I see jarred sauce for 8 to 10 bucks at the store and I must say it blows my mind. has anyone ever bought any? It’s like buying high end bubble gum or top shelf spam. Weird.
Are you talking about Rao’s? They really are good. I’ve had them a couple times at a friend’s house. Of all the premade pasta sauces I’ve had, they’re the only ones I actually like. That said, I usually just make my own pasta sauce that is as good or better for half the price.
The thread title certainly jarred me.
Williams-Sonoma has all kinds of sauces in the $13-$18/bottle range. I’m always flabbergast that they can sell them at that price.
Yeah, six dollars for tomato paste.
I’m not buying it. (Both senses intended…)
I could do much better myself for a lot less, and I have yet to find any tomato-based pre-made pasta sauce I like at all (most of them are way too sweetened).
Are we back in the yuppie era where people found their self-worth in finding the most overpriced version of basic items so they could brag about how much they paid?
My gf recently did a spa getaway weekend thing. They sold a number of high end foodstuffs that she is now embarrassed to admit she bought. She got tiny jars of gourmet salt. One has a minuscule amount of truffle in it, the other is “applewood smoked”.
Salt. Not quite cocaine prices, but close. Taste test: salty.
When you find a jar sauce that is really good, it’s a godsend. OTOH, I generally buy these at Costco for half or a third the price of Whole Foods. I’m not paying more than $5 for a jar of sauce.
Two that I recommend
Paesana Vodka Sauce
Victoria Marinara Sauce - One time my local Pathmark had a crazy sale on these, about $1.50 or $2 a jar. I bought two cases, and should have bought every jar they had.
I always watch the people who buy stupid stuff like the $10 pasta sauce at whole foods. Inevitably, they are shopping either for 1) that night’s dinner only, and it’s quite clear by the extra knife and 100% marked up breadcrumb-coated chicken breast they’re toting that they never cook or 2) are cluelessly shopping for a dinner party despite (see: 1) not knowing how to cook.
I don’t find much of a difference in making my own sauce. I like Muir Glen or the Whole Foods house (garden vegetable) brand sauce. Add a little red pepper flakes, a splash of balsamic and a sprinkle of sugar and it sings.
I make fantastic pasta sauce. But it also takes substantially longer than heating up a jar. If I’m in a hurry on a weeknight, I have no problem buying jarred pasta sauce. And if I’m going to buy jarred sauce, I want to buy something that actually tastes good. I’d actually flip it around and say it seems ridiculous to not buy what tastes good over a $5 difference. I actually don’t know off hand how much the stuff I buy (it’s made by the store I shop at and sold in plastic tubs, not jars) costs, but if good pasta sauce is $10 and crappy pasta sauce is $5, it seems like a no brainer to me.
The talk of people buying expensive stuff to “brag about how much they paid” seems to be making the assumption that it doesn’t actually taste better, which I think is false (though I’m sure you can find examples of expensive sauces that taste bad).
If the $10 sauce really does taste a lot better than normal jar sauce, I would probably buy it if I were making a special meal for someone.
I don’t enjoy cooking, and my own pasta sauce doesn’t taste better than a jar of Ragu. So the $10 sauce would taste better, and be more convenient, than my own cooking.
Then again, if I’m spending that much just on pasta sauce, it would be cheaper to go to a restaurant.
This is impossible unless you are leaving out key ingredients like tomatoes and spices.
A small jar of pesto is at least a couple-4,5 bucks for, what, maybe a 6 ounce jar? Of course, it is loaded with expensive cheese and hopefully some nuts.
Yeah, this guy Jarred better be putting crack in the sauce for that kind of coin. 
I tried Paul Newman’s Sockarooni seeing it recommended in some threads and it was god awful compared to my great homemade sauce. Thin, sweetish, textureless, flat bleah. I’ve learned my lesson.
If that’s true you need new spaghetti sauce recipe.
By nature, sauce gets more acidic and preservatives are used. I can’t imagine the quality is being much better than Ragu. Same goes with jarred salsa. Both products aren’t terribly awful, but canned and jarred food have a limit. I am all for food quality, but even $5 salsa isn’t much better than Pace or Ortega.
Quite frankly, all jarred pasta sauce has a lot of salt in it. I do like the cheaper varieties though-I am quite happy with Ragu. I have tried Rao’s-it is not a whole lot better. If you have the time, simply chop up some onions, peppers, garlic, sautee them in olive oil, add spices and tomato paste-water…and 30 minutes later you have something better than any of them.