After Taste-Testing 8 Popular Brands Of Jarred Marinara Sauce, I Honestly Can't Believe How Awful My Childhood Favorite Was

The internet was right about one of these...

I grew up eating a whole lotta pasta with jarred marinara sauce, and I can't lie...there's still something so nostalgic about that very specific taste of the jarred stuff in particular. I love a homemade pot of sauce as much as everyone does, but for the convenience factor alone, sometimes store-bought can't be beaten.

Ross Yoder

When it comes to jarred marinara sauce, I've always wondered: The pricier, artisanal varieties definitely taste great, but side-by-side with their budget-friendly counterparts, I can't imagine they're that much better...right? I mean, it's tomatoes.

Ross Yoder

So to find out once and for all, I decided to conduct a blind taste test of the most popular marinara brands out there — from the Ragú that I grew up with to the proclaimed "holy grails" of jarred sauce. And I gotta say...the results surprised me.

Ross Yoder

Getty Images

When it comes to the jars of marinara sauce you can likely find at any ol' grocery store, the options are basically endless. So in doing my research on the most popular sauces out there, I wanted to make sure I had all the best contenders.

For the purposes of this experiment, I separated the sauces into three main categories: the "fancy" stuff, the common standards, and the house-brand versions you'll find at stores like Whole Foods and Trader Joe's. All in all, I landed on eight total sauces:

Ross Yoder

Fancy Stuff:

• Cucina Antica Marinara

• Rao's Homemade Marinara

Common Standards:

• Prego Traditional

• Ragú Traditional

• Classico Marinara

• Tuttorosso Marinara

House Brands:

• Trader Joe's Tomato Basil Marinara

• Whole Foods 365 Organic Marinara

Getty Images

Here's how this went: To find out whether or not the fancier stuff really is better,I knew I had to make this a blind taste test. Luckily, my very willing (and hungry) partner was more than happy to mix up some saucy pastas for me.

Ross Yoder

Some other notes:

• I tasted the sauce over cooked fusilli pasta, with lots of ridges to catch the sauce, and cooked it in a pot of salted water. To keep the cooked pasta from sticking I also tossed it in the tiniest splash of olive oil, but that was it in terms of additional "seasoning."

• I sat in a different room while my partner diligently mixed up eight equally-portioned bites of pasta for me.

• Because of, ya know, science, I wrote down my initial impressions of each marinara sauce on a piece of paper, and immediately scored each one using my very scientifically-accurate smiley face rating system.

Ross Yoder

I quickly made my way through the eight different sauces, and it didn't take long to realize that, yep, NOT ALL JARRED MARINARAS ARE CREATED EQUALLY. Some tasted like actual tomatoes, others left weird aftertastes, and some tasted like they contained an entire jar of Italian seasoning, which might just be the biggest offense of all.

Ross Yoder

After jotting down every single one of my thoughts, I tried to guess which sauce was which. Ultimately, I got 2/8 correct, which wasn't bad. I tried.

Ross Yoder

Before my boyfriend finally revealed the order in which I tasted the sauces, I sorted them to finalize my thoughts.

Ross Yoder

The following is my definitive ranking — from the absolute worst to the inarguable best.

Warner Bros. / Via giphy.com

Getty Images

8. Ragú Traditional — It tasted like SpaghettiOs, but distinctly bitter.

Ross Yoder

For a sauce that pretty much defined my childhood, this one genuinely shocked me. Simply put, this was nothing like I remembered.

After tasting this one, I noted that the flavor tastes like "there are genuinely no real tomatoes in this LOL," and it "literally tasted like SpaghettiOs sauce," which might not be a bad thing depending on your tastebuds. For mine, however, it was not. Nope, nope, nope.

However, the total dealbreaker here was the distinctly bitter aftertaste. I'm not kidding, it was genuinely offensive, and considering there were no weird ingredients or preservatives listed on the jar itself (???), I'm unsure where it even came from.

🍝 Overall score for Ragú — 3.5/10

Given the SpaghettiOs-like flavor and the bitter aftertaste, I was deeply disappointed by my childhood fave and I can't exactly recommend buying this one, either.

7. Prego Traditional — Basically just syrupy garlic.

Ross Yoder

Let me just say, the garlicky flavor in this sauce was INTENSE. And if I'm saying that, most people would probably find it straight-up offensive. I'm truly obsessed with garlic, but woah, this was a lot...and it wasn't even good garlic flavor. It tasted like someone dumped an entire jar of garlic powder into this. I will say the flavors of Prego were a bit deeper than Ragú, which is why it's not dead last on my list, but man, this stuff was also syrupy sweet. Hard pass.

🍝 Overall score for Prego — 4/10

Vampires, beware. This sauce is unnecessarily garlicky, IMO, and I also didn't love how sweet it was. All in all: pass.

6. Trader Joe's Tomato Basil Marinara — If you've ever had the Italian Herb and Cheese bread at Subway, that's what this sauce tastes like...and I don't mean that in a good way.

Ross Yoder

Trader Joe's tends to nail the condiment game pretty hard, so I was pretty shocked that this wasn't one of my favorites. Yep, this sauce tasted like the marinara version of that Italian Herb roll at Subway. That seasoning blend on a roll? Amazing. In literal pasta sauce? Not so much.

Like the Prego sauce, I found the TJ's version to be on the sweeter side, but not in that "mmm, these tomatoes are so sweet!" way. It tasted like sugar. Not as intensely sugary as the Prego, but definitely too sweet for pasta sauce, IMO. And while I appreciated the earthiness supplied by the herbs, it was super overpowering here.

