Ask Lemmy

Rao's

Straight-up out of the jar onto your pasta, I think Raos is probably the best widely available option.

That said, I have yet to meet a jarred pasta sauce that didn't benefit from a bit of tweaking, some extra herbs/spices, a splash of wine, some cheese, sauteing up some extras garlic & onions, etc.

In general, I don't tend to think of jarred sauce as a totally finished product, it's more of a shortcut that lets you skip most of the more labor intensive parts of making a sauce from scratch and skip to the finishing touches. Even the most lackluster bargain brand sauce can usually be dressed up to a pretty damn good sauce without too much effort.

My usual process is to finely chop up some onions and garlic, give that a good saute with some olive oil, maybe deglaze with some wine, add the sauce, then season to taste with some herbs & spices (normally oregano, basil, rosemary, black pepper, red pepper flakes will be a pretty safe bet, but I get a bit weird with it sometimes, taste as you go) finish it off with some Parmesan cheese, and of course a bit of the pasta water.

Recently I've just been doing cento crushed tomatoes (canned). You need to season it (at least salt and pepper dear God) and ideally add some onion and garlic, maybe mushrooms or meat. But I'm also the type to add additional seasoning and ingredients to "finished" store bought sauces anyway, so maybe you're looking for something more complete

I’m gonna assume you mean best cheap jarred sauce.

I think Newman’s Own and Classico are the best under $3 at King Soopers.

One jar of classico tomato basil sauce One yellow onion chopped One can of diced tomatoes A few cloves of garlic chopped lots more basil butter trace amounts: cayenne, cumin

Meanwhile you’re browning some 80/20 ground beef in another skillet, and mix all that in including the fat at the end

Newman's

Kirkland brand from Costco is actually pretty good.

If not that, Rao's though I prefer Kirkland.

It's fairly plain on its own, so especially great if you are going to throw in anything extra, like fresh herbs or mushrooms or stuff.

Edit: Also, pro tip - the key to great sauce is saving a cup of the pasta water and throwing back in as you mix with the sauce.

Barilla FTW. But it actually depends on the country you buy it. I notice it tastes significantly better in Europe than Latinamerica for some reason...

Ages ago, I read about a recipe by the 'grandmother of Italian cooking' for an incredibly simple pasta sauce. I can attest it makes a very tasty sauce and it's so easy, even a cooking dunce like me can't fuck it up (yet). And if you want to add extra spices or herbs as an experiment, that only increases the flavour.

Her main premise was... why waste time chopping an onion into little bits? As our old pal Kevin would say, everyone is going to get to know each other in the pot! You take an onion, peel it, chop it in half, chuck it in a pan with one or two cheap tins of tomato. Add a healthy chunk of (salted) butter. Stir occasionally, she recommends 30 mins but ain't nobody got time fo' that. I usually do 15 or 20. Add salt to taste, remove the onion (as an aside, the onion will now be sweet and edible on its own), et voila.

You can always improve the flavor in your sauce. I'm not familiar with Aldi brand, but keep a few things on hand to give it the flavor you like.

Some of my favorite not-so-secret ingredients:

A splash of red wine or a tablespoon of grape jam for sweetness

Onion powder and garlic powder. Yes, fresh is better, but if you're starting with a jar of inexpensive sauce, get over yourself.

Soy sauce to make it saltier

Fish sauce or msg for more umami

Bay leaf, basil, oregano, or whatever preferred herbs you have on hand

If it's too acidic, add a teaspoon of baking soda.

Sometime I want to make the sauce a bit thinner, depending on the dish. I take a tablespoon of tomato paste and mix it into a cup of beef stock or water.

I just make my own and freeze it.

Olive oil, carrot, onion, garlic, ground beef, pork sausage, nduja, canned peeled tomatoes, and red wine, plus herbs to match your preferred flavor profile (I prefer thyme, but rosemary, oregano, basil, even sage work too). Salt to taste.

I put in medium sized mason jars and throw them in the freezer, them pull out a jar and put it in the fridge a day before I know I'm going to use it.

Classico is great if you're on a budget and it has plenty of variety. If you're not going to make it but want it to be as good as possible I recommend Rao's, it's expensive but really good, the Alfredo sauce is great too

In the realm of jarred tomato sauce available at your local mega Mart:

If you like actual chunks of veggie in your sauce,Bertolli rustic cut is outstanding but getting hard to find.

If you're looking for something for a baked bread dish like pizza or as a marinara dip, Victoria White linen is really good.

Rao's Ariabiata has a nice little kick that won't kill your guests

It's expensive and probably not available in a majority of the country, but Michael's of Brooklyn is a straight banger. I found it while I was living in Brooklyn and when I moved away I was sad I wouldn't be able to buy it anymore, but a few months back my local store started stocking it lol.

Bertolli

Recently I've been buying "Yo Mama's" sauce (no it's not the setup to a joke, it's actually called that). I first picked it up because it has lower amounts of sugar and salt then most retail sauces and liked the taste enough to keep buying it. It's fairly pricey though, usually eight or nine dollars online, but the local Grocery Outlet (a discount store in case you don't have them in your area) usually sells it for around five-ish.

One problem though, the lack of preservatives combined with the low salt and sugar means a jar can start to go bad relatively quickly. I've had more than one jar go fuzzy because I decided to take a week long break from eating pasta.

If they have it in your area, get Mid's. It costs a little more than the Newman's/Classico/Bertolli but it also comes in a bigger jar.

If not, one of those other three is fine. And even if you don't care for the flavors you can always jazz up the plain marinara yourself in so many ways (add garlic, basil, a parmesan rind, dried mushrooms, a splash of white wine, etc).

Prego makes a mushroom/sausage jar that is actually hella good. Also, mixed vegetables Prego. If I'm trying to class up a plain jar of red sauce, adding a whole can of diced tomatoes gives it a push. Raid your spice cabinet for flavors you like (and if you have citric acid, add a pinch)

Mostly the whole process takes <5mins