Consumer Reports Says This Pasta Sauce Is One Of The Best You Can Buy (It's Not Rao's)

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In the case of store-bought marinara sauces, many prefer Rao's Homemade over other brands. Fans say it legitimately tastes like it was prepared from scratch, and Rao's has allegedly nailed a chunky-yet-smooth texture and a balanced, herb-kissed flavor. However, if you ask Consumer Reports, the fan-favorite ranks much lower than The Silver Palate's low-sodium marinara pasta sauce, which tied for first place.

This lesser-known brand, which started as a retail and prepared food store in New York City, delivers a quality product. The sauce is made from vine-ripened tomatoes, a mix of whole San Marzano tomatoes from Italy and whole and crushed tomatoes from California. The other ingredients are simple: extra-virgin olive oil, fresh onions, carrots, and garlic, pear concentrate (a natural sweetener and sugar alternative), oregano, and black pepper. A 25-ounce jar usually costs between $5 and $9.

Shoppers who've tasted the sauce agree with Consumer Reports. "This sauce is good, proving you don't need a lot of ... salt in your pasta sauce to have a delicious meal. Natural ingredients to boot," one Amazon reviewer wrote. "The very best-tasting marinara sauce available! Love this sauce, and I have been eating spaghetti for over 70 years. Even my own Italian mother and grandmother admitted THIS was the best they ever tasted," raved another. "You would never know that it was low sodium. The taste was delicious and it had nice thickness," added a third. "My absolute favorite. I even used it when making chili," said a creative home cook.

To rank The Silver Palate's low-sodium marinara among competitors, Consumer Reports evaluated the sauces by several metrics. These included price, nutrition, sensory qualities, and package size. The ranking was limited to tomato sauces, which went beyond marinara. Consumer Reports is a nonprofit that ensures objectivity in its reviews, too, so the brands featured don't pay for preferred placement.

The Silver Palate shares the top ranking with Victoria low-sodium marinara. The ingredients are somewhat similar — whole tomatoes in juice, onions, olive oil, garlic, basil, sea salt, and spices — and the brand as a whole is dependably tasty; in fact, our absolute favorite Victoria pasta sauce is the vodka variety, so the brand doesn't exclusively specialize in marinara. In third place was Organico Bello delicate recipe organic pasta sauce, followed by Cucina Antica garlic marinara, Organico Bello organic marinara, and Lidia's marinara. Heavyweights like Bertolli, Classico, Barilla, and Trader Joe's all ranked notably lower.

Fan-favorite Rao's came in seventh place. Rao's marinara similarly contains Italian tomatoes, olive oil, onions, salt, garlic, basil, black pepper, and oregano, even more similar to The Silver Palate than Victoria. It's a bit pricier at $5 to $10 for a 24-ounce jar. Still, Rao's has more name recognition (not to mention, Ina Garten swears by Rao's pasta sauce), which doesn't factor into Consumer Reports' evaluation. If you're a Rao's stan, you'll have to taste The Silver Palate's marinara to see how they truly compare.