If Marinara Sauce could press charges for identity theft, it would be a compelling case.
The red stuff in these jars hardly resembles what Italians have been making for centuries.
Food scientists have replaced Roma tomatoes with tomato paste made from concentrate. They swapped olive oil for cheaper alternatives that leave a greasy film on the tongue.
Some brands contain more water than tomatoes. Others pack enough sodium to preserve a mummy.
The worst? Many of these disasters cost more per ounce than fresh tomatoes at the farmers market.
1. Traditional Italian Prego Sauce
Prego has been a pantry staple since 1981. But here's the catch: It contains more sugar than many dessert ingredients.
Half a cup contains 10 grams of sugar. That's more than two teaspoons per serving.
The sauce tastes more like ketchup than real marinara. Many home cooks report a metallic aftertaste that overpowers pasta dishes.
2. Traditional Old World Style Ragu
Ragu was introduced in 1937 as America's first nationally distributed pasta sauce. The brand promises old world taste but delivers something completely different.
The list of ingredients reads like a chemistry experiment. High fructose corn syrup appears at the top.
The texture is watery and thin. It slides right off the noodles instead of sticking to the noodles like a real marinara should.
3. Hunt Traditional Pasta Sauce
Hunt's has been making tomato products since 1888. However, their pasta sauce completely misses the mark.
The sauce contains both sugar and high fructose corn syrup. That's a double dose of unnecessary sweetness.
It has a pasty consistency that is difficult to spread evenly. The taste is mild, almost without any herbal notes.
4. Classico tomato and basil
Classico markets itself as a premium sauce in a jar. The reality does not match the advertising.
The basil taste is artificial and overpowering. It tastes like dried herbs that have been sitting in a warehouse for too long.
The sauce has an oddly sweet profile that pairs well with savory dishes. Many customers also complain about excessive salt content.
5. Newman's Own Marinara
Paul Newman founded this brand in 1982, with profits going to charity. Good intentions don't result in good sauce.
The marinara has a sour taste that is off-putting to many. It lacks the natural sweetness of high-quality tomatoes.
The texture is chunky but not good. Large pieces of tomato peel float in the sauce.
6. Bertolli Traditional Marinara
Bertolli uses his Italian name for credibility. The sauce itself tells a different story.
It contains modified food starch as a thickener. Real Italian marinara is based solely on tomatoes for the body.
The sauce has an artificially shiny appearance. It looks more like plastic than food.
The taste is flat, without depth or complexity. It is best to prepare the sauce from canned tomatoes.
7. Inexpensive marinara sauce
Walmart's private label strives for affordability. The low price reflects the low quality.
The first ingredient listed is water, not tomatoes. That explains the weak taste.
It has a thin, runny consistency that pools at the bottom of your plate. The color is pale and unappetizing.
The taste is so mild that you hardly notice it as a tomato. Most people need to add several spices to make it edible.
8. Francesco Rinaldi Traditional Marinara
Francesco Rinaldi has worked in New York since 1906. The modern formula bears little resemblance to traditional recipes.
The sauce contains soybean oil as the main ingredient. Traditional marinara only uses olive oil.
It has a greasy film that coats your mouth uncomfortably. The aftertaste lasts for hours.
The seasoning tastes like a generic Italian seasoning blend. No individual herbs shine through.
9. Prego Farmers' Market Classic Marinara
Prego launched this line to appeal to health-conscious shoppers. Marketing goes beyond execution.
Despite the “Farm Fresh” label, it still contains added sugar. The amount is slightly less but still noticeable.
The sauce has a strange vegetable flavor that doesn't taste like tomatoes. Something goes wrong during processing.
It is thicker than regular Prego but has a grainy texture. The consistency is uneven throughout the glass.
10. 365 Organic Marinara Sauce
Whole Foods' house brand promises organic quality. The organic seal is no guarantee of good taste.
The sauce is extremely sour and has no balancing sweetness. It makes your mouth pucker.
The tomato flavor tastes good out of the can and processed. This is disappointing for an organic product at premium prices.
