12 Jarred Classic Marinara Sauces Ranked Worst To Best

Ever since the Neapolitans got their hands on the tomato in the 1500s, during the Columbian Exchange, they became experts at fashioning a classic tomato sauce. This staple of seafaring folk was given the moniker "marinara," or "mariner's sauce," presumably as an homage to its prominence aboard ships. The rich, acidic sauce made from fresh tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, and fresh herbs made its way across the Atlantic and became incorporated into our culinary traditions. While making a homemade marinara can be a relatively simple endeavor, there are plenty of store-bought jarred iterations of this classic sauce available that you can keep on hand for a rainy day, when you're looking to get dinner on the table in a pinch.

I was curious to find out which of these convenient jarred marinara sauces was the tastiest, so I assembled a wide cross-section of options that I sourced from local retailers. I carefully sampled each, taking note of aroma, texture, flavor, and overall quality. You can read more about the methodology I used to determine which marinara won best-in-show at the end of this ranking. In the meantime, read on to find out which marinara deserves a spot in your pantry and on top of your preferred shape of pasta.

At the bottom of the list of jarred classic marinara sauces is the imported Ponti brand. This Italian company has been producing high-quality vinegar since 1787. That's quite a legacy. But while it may be well-known for its vinegar, I was underwhelmed by its classic marinara. The aroma is that of fresh, sweet summer tomatoes and its texture is somewhat thin compared with many of the other marinara sauces, making it cling to pasta less effectively.

In terms of flavor, what I appreciated about this sauce was that it was not highly acidic. That said, this was because it tasted more watery than robust. The sauce had an almost soup-like quality, but was bland, lacking the dynamic flavors of a classic gazpacho recipe, for example. It was in desperate need of some salt, even though there is a healthy amount of sodium in this brand, at 440 milligrams per serving. But perhaps the most unpleasant thing about this sauce was an inherent astringency that almost tasted synthetic. Considering this product is made from all natural ingredients, I do not have an explanation for what caused this, I just know it made it a sauce I would not wish to consume again. I gave this marinara a D- grade.

Next to last on this ranking of classic marinara sauces is the Prego brand. This familiar brand has many lines of sauces under its umbrella, like its Chunky and Farmers' Market lines, both of which I found infinitely more palatable than this one was. The aroma of this sauce was pure, intense tomato, which was initially promising. The texture of this sauce was relatively thick, though not overly chunky, giving it a great capacity to adhere to pasta.

Where this sauce lost its steam was in the taste department. From the get-go, the acidity of the tomatoes was so aggressive it was verging on caustic. Any spices, herbs, or salt were overwhelmed by the acidity, making it almost inedible. While I do not love when store-bought pasta sauces are loaded with sugar, this sauce needed something to help temper the acidity and balance out the flavors. Overall, I gave this sauce a D grade, as well. The only reason it ranked above the Ponti is because I thought it had a markedly more pleasant texture. That said, when it came to taste, it was not an improvement.

As much as it pains me to do so, I had to place Newman's Own near the bottom of my ranking of jarred classic marinara sauces. While I love the mission of this brand, and have enjoyed many of its other products, this is not one of its more successful achievements. Its aroma is sweet, rather than tomato-forward. I can only attribute this to the presence of carrot purée in the recipe. The texture of this sauce is also problematic. It's excessively thin and watery, making it glide off noodles, resting at the bottom of the pasta bowl like tomato juice.

The flavor of this sauce was not necessarily bad, but it was boring. It had no oomph to it. I needed more herbs, spices, and acidity, which is shocking since this is typically a problem with marinara sauces. While too much is unpleasant, tomatoes should have a hint of acidity to give the sauce some brightness. And, despite a hearty 450 milligrams of sodium per serving (21% of the recommended daily value), the sauce appeared to lack salinity. One of our taste testers noted that this was more like a pizza sauce than a marinara, though I'd argue it would be too moist and bland even atop a cheesy pie. Slightly better than the bottom two marinara brands, this sauce garnered a D+ grade.

Up next is the Great Value brand of jarred classic marinara. Though affordable, in some cases, you get what you pay for. While this sauce is not overtly problematic, I did have some qualms about it, particularly in the taste department. The aroma of this sauce was actually quite pleasant, having a slightly more complex nose, befitting a sauce that's more assertively seasoned. As far as the texture goes, it was on the thicker side, giving it plenty of body to envelop even a thin spaghetti noodle.

