Not Rao's — The Top 2 Pasta Sauces On Consumer Reports Have One Unexpected Commonality

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With so many brands to choose from, it can be hard to know how to spot high-quality pasta sauce. One of our tricks is to peek at reliable online tests and reviews, such as those independently conducted by Consumer Reports. Very often the results of these reviews are not what you might expect. For example, in Consumer Reports' ranking of pasta sauces, first place doesn't go to the popular Rao's brand — instead, the two winning sauces are from Victoria and The Silver Palate, and they're both low-sodium marinaras.

The two sauces both received a perfect score for their nutritional composition and a high score for their flavor and texture, beating out other popular brands like Rao's and Organico Bello. Victoria's low-sodium marinara was praised by Consumer Reports for its fresh taste and gentle flavor notes that lean towards sour, and The Silver Palate sauce impressed the taste testers with its straightforward tomato and garlic flavor.

The Silver Palate Low Sodium Marinara Sauce has 140 milligrams of sodium per serving (½ cup), is made with a blend of tomatoes sourced from Italy and California, and is priced at around $14 per 25-ounce jar. The Victoria Low Sodium Marinara Sauce, made entirely from Italian tomatoes, is even lower in sodium with 120 milligrams per serving, and a 24-ounce jar has a similar price.

Healthy adults can eat up to 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day and don't usually need to lower that intake, but there are certain medical conditions that do call for a low- or reduced-sodium diet. Sodium essentially represents the salt content in the food, and most of us see salt as the most important seasoning. So why do not one but two low-sodium sauces top the rankings on Consumer Reports?

First, salt isn't really the thing that makes or breaks a good marinara sauce, as tomato sauce is supposed to be on the sweeter side — in fact, sugar is the sweet addition that will change your spaghetti sauce forever. But beyond that, the two sauces simply taste great, whether or not you need to be on a salt-limiting diet.

"Need to eat a lower sodium diet but still want flavor. This is really good marinara sauce," writes one shopper in their Amazon review of the Silver Palate Low Sodium Marinara. "Even my own Italian mother and grandmother admitted THIS was the best they ever tasted," gushes another review. Victoria's sauce is praised online, too. "This sauce is perfect in every way. Just the right thickness an[d] the spices and herbs are just righ[t]!" says a happy customer on Amazon, proving that low sodium definitely doesn't mean no flavor.