The herbs are barely noticeable. The overall flavor profile is one-dimensional and bitter.
11. Barilla Marinara Sauce
Barilla dominates the pasta sector with its noodles. Their sauce doesn't do justice to the quality of the pasta.
The marinara contains sugar and corn syrup. This is unexpected for an Italian brand.
It has a rubbery texture that sticks to the palate. The sauce doesn't go well with pasta.
The tomato flavor is weak and tastes artificial. Many customers report a chemical aftertaste that ruins their food.
12. Kroger Traditional Marinara
Kroger's own brand tries to compete on price alone. Here you get what you pay for.
The sauce is incredibly thin and watery. It doesn't stick to any type of pasta.
The color is pale orange instead of deep red. This indicates a low tomato content and inferior ingredients.
The taste is almost non-existent. It tastes like diluted tomato juice with a pinch of salt.
13. Muir Glen Organic Marinara
Muir Glen charges premium prices for organic ingredients. The final product does not justify the cost.
The sauce has an overwhelming garlic flavor that dominates everything. It's impossible to taste the tomatoes.
The texture is grainy and has seeds visible throughout. Many people find eating unpleasant.
It is extremely salty despite being marketed as a healthier alternative. One serving contains 480 mg of sodium.
14. Rao's Homemade Marinara
Raos costs twice as much as most jarred sauces. The restaurant opened in Harlem in 1896, but the glass version disappoints.
The sauce is too oily and has pools of liquid on the top. It separates poorly even before opening.
The taste is extremely garlicky and monotonous. It lacks the complexity that the premium price promises.
Many report an unpleasant bitter aftertaste. This is probably because the garlic was cooked too long during processing.
15. Victoria Marinara Sauce
Victoria markets itself as an authentic Italian-American sauce. The product does not correspond to tradition.
The sauce contains citric acid, which is at the top of the ingredients list. This creates an artificial acid.
It contains tomato pieces that are not cooked properly. The texture is inconsistent and unrefined.
The seasoning tastes like regular pizza sauce. The flavor profile is nothing special or homemade.
16. Mezzetta Marinara
Mezzetta operates in the California wine region. Your marinara does not meet regional quality standards.
The sauce has a strange sweetness that tastes artificial. It does not come from natural tomato sugar.
The consistency is too thick and pasty. It doesn't spread properly or mix with pasta.
The herbal taste is dusty and stale. It tastes like old dried herbs from the back cupboard.
17. Del Monte Traditional Pasta Sauce
Del Monte has been making canned goods since 1886. Your pasta sauce is showing signs of cost-cutting.
The first ingredient is tomato puree from concentrate. This means the tomatoes have been heavily processed twice.
It has a flat, one-dimensional flavor with no depth. The taste is more like ketchup than marinara.
The texture is smooth but in an unnatural way. Real marinara should have some texture of quality tomatoes.
18. Traditional pasta sauce from Contadina
Contadina means “peasant’s wife” in Italian. The sauce does not conform to simple Italian cooking traditions.
It contains both sugar and high fructose corn syrup. This double addition of sweetener is completely unnecessary.
The sauce has a metallic taste that overpowers other flavors. Many suspect that the canning process affects the taste.
The consistency is mushy and thick, but not particularly rich. It clumps together instead of covering the noodles evenly.
19. Lucini Marinara
Lucini charges boutique prices for imported ingredients. The sauce tastes neither imported nor premium.
It is overly sour and has a tart bite. The acidity drowns out any subtle tomato flavors.
The texture is liquid and dissolves quickly after heating. Oil collects at the top as the tomatoes sink to the bottom.
The herbal mixture tastes more medicinal than fresh. Something goes wrong during the preservation process.
20. Aim for good and collect marinara
Target's house brand promises quality and value. The marinara delivers neither.
The sauce contains modified corn starch as a thickener. This creates an unnaturally shiny appearance and texture.
It has a strangely sweet taste with chemical undertones. The sweetness does not taste like natural tomato sugar.
The color is suspiciously bright red. Real marinara has deeper, earthier tones from high-quality tomatoes.
