Say Goodbye To San Marzano Tomatoes — This Flavorful Alternative Has Home Cooks Saving Money

A quality homemade tomato sauce has to start with quality tomatoes. For many chefs and home cooks, San Marzano tomatoes aren't just good for this; they're the best tomatoes, period. Authentic San Marzano tomatoes come from Italy and have to be certified. They're so prized that there's actually a problem with fake or misleading San Marzano tomatoes on the market. San Marzanos also come at a premium price. That's why some home cooks are looking for more affordable alternatives that still taste great. You can achieve very similar results at a lower cost by shopping for canned whole peeled plum tomatoes.

Redpack Whole Peeled Plum Tomatoes cost about $2.60 per can. They're made with whole, vine-ripened plum tomatoes and have come out on top in more than one taste test that pitted canned tomato brands against each other. The tomatoes have a good balance of acidity and sweetness and a firm texture that makes them stand out from some San Marzano brands, which can get mushy. At a fraction of the price of true, certified San Marzano tomatoes, Redpack Whole Peeled Plum Tomatoes make for one of the best alternatives. Further, some chefs agree that Dattarini and Ciliegino tomatoes are worthy San Marzano substitutes.

To be clear, San Marzano tomatoes are also a type of plum tomato that are usually sold whole and peeled in cans. True San Marzano tomatoes are grown in the Agro Sarnese-Nocerino region by the Sarno River in Campania, Italy. They have a lower acid content than many other tomatoes, fewer seeds, meaty flesh, and a natural sweetness that makes them ideal for sauces. 

When Tasting Table discussed whether San Marzano tomatoes are worth the money, we noted that true San Marzanos will be certified Denominazione d'Origine Protetta, or DOP. That stands for protected designation of origin. It's regulated by the European Union to certify that the tomatoes were grown in that specific region according to certain standards. That said, you can find San Marzano-style tomatoes, including Cento's Certified San Marzano tomatoes, that aren't DOP but still rank highly in taste tests. They even took the top spot when we ranked canned tomato brands. These cost about $5 per can at Walmart, so they are more expensive than Redpack, but cheaper than some DOP brands, which cost around $8 or more on average. Walmart also sells a San Marzano-style tomato under its bettergoods brand for about $2.50 per can. That's almost a third of the price of a lower-cost DOP Italian version for a similar product. 

Real deal San Marzano tomatoes may be high quality and tasty, as they've benefited from the climate and soil characteristics of their domestic region. But that doesn't mean other tomatoes are not good. "Good value for San Marzano tomatoes. Sweet from the can," said one reviewer of the bettergoods San Marzano-style tomatoes. When you're trying to save money, paying about one-third of the price of authentic San Marzano tomatoes can make a big difference.