# "Tomato" sauce in canned pasta **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 17, 2020, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-sauce-in-canned-pasta/855841 "2020-06-17T12:17:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Happytree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happytree/32/3555_2.png) [@Happytree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happytree)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2020, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-sauce-in-canned-pasta/855841/21 "2020-06-17T18:52:52Z")
Spaghetti o’s are ok for me when i’m in the mood. Maybe once a year. I think of it more like tomato soup with noodles. I eat it with a side of pretzels to cut down the sweetness. I remember Chef Boyardee cheese ravioli being as common as the beef. I never see the cheese anymore. I’d bet the cheese got too expensive for a 99 cent can. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-sauce-in-canned-pasta/855841/22 "2020-06-18T01:11:41Z")
Decads ago, Franco-American actually sold two different types of canned spaghetti. There was the familiar traffic-cone orange sauce, and “Italian style” made without cheese and a darker red sauce. My mother preferred the red stuff for herself, while giving us the kiddie-orange. I guess the adult-oriented stuff didn’t catch on, or at least died out after stuff like Ragu took over the market. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-sauce-in-canned-pasta/855841/23 "2020-06-18T01:26:38Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > After I had kids and they got past toddler-hood, I bought some Spaghetti-O’s. I mean, my Mom used to just heat that up and give it to us for lunch. > > Wow, they are aimed at kids. I tried some and honestly, it was disgusting. Yes, the same as when I was a kid, but I had not realized how much my tastes had changed. My daughter used to like spaghetti-O’s until she turned 12 or so. Now she’d rather not eat them My son never liked them. Didn’t like the sauce. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-sauce-in-canned-pasta/855841/24 "2020-06-18T01:34:19Z")
Love me some Raviolis in a can. But it is very bad for me. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-sauce-in-canned-pasta/855841/25 "2020-06-18T02:14:35Z")
I know there are dozens of H.P. Lovecraft fans here, so I thought I’d mention that he loved to eat canned spaghetti. Also canned baked beans. Perhaps if he’d eaten a green vegetable once in a while, he would have lived past 37 and laid a few more good stories on us all. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-sauce-in-canned-pasta/855841/26 "2020-06-18T02:24:19Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > IANA chef but if you wanted to doctor it for a more adult flavor, I’d try adding some garlic powder, oregano, and other spices to make it more Italian. I’d add parmesan to thicken the sauce a bit… That’s what I do, when I get a hankering for Spaghetti-Os or other canned pasta: I shake on some Club House “[Italiano Seasoning](https://www.clubhouseforchefs.ca/products/brands/club-house/italiano510-gr),” and some grated parmesan. That definitely gives it a more adult flavour that kids would probably hate. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-sauce-in-canned-pasta/855841/27 "2020-06-18T03:55:36Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > wow never ever tried them before ? > wait until you try the ones with the mystery meatballs or cocktail weenies … > these days Campbell’s soup owns spaghetti-os and anything else franco-american made > > did anyone ever try their mac and cheese in a can? it was usually near the spagetti-os but even as kids we were afraid to try it … I did. You were right to be afraid. The “mac” was mushy, long tubes. If there was any cheese in the sauce, they did a good job of hiding it. I liked Spaghetti-O’s when I was a kid (God help me), but even I couldn’t tolerate the mac and cheese. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-sauce-in-canned-pasta/855841/28 "2020-06-18T06:59:16Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > I know there are dozens of H.P. Lovecraft fans here, so I thought I’d mention that he loved to eat canned spaghetti. Also canned baked beans. > > Perhaps if he’d eaten a green vegetable once in a while, he would have lived past 37 and laid a few more good stories on us all. Pop quiz - HP Lovecraft wrote: “A monster of vaguely anthropoid outline, but with an octopus-like head whose face was a mass of feelers, a scaly, rubbery-looking body, prodigious claws on hind and fore feet, and long, narrow wings behind.” Your question - description of [A] statue of Cthulhu or \*\* peering into a can of spaghetti? ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-sauce-in-canned-pasta/855841/29 "2020-06-18T10:39:43Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Just had my first can of SpaghettiOs. I was expecting the sauce to be more tomato-y, rather than the orange stuff in the can. Why is the canned sauce so different from actual tomato sauce, and what could they do to improve it? For canned pasta with a more tomato-y sauce go to Campbell’s. They put their extensive tomato soup knowledge to use in the pasta cans. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-sauce-in-canned-pasta/855841/30 "2020-06-18T13:27:49Z")
A restaurant we frequent often has rosamarina soup (tomato soup with little noodles in it), which the waitress describes as being “like Spaghettios for grown-ups”. It’s pretty good, though my memories of Spaghettios are faint and distant enough that I’m not sure how close the comparison is. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-sauce-in-canned-pasta/855841.md?page=1)