Timesaver: Jarred Pasta Sauce for the Win!
Jarred pasta sauce is a staple in my pantry and should be in yours too if you’re looking to save time cooking.
It seems like every time someone posts a question online asking for recommendations for the best jarred pasta sauce about half the responses are people saying it’s so easy to make your own and it’s so much better. It may be better but making your own is never going to be as easy as opening a jar and dumping it into a pan or over noodles. And it’s certainly debatable whether it’s “enough better” to justify the extra effort. For me, it’s just not. Remember, we’re shooting for “good enough, not gourmet” here!
My Favorite Jarred Pasta Sauces
We’ve tried a lot of different pasta sauces over the years, some (much) better than others. We still try a new one occasionally, but we’ve settled on these as our favorites. We keep a few different pasta sauces on hand for different uses.
Favorite All-Around Sauce
My favorite all-around jarred pasta sauce is Rao’s Marinara. If you read reviews or comparisons online, you’ll see that this one is a favorite of many. I buy it at Costco, and usually when it’s on sale, so it’s not as expensive. I can use this for anything – spaghetti and meatballs, baked ziti, ravioli casserole, chicken parmesan, etc.
Favorite Local Italian Sauce
Our favorite when we want something that tastes closer to Italian “gravy” is Mama Rosa’s Pasta Sauce, which is produced and bottled in the city where we live. It’s thicker and has just a little bit of a kick. We think it most closely resembles grandma’s homemade sauce. We especially like this one for spaghetti and meatballs, where the dish doesn’t have so much cheese and the sauce really stands out.
Favorite Spicy Sauce
Whole Foods Organic Spicy Arrabbiata is our favorite in this category. It is spicy! My favorite uses for this one so far are for Eggs in Purgatory and Ground turkey spaghetti. We serve the eggs in purgatory over polenta or couscous and it soaks up all the spicy sauce. You can also serve it with a nice crusty bread to sop up that yummy sauce. Since ground turkey doesn’t have a ton of flavor, this sauce really enhances that dish.
Favorite Standby Sauce
My favorite pasta sauce that I can find in pretty much any grocery store anywhere in the US for a reasonable price is Classico, either the Tomato and Basil or Traditional Sweet Basil. If we’re traveling and staying in a cabin or house somewhere, this is the sauce I’ll usually pick up for spaghetti night. It’s fairly inexpensive and has a decent flavor.
Time Saved
I don’t make my own pasta sauce, so I had to do a bit of research and look at recipes online. The times varied but most estimated around 10-20 minutes of prep and 30+ minutes of cooking time. Based on what was in the recipes I think the prep time was probably closer to 20 minutes. Add in the time to get out the ingredients and equipment, and clean up, I’d say it’s probably closer to 25-30 minutes of hands-on time and then the 30+ minutes of hands-off cooking time.
A reminder though that using convenience products is also about saving effort, which is not exactly the same as saving time. If it’s all you can do to get a meal on the table, you’re not going to want to put in the effort to get our the knife and cutting board, clean vegetables, measure out the ingredients, and clean up. That’s the real benefit of using convenience ingredients!
What’s your favorite jarred pasta sauce? Let me know in the comments!
What Can I Make With Jarred Pasta Sauce?
Here are some of the recipes and dishes you can make using a jar of pasta sauce