When I sampled this sauce, I was struck initially by the assertive flavor of oregano. While I enjoy oregano, it must be used delicately, otherwise it can take over a sauce and make it almost bitter. The only reason the oregano took a back seat was because the acidity kicked in. The astringency of the tomatoes needed some taming, like by adding a dash of baking soda, to help mitigate the amount of lip puckering acid. The salinity felt well-balanced, even though it is on the higher side, at 480 milligrams per serving (21% DV). Overall, I gave this sauce an average C- grade. It would be serviceable, but may not suit those with sensitive stomachs.

The Victoria brand has been producing Italian delicacies since 1929, using the philosophy that "ingredients come first." Despite featuring quality ingredients prepared simply, this jarred classic marinara sauce just didn't hit the mark for me. The aroma itself was dynamite. It had a robust, almost meaty quality to it, even though this is a vegetarian sauce. To me this is a good indicator of its slow-cooked preparation method. The texture of the sauce was adequately thick, just enough to give you a good sauce-to-noodle ratio in every bite.

All of this considered, I felt let down by the flavor of this sauce. I expected something more befitting of the aroma in terms of depth of flavor. It was quite bland, lacking in the aromatics, herbs, and seasonings included on the ingredient list. It also appeared to need more salt, even though it contains 490 milligrams of sodium per serving (21% DV). I did think the acidity of this sauce was well-balanced, which was a win. While this may be an archetypical tomato sauce, it's not an exciting one. For this reason I gave this sauce a C grade.

Gino's brand of jarred classic marinara ranks next on this list. This was one of the first sauces that I'd classify as pretty good among the bunch I sampled. I'd likely purchase it again, even though it had some issues. One of the first things I noticed about this sauce was its color. It had a deep crimson hue that was far more bold than many of the others, likely a product of the tomato paste in the recipe. Its aroma was relatively mild, yet sweet. The texture of this sauce is quite chunky, which may be off putting to some. I enjoyed it though, as I tend to prefer noodles with more robust texture to them, like penne, where the sauce can lodge itself into the center of the pasta.

The flavor of this sauce was quite sweet, though it retained a lot of its acidity. It was also exceedingly salty, with 660 milligrams of sodium per serving, a staggering 27% of the recommended daily value. Where this sauce shone was its spiciness, which had quite a kick. I also felt that the seasonings were markedly more complex, giving this sauce a flavor befitting of a slow-cooked tomato soup. On the whole, this sauce was good enough to earn a C+ grade, though I would have preferred a bit less salt for my liking.

While Barilla may be most well-known for its pasta, it makes a pretty good jarred classic marinara sauce. Though this wasn't a mind-blowing marinara, it was quite good, having a lot of the characteristics you expect from a classic variation of this type of sauce. The aroma is refreshing and bright with herbaceous notes of basil and oregano. The texture is ideal, not too thin and not too chunky, with crushed tomatoes and a viscosity that makes it encase a noodle perfectly.

The flavor, though mild, has a balanced amount of sweetness and acidity, even though there's no added sugar in the recipe. The sodium level is well-executed, without being heavy-handed. While basil is listed first as the primary herb in this sauce, I found the oregano overshadowed the basil. Perhaps my taste buds are overly sensitive to oregano, but I do detect it like a highly trained truffle sniffing dog, even if it's buried deep underneath the other ingredients. It was verging on too much, but was still acceptable. All in all, I thought this sauce deserved a B- grade.

The Ragú Kettle Cooked offering of jarred classic marinara sauce promises that slow-cooked flavor that comes from a sauce made from scratch. Though not quite homemade tasting, this sauce did pretty well overall. The aroma was more complex, with notes of acidic tomato, a hint of sweetness, and the grassiness of fresh herbs shining through. The texture also delivered, with just enough viscosity to be used on any shaped noodle, but not enough to be chunky, per se.

When it came to flavor, although this lacked some of the nuance I detected in the aroma, the overall taste was well-balanced between sweet, salty, acid, and bitter components. I did think the basil was perhaps the most potent flavor, even dominating the tomatoes, but this was not a dealbreaker. That said, I anticipated a slightly more interesting, bold flavor than what this delivered. This was a good sauce, but not a great one, which is why I only gave it a B grade.