🍝 Overall score for Trader Joe's — 4.5/10

While I appreciate the fact that they went for flavor here, I think it was ultimately overkill. Their fine-tasting tomato sauce was completely overshadowed by the distinct, polarizing Italian seasoning taste.

5. Tuttorosso Marinara — For the price, it's honestly a pretty solid option.

Ross Yoder

Considering this was the least expensive of the easy-to-find brands that I tried — a big 'ol jar of it was actually on sale for $1.50 at my local grocery store, marked down from $2.79 (still the cheapest!) — I was more or less impressed with this one.

I certainly wasn't tricked into thinking these tomatoes were, ya know, fresh off the vine, but it was a budget-friendly, blank slate sauce that I'd totally buy again. For something like a lasagna (where the marinara sauce isn't really the ~star of the show~), this would be a very acceptable sauce to choose.

🍝 Overall score for Tuttorosso — 6/10

If you need a cheap, budget-friendly tomato sauce that's by no means offensive — even if it's not exactly jam-packed with flavor — Tuttorosso is a solid option.

4. Classico Marinara — While it's certainly not the most budget-friendly option, it does pack in some bold, impressive flavor.

Ross Yoder

I noted that this sauce tasted "interesting," but in a good way. This sauce had way more depth of flavor than I thought it would, so considering it was the priciest of the "easy-to-find" sauces I tested (this one rang in at $4.19), that came as a relief.

Like some of the other sauces, this one definitely suffered from a bit of Italian Seasoning Syndrome, but not in any sort of aggressive way. I appreciated the round, bold flavors, and also found the tomato flavor to be bright and naturally sweet. The only actual downside here? I found Classico's marinara to be the most acidic of all the sauces I tried. That said, the acidity could easily be remedied with a bit of olive oil (or butter), so I wouldn't let that deter you from buying this brand. That said, the next brand on my ranking was better and cheaper, so $4.19 for Classico might not be worth it, anyway.

🍝 Overall score for Classico — 7/10

For a middle-of-the-road pasta sauce (in terms of taste and price point) that you can find at just about any grocery store, Classico's cabernet marinara definitely impressed.

3. Whole Foods 365 Organic Marinara — As far as your wallet is concerned, this is THE sauce for you.

Ross Yoder

I'm a massive fan of Whole Foods' 365 products (next to Trader Joe's, they're the best, cheapest generic products out there), so I was thrilled that this one ranked as high as it did for me. I found the flavors to be nearly identical to the Classico marinara — it just lacked the sharp acidity of the former (a good thing!) and cost half as much.

At $2.29 a jar, I would go ahead and call this the best jar of marinara you could buy for your money, especially considering it also just so happens to be organic. Next time you're at your local Whole Foods, you should absolutely stock up on this stuff.

🍝 Overall score for Whole Foods — 7.5/10

If you live near a Whole Foods, run to stock up on this budget-friendly, delicious-tasting marinara sauce. It's cheap, undeniably tasty, and just so happens to be organic, too.

2. Cucina Antica Marinara — It's a near-perfect, blank-slate sauce at a higher price point.

Ross Yoder

Here we are — the fancy stuff. Turns out my hypothesis on the budget brands being "just as good as the fancy ones" was 100% wrong. But, at least I finally tried it for myself.

As noted in my taste test, it's "giving blank slate," which I think is a great thing. The fresh, tomatoey flavor was the only thing I tasted here. No over-the-top herbs, and the sweetness, acidity, and salt levels were all expertly balanced. This one was absolutely delish, though not quite as delish as my #1 pick. Cucina Antica was also the second most expensive brand I tried, coming in at $6.39 for a 16 oz. jar. Can you guess the most expensive?

🍝 Overall score for Cucina Antica — 8.5/10

While I didn't love the flavor as much as my #1 pick, I did appreciate that it was incredibly tomato-forward without any excessive herby notes to cover up all that freshness. You'll pay a little more for this one, but if you need a sauce that's truly fresh-tasting, Cucina Antica is a great pick.

1. Rao's Homemade Marinara — I don't know how else to say this...this stuff is 🔥.

Ross Yoder

Honestly, I'm rolling my eyes, too. I wanted SO BADLY for one of the other marinara sauces to beat Rao's, and even in a totally blind taste test, this one reigned supreme. I don't know how they do it...but it's truly a perfect sauce. It's the only jarred sauce that Ina Garten will use, and now I can totally see why.

I've had Rao's before, but tasting this one in tandem with all the others was nothing short of life-changing. The taste itself is a bit hard to describe, but its bold tomato flavor (without a jar-full of herbs to mask the tomato flavors) went far and beyond any of the other flavors I tried. Texturally, it's magnificent. Rao's really strikes the right balance here for a marinara sauce that's hearty and substantial without being aggressively chunky, and smooth enough without being watery.

Rao's sauce will definitely set you back more than the others — at $7.49, this was certainly the most expensive jar of marinara I tried. That said, I promise you, it's just so worth it. People loooooooove saying that it's the "closest you can get to homemade," and now I know that honestly, people are right.

🍝 Overall score for Rao's — 10/10

Rarely do I taste "premium" products that are worth every penny. Rao's is the exception. If you can find it on sale at your local grocery store or at a wholesale club, like Costco, stock up.

Any sauces that you totally disagree with? Or, any of your absolute faves that we left out entirely? Let us know in the comments. Happy pasta-eating! 🍝

If you're curious about how other popular grocery store products stack up to one another, you can check out the rest of my blind taste tests below:

• Best Frozen Chicken Nuggets

• Best Microwave Popcorn

• Best Ice Cream

• Best Jarred Salsa

• Best Boxed Mac 'N' Cheese

• Best Frozen Pizza

• Best Pickles