This New York-Based Jarred Marinara Sauce Tastes Homemade (No, It's Not Rao's)

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Sometimes we want an easy pasta dinner without the time-consuming process of making sauce from scratch. That's where jarred sauce comes in. What once was a battle of figuring out canned vs fresh tomatoes is now solved by opening a jar. But not all jarred marinara sauce is created equally. Some store-bought marinara sauce doesn't even list tomatoes as a key ingredient! While some brands have an artificial or chemical aftertaste to their sauce, there are plenty of store-bought options that taste like it was made in your own kitchen. Food Republic picked our 9 favorite grocery store pasta sauces that taste homemade. One of our favorites on the list was Michael's of Brooklyn Marinara Sauce.

Our taste tester raved about the savory herbs and heavy garlic that give the sauce that fresh flavor we look for. Each jar of Michael's of Brooklyn Marinara Sauce lists a shockingly short ingredient list of imported Italian tomatoes, fresh garlic, fresh basil, Italian olive oil, oregano, parsley, spices, and "Nothing Else!!!" This is all apparent in the chunky texture of the sauce, which also adds to that rustic, homemade vibe. Michael's of Brooklyn Marinara Sauce retails for anywhere between $6 to about $10, which can be a bit on the pricier side, but each jar comes in a large 32-ounce jar, making it a great value. There's a reason one Redditor deemed Michael's of Brooklyn Marinara Sauce " the king of jarred sauces."

It's clear to see why Michael's of Brooklyn is constantly being compared to Rao's. They both make delicious jarred sauces, have roots in New York, and still operate iconic restaurants featuring the best of Italian American cuisine. However, while Rao's has strong Harlem roots, Michael's of Brooklyn is headquartered in the Italian-American Brooklyn neighborhood of Marine Park, far from the touristy hubbub of the city.

If your preference is a smaller, more independent operation, Michael's of Brooklyn might be the winner between the two. Michael's of Brooklyn prides itself on making all its sauces in Brooklyn. While this means Michael's might be slightly harder to find than its competition, it's still run and operated the same way it has for generations. This is more than you can say for Rao's, which, since its $2.7 billion purchase from Campbell's, has shifted its production facilities to Alma, Georgia. Although Rao's swears that nothing about their sauce has changed, commenters beg to differ.

One major difference between the two is that you can actually visit the original Michael's of Brooklyn and taste the food the way it's intended to be prepared. The original New York location of Rao's is known as one of the most difficult reservations to grab, because their unique concept of "table rights" allows only patrons who have been dining there for decades can snag a table. Compared to Michael's of Brooklyn, the restaurant is on OpenTable, and while not every single timeslot of open, at least for now, you can find a table or even grab one of their delicious cakes and Italian pastries to go.