce, just creamy enough with smallish chunks of tomatoes.
The sauce is made with Italian whole peeled tomatoes, cream, butter, Mascarpone cheese, onions, salt, Parmigiano Reggiano, garlic, Pecorino Romano, citric acid, basil, and black pepper. Like Rao's other sauces, there is no added sugar.
I immediately texted all my friends a photo of the sauce. "Buy this now," I told them. "Best Rao's sauce I've tasted."
A few days later, she requested the sauce again. I didn't feel like going to the store, so I opened my InstaCart app and typed in "Rao's Creamy Marinara," but nothing came up. So then, I headed over to Rao's website. Nothing. Googled. Nothing. Checked Reddit. Again, nothing. Rao's Creamy Marinara is a ghost on the internet.
Was I losing it? Did I concoct this unicorn of a sauce in my head? I opened up my Amazon app and headed over to the Whole Foods app, and was relieved to discover that it was there and available to order.
I have since contacted Rao's reps to get to the bottom of this mystery but haven't gotten a response. I want to know: Where did this sauce come from, and why isn't it available everywhere?
In 2023, The Campbell Soup Company acquired Sovos Brands, Inc., which owns Rao's. At the time, customers were concerned about the famous recipe getting changed. "We're not touching it! Anyone who thinks we're going to touch the sauce, no," Campbell's CEO Mark Clouse said in a statement.
Rao's website maintains that the famous marinara is slow-simmered, made in small batches, and features high-quality ingredients like pure Italian olive oil and hand-picked tomatoes from southern Italy. What won't you find? Any added sugar, filler, colors, starch, water, tomato blends, and tomato paste.
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