If This Ingredient Isn't Listed First On Your Jar Of Marinara, It's Time To Choose Another One

You would think that when shopping for a jar of marinara sauce, it'd be easy to find one made primarily from tomatoes, right? But as it turns out, the overwhelming majority of the hundreds (if not thousands) of brands of jarred marinara sauce do not list "tomatoes" as the primary ingredient. If you pick up a jar of marinara and the top of the ingredient list is something like "tomato purée (water, tomato paste)," kindly put it back on the shelf. While tomato purée is made from tomatoes, diluting tomato paste with water is essentially a shortcut taken by companies to quickly and cheaply produce jarred sauces. While that choice can help to lower consumer costs, it's also made at the expense of the sauce's flavor. One taste of a jarred marinara made with actual tomatoes, and you'll never want anything else on your pizza or pasta.

A few fan-favorite jarred marinara sauces that feature tomatoes as their key ingredient include Rao's (the store-bought sauce Ina Garten recommends), Yo Mamma's, Carbone, Michaels of Brooklyn, Victoria, and Mezzetta. Since these sauces don't skimp on quality, they come at a slightly higher cost compared to marinara sauces made with tomato purée. Prices typically range from around $6 to $8, depending on the brand, store, and location. If you're grocery shopping on a budget, keep an eye out for brands like the ones listed to go on sale and then stock up. If possible, you can also score a sweet deal by purchasing these sauces in bulk at wholesale retailers like Sam's Club or Costco.

If tomatoes are the first ingredient in a jarred marinara sauce, other simple quality ingredients are almost guaranteed to follow. Look for fresh ingredients like olive oil, onions, garlic, herbs, salt, and pepper — classic ingredients that an Italian grandmother would use in her sauce. Jarred sauces that use tomato purée often (but not always) have other ingredients that also cut corners and degrade the taste and overall quality. If you can't find a jarred marinara that prioritizes tomatoes and other fresh ingredients (not dried), save yourself the regret of buying any sauce that lists oils other than olive oil or extra virgin olive oil, highly refined sugars like high-fructose corn syrup, and any unnecessary additives or preservatives, such as citric acid. These sauces not only lack flavor, but are also the unhealthiest marinara sauces on grocery store shelves.

If all else fails and you have the time and a little patience, you can easily create your own big, beautiful pot of marinara sauce with the same real ingredients as the most beloved jarred varieties, and most likely, it'll taste just as delicious (if not more so) and cost less per serving. As my nonna likes to say, "Life's too short to eat your pasta with a bad sauce."