The Store-Bought Pasta Sauces Celebrity Chefs Love To Use

Nothing compares to homemade, especially when it comes to pasta sauce. It's pure magic to slowly simmer tomatoes until they release their precious juices, roast garlic until your kitchen is fragrant with it, and inhale the freshness that comes from chopping herbs picked from the garden. But let's face it — some of us don't have a garden, can't get in-season tomatoes year-round, or are simply too busy, too tired, or too hungry to cook.

There's something to be said for the convenience of pre-made pasta sauces, and even professional cooks turn to them now and then for a quick dinner, or as a base to build upon for their recipes. There's absolutely no shame in having a well-stocked pantry with all the fixings for throwing together an easy meal, which is why knowing which store-bought pasta sauces the pros love to use is so helpful. Requiring little else other than boiling water for noodles, having a ready-to-go jar of sauce on hand is just the ticket for when time is of the essence. Here's a look at which pasta sauces celebrity chefs turn to when they're not whipping up a batch of their own.

Restaurateur and chef Bobby Flay is also a fan of store-bought pasta sauces. In fact, he's got an entire section of his pantry devoted to ingredients for Italian-style cooking. As the chef-in-residence for the food delivery service Misfits Market, Flay teamed up with his partners to share a tour of his pantry. In the Instagram video, he shows off his well-stocked racks filled with all different kinds of pasta, canned San Marzano tomatoes for making sauce, as well as a selection of off-the-shelf pasta sauces for when he wants to eat ASAP. The variety he's got stockpiled is Simply Sugo by the brand Mutti. While it's a great product as is, he explains that he likes to embellish it with Calabrian chili peppers (also from a jar), red pepper flakes, fresh herbs, and Parmigiano Reggiano.

The Mutti company — located in Parma, Italy — has been producing tomato products since 1899. They promote their sauces as ready to heat and eat or as a starter from which to build other recipes, so it's no wonder that it's Bobby Flay's choice to keep on reserve. Among Mutti's many innovations and accolades, the brand also lays claim to having introduced concentrated tomato paste sold in a tube in the 1950s. While the Simply Sugo product line is no longer sold, it appears to have been rebranded as Mutti's regular pasta sauces, which come in marinara, tomato basil, and Parmigiano Reggiano flavors.

The pasta sauce Guy Fieri raves about on his show "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives" is manufactured and sold by the Syracuse, New York restaurant Pastabilities. The product is sold as Pasta's Daily Spicy Hot Tomato Oil, but its easier-to-say nickname is simply Hot Tom. The restaurant's bestseller is served as an appetizer with bread but can also be ordered as a meal with pasta ... it's marketed as a sauce you can use with just about anything. When Fieri had the opportunity to watch owner Karyn Korteling make the signature sauce, he declared that it was "ridiculous" (in a good way) and told her that "you need, like, a special license to serve that," (via Food Network).

The Spicy Hot Tomato Oil tastes of sweet tomatoes and pungent garlic, with a kick of spicy heat. To make it, sliced garlic is first caramelized in pure olive oil. A puree of California tomatoes is cooked with salt, honey, a chili mix, and the strained garlic oil. It's blended until smooth and finished with the chunky caramelized garlic. You can eat it as a dip, serve it over pasta, or use it as a marinade. You might want to try it on eggs too, sort of like a spicy shakshuka. You can buy it in 15.3-ounce jars directly from the restaurant, but if you're nowhere near Syracuse, Pastabilities also sells it online and can ship it right to your door, no license required.