If you are a frequent reader of Sporked rankings, you are well aware that we are champions of Rao’s products (also, hi, thanks for reading). Their pasta sauces consistently outperform other sauces in our taste tests. Their traditional marinara is our favorite marinara (they took the number two spot, too). Same goes for their arrabbiata sauce and chicken noodle soup. Rao’s is an actual restaurant (with locations in NYC and L.A.) and the products they sell at the grocery store consistently manage to be restaurant quality. It’s really quite a feat!
Suffice it to say, whenever Rao’s Homemade releases new sauces or soups, we’re stoked. We recently taste tested several of their newest products, and while they’re all good (though, tbh, the lentil and butternut squash soups are kind of meh), one new Rao’s Homemade sauce stood out among all the rest. Allow me to sing its praises.
Rao’s Homemade marinara is unbelievably savory. Honestly, just thinking about it makes my mouth water. But a common complaint about Rao’s sauces is that they’re too salty. Personally, I disagree, but if that’s ever been your issue, I think you should give this new Rao’s sauce a shot. The sweetness of the caramelized onions is the perfect complement to the savory tomato base. Like all Rao’s Homemade sauces, it’s thick and rich with oily without being oily. It’s nonna-quality sauce, if your nonna ever had the presence of mind to add delicious, caramelized onions to her sauce. This would be incredible on an Italian sausage hoagie. If you love onions and you love Rao’s, you’re going to love this.
Howdy! I’m Gwynedd, Sporked’s managing editor. I live in Los Angeles and have access to the best tacos the U.S. has to offer—but I’m a sucker for a crunchy Old El Paso taco night every now and then. I’ve been at Sporked since 2022 and I’m still searching frozen mozzarella sticks that can hold a candle to restaurant sticks.
Why you should trust me: I’ve been a journalist for 20 years (yikes), a consumer of food for 40-plus years, and I’m truly hard pressed to think of foods I don’t like (or that I can’t tolerate at the very least). Oh and one time I cooked my way through Guy Fieri’s cookbook and wrote about the journey through Flavortown.
What I buy every week: Trader Joe’s Original Savory Thins. Fat free plain yogurt (usually Fage or Nancy’s). Honeycrisp apples. Sweet cream coffee creamer for my at-home Americanos. A frozen cauliflower crust pizza and some jarred mushrooms to top it with. Old El Paso Stand ‘N Stuff taco shells and Gardein Ground Be’f, even though I think “be’f” is a nightmarish contraction.
Favorite ranking: Stouffer’s frozen dinners. I don’t own a microwave (I get my cancers the old fashioned way!), so I love taste testing things that I don’t really buy to eat at home.
Least favorite ranking: Soy sauce. Don’t get me wrong, I love soy sauce—but consuming that much sodium in one sitting is probably illegal in some countries. Our frozen enchilada taste test was a close second; the smell of microwaved corn tortillas still haunts me.
Thoughts? Questions? Complete disagreement? Leave a comment!
Gwynedd Stuart
Luke Field
Vinz Karl
Thoughts? Questions? Complete disagreement? Leave a comment!