Pasquale's jarred classic marinara sauce came in just shy of breaking into the top three slots in this ranking. The family recipe has been passed down through the generations, and this heritage shines through in the quality of the sauce. Its aroma is intense, with an umami-rich savory quality that is reminiscent of sun-dried tomatoes, even though there aren't any in the recipe. The texture of the sauce is thick, but not chunky, again, ideal for coating pasta thoroughly.

The flavor of this sauce is redolent of the bounty of freshly picked tomatoes grown in the hot summer sun. It is acidic, but not overly so. There is no residual sweetness, and it has a well-balanced amount of salinity, despite the fact that its sodium content is on the lower side at just 190 milligrams per serving. While the herbs and aromatics are less potent than I might generally prefer, I was pleasantly surprised by the way in which the tomatoes were showcased in this sauce. If I was going to select a jarred marinara to make an expedited variation on lasagna, this is the one I'd use. I give this sauce an enthusiastic B+ grade.

Coming in at third place on this ranking of jarred classic marinara sauce brands is the variety from Carbone. This product had a distinctive homemade quality that I quite appreciated. From the moment you open the jar and pour out the sauce, you notice the presence of olive oil, which may seem like it would make the sauce greasy, but in reality, it gives it a rustic texture that's highly appealing. The aroma is distinctly meaty and loaded with umami notes that are dynamite. While this sauce is chunky, this only enhances that made-from-scratch quality.

The flavor of this marinara is deep and complex. The olive oil lends a fruitiness to the tomatoes, which are acidic, but not overwhelmingly so. The seasonings from top to bottom are well-balanced, with a richness that bespeaks its slow-cooked preparation method. This savory sauce doesn't need much more than a quality pasta to shine. I give it an A- grade and would gladly purchase it again.

I had a difficult time deciding if the Mezzetta marinara belonged ahead of the Carbone variety, because the brands shared a lot of similar qualities that made them both desirable. That said, this one edged out the latter just barely. One characteristic they shared was that oiliness that settled in the bowl when I poured the sauce out of the jar. This sauce was also quite thick and chunky, giving it that homemade mouthfeel. The aroma was where this sauce excelled, edging it out ahead of the Carbone variety. The fruity olive oil, along with a smokiness and a richness similar to sun-dried tomatoes, was robust and made my mouth water.

The flavor was highly sophisticated and nuanced, with the acidity of the tomato perfectly balanced by the salinity. This sauce contains tomatoes from the San Marzano region of Italy. These tomatoes tend to have a lower moisture content, are sweeter, and are meatier than their domestic counterparts. This is all reflected in the sauce. The seasonings, herbs, and aromatics, are present, but not dominant, accentuating the inherent qualities of the tomatoes, rather than hiding them. Overall, this sauce garnered a solid A grade.

If I were a betting person, I would have guessed that Rao's Homemade classic marinara would come in at the top of this list before I sampled any of the other sauces. I should have taken that bet. I would have won a lot of money. I'm no newbie to this brand — I've previously ranked all of its sauces and was impressed with the overall quality of every one of them. While you pay a premium for Rao's sauce, it's worth it for the attention to detail paid in terms of cooking method, sourcing of ingredients, and commitment to simplicity. All of this is reflected in this marinara.

The aroma of this sauce is herbaceous and bright. Its texture is the epitome of thickness, without being overly chunky. The flavor can best be described as perfect. Every ingredient is carefully layered, achieving a level of harmony that none of the other sauces managed to find. The umami-rich, sweet italian tomatoes are delicately punctuated by the aromatics, herbs, and seasonings, and the salinity is just right. While the tomatoes have a modicum of acidity, enough to be refreshing, it is not so much as to upset sensitive stomachs. This winning sauce garnered an A+ grade.

While there were plenty more options for jarred classic marinara sauces available at the grocery store, several were niche products, such as low-carb, keto, or organic. I stuck with simple recipes from basic brands. I also purchased products available from mainstream retailers rather than specialty grocers or big box stores that require memberships.

I heated each sauce in the microwave before sampling it as-is, assessing the marinara based on aroma, texture, flavor, and overall quality. While I did toss the sauces over pasta, that was not my determining criteria, just a factor that helped confirm my observations about the texture of each marinara brand.

I did have a couple of assistant taste testers who were able to give me a second opinion and reinforce some of my initial observations, which I hope lends more credibility to the objectivity of my analysis. It is my wish that this ranking helps you to decide what sauce suits your needs, budget, and the tastes of your family.