Not a fan of Raos. I sometimes pick it up at Aldi for super cheap and then doctor it up or use it as a base for some beefy cheesy mac. For jarred sauces, the only one I found was impressively good was Mezzetta. You can get at Ralphs or Amazon Fresh.
Otherwise, a can of whole Bianco Tomatoes crushed by hand with your favorite long simmered pasta sauce recipe. The Scarpetta recipe if you want to use fresh tomatoes.
I still haven’t used the Carbone sauce but there is a large amount of oil at the top of the bottle compared to Rao’s.
We had some Japanese eggplant which were DYING in the fridge. Wasn’t feeling like stir fry or curry. So instead I decided to have it with some Pasta. While I was out, we picked up the Carbone Marinara sauce as a shortcut and with some doctoring up, it worked well…
But out the jar… it tastes processed. I realized why, they make it in the states, but with Italian Tomatoes. From the ingredients list, probably CANNED italian tomatoes. It literally tastes like tinned tomatoes that have been canned.
I started my dinner by taking a generous amount of olive oil and adding a TON of fresh pressed garlic (Like at least 8 cloves) and letting it just melt into the oil, then added the eggplant. Japanese eggplantis perfect for this prep. It’s not bitter or too watery. It cooks quickly too. I then added the sauce, dried parsley, organo, basil, a good dose of pasta water and a ton of parm as you fold the pasta in.
THEN, the sauce was awesome. It just clung to the pasta (Mini Penne) had a wonderful tomato flavor without being too bright or sweet.
So in terms of the Jars, I still like Mezzetta Artisan the best. This one to me is better than Raos.
If you have to doctor the sauce, why not save money and start with Pomi or canned?
I am not a fan of Pomi, not the tetra pack or the cans. Also, even with the high end stuff like Bianco and the imported San Marzanos, they need to simmer in spices and aromatics for at least an hour before they get the taste I like.
98% of the time, I make my own Sunday Gravy. Just straight. But the other 2% I make a meat sauce (1/2 ground beef/ 1/2 italian sausage) and then I used a jarred because the meat tends to infuse the flavor super quick. Plus, the jars I get are pretty much the same price than a can of Biancos since I shop Aldi and Grocery Outlet.
@Dommy the best deal I’ve found for Rao’s is at Costco. The Rao’s bottles at Costco are 28oz. I think the last time we bought them it was 2 bottles for $10.98. The bottles in the local supermarkets are 24oz (I’ve seen the bigger 32oz sizes occasionally). Our local WF has the 24oz bottle on sale right now and with Amazon Prime is comes out to around $6 which is pretty good.
I’m with you. 90% of the time we use Bianco tomatoes but always have the Rao’s jars around when we’re lazy or in a time crunch.
Thanks! In a few years (crossing fingers!!) we are getting a Costco in our neighborhood and I’ll be getting an actual pantry in my home! Right now I barely have space for two regular jars of pasta sauce. 
. I constantly get mad at Target for selling boxes of cereal (Oat Crunch Cherrios FTW!) that don’t fit in my cabinets. 
Made famous by the Amazon Prime show Jinnys Kitchen. This is the spiciest ramen ever. It’s not even close. I used less than half the sauce packet and my mouth is on fire. Added in extra nori, sesame seeds and green onion. The noodles are excellent. A bit thicker than normal.
5 pack at H-Mart was $7. It’s really freaking spicy.
Definitely super spicy! Something I’d get when I was challenging myself on the Scoville scale. They also make a 2x spicy and bottles of just the sauce if you want to punish yourself in other formats.
For those who consume bone broth……
H-mart’s sullongtang is almost 2 pounds at $7.50 at my nearest one. Compare that to Kettle and Fire which is almost double the price and broth is not as good. Kettle and Fire does have a long shelf life while H-mart should be refrigerated. So about a week.
It’s pretty good actually. You would have to add your own salt, pepper, green onions, and meat
What section is this in? I’ve never seen it before.
It’s by the banchan section at the PCH location
Thanks I’ll check it out!
Man this inflation thing is no BS. Bristol Farms Yorba Linda. GTFO. Only mango thing I’m paying $7 for is a slice of Republique pie.
And what in the world is “natural cotton candy flavor”?
They add food coloring.
They got blue milk at Disneyland. Would not recommend!
