Good grief - it's so bloody easy to make your own tomato sauce. I've never had jar sauce in my life!

OP said she can make her own. Simple - make double or triple batches and FREEZE them. I do it every time I make Marinara and Bolognese sauces. Triple batch, eat one, freeze two. Take it out in the morning and when you come home from work/school at 7:00 p.m. you simply throw it in a pot and heat it up while you make the pasta. Viola. Homemade sauce.

Anonymous wrote:Ragu is fine. If I'm going to get picky about my sauce, I'm happy to make my own (not hard!) but I won't spend $$$ on jarred sauce - that's just wrong.

Agree. If I am going to cook a meal with jarred sauce, I just get whatever is cheapest. I like Ragu Robusto Four Cheese but I'm not that picky. I even like the Hunt's stuff that comes in a can! I consider it a completely different "animal" than a homemade sauce.

Anonymous wrote:Son of Italy

Sorry-SUn of Italy

Son of Italy

I am not a pasta sauce expert but I have always disliked jarred sauces because I find them too sweet. I have tried some of the more expensive brands, but our hands down favorite is the Simply Enjoy Marinara sauce at Giant

+1,000

I love Simply Enjoy marinara because it is not sweet at all. DH thinks I'm crazy but I read all jars until i find one that DOESN'T list sugar in the ingredients. I hate a sweet sauce. I also completely LOVE Rao's but it's pricey. I'll need to keep my eye out for the sales the PPs have mentioned.

The Delallo's (out of Pittsburgh, available at Giant) is very good, especially the fra diavolo.

My family likes the Ragu with the chunky veggies but I just picked a Rao's vegan vegetable garden sauce. I have not tried it yet but does anyone know if it is different from the traditional which was sold out.

To answer a previous poster about why the sugar in jarred sauces, it is to cut the bitterness of the tomatoes. Most recipes call for a bit of sugar when using mostly tomatoes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Victoria vodka and marinara are delicious. I love Rao's arabbiata. For what it's worth, one of my good friends is married to an Italian from Staten Island and she served him Rao's once. He said it was the closest thing to his moms homemade sauce he had ever had. So I consider that pretty good testimony!

How is that good testimony? There are shitty cooks all over the place.

His mom was Italian, it's safe to say her tomato sauce was good.

Anonymous wrote:Victoria vodka and marinara are delicious. I love Rao's arabbiata. For what it's worth, one of my good friends is married to an Italian from Staten Island and she served him Rao's once. He said it was the closest thing to his moms homemade sauce he had ever had. So I consider that pretty good testimony!

How is that good testimony? There are shitty cooks all over the place.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I tried Rao's today and for 9.00 I felt it could have been better. There was an ingredient I can't pin down that didn't belong that gave it sort of a heavy and bitter taste. Not worth they hype.

I totally agree. My homemade sauce is better than Rao's. We were not impressed.

I like Rao's spicy Arrabiata well enough, but the ultimate for me is "Mom's Fresh Garlic & Basil Spaghetti Sauce" which can be hard to find. It is exactly like homemade and really superb. No added sugar. I found it at Sara's grocery in Georgetown but I haven't seen it there lately and I'm tempted to order it in bulk as I do for my favorite jam. Here is one (craxy long) link to it: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Mom-s-Fresh-Garlic-Basil-Pasta-Sauce-24-oz-Pack-of-6/17243059?action=product_interest&action_type=title&placement_id=irs_top&strategy=PWVAV&visitor_id=66493121012&category=0%3A976759%3A976794%3A1001374&client_guid=4454014b-3e32-4fce-b8d5-217f9f0c9e17&config_id=2&parent_item_id=17243060&guid=a9826c0f-1aa3-47b3-891d-c8fa479ab8aa&bucket_id=irsbucket012&findingMethod=p13n

Victoria vodka and marinara are delicious. I love Rao's arabbiata. For what it's worth, one of my good friends is married to an Italian from Staten Island and she served him Rao's once. He said it was the closest thing to his moms homemade sauce he had ever had. So I consider that pretty good testimony!

Anonymous wrote:I tried Rao's today and for 9.00 I felt it could have been better. There was an ingredient I can't pin down that didn't belong that gave it sort of a heavy and bitter taste. Not worth they hype.

I totally agree. My homemade sauce is better than Rao's. We were not impressed.

trader joe's arrabiatta is good. Bit salty, though.

I tried Rao's today and for 9.00 I felt it could have been better. There was an ingredient I can't pin down that didn't belong that gave it sort of a heavy and bitter taste. Not worth they hype.

I posted my response after reading page 1, not realizing my suggestion had already been posted multiple times. Others probably did too. Might explain the long thread....