We Style-Examined 15 Jarred Vodka Sauces—2 Manufacturers Clearly Got here Out on High

A lot to my chagrin, vodka sauce didn’t get me tipsy at my favourite Italian red-sauce joint after I was 12. Although vodka is a vital a part of the sauce—between the comparatively small quantity of vodka within the sauce and the partial evaporation throughout the ending levels of cooking—there’s truly little or no vodka left in it, however what’s there may be vital to its taste. An Italian-American traditional, vodka sauce has seen a resurgence in reputation over the previous few years, most notably as a result of viral success of the spicy vodka rigatoni served at Carbone, a swanky restaurant chain with places in New York, Miami, Dallas, Las Vegas, and Hong Kong. 

If you cannot get a reservation at Carbone or haven’t got the bandwidth to make our editorial director Daniel’s simple penne alla vodka recipe at house, fret not. There are tons of jarred choices out there. The query is: That are price shopping for? To seek out the most effective jarred vodka sauce, we taste-tested 15 manufacturers you are prone to discover at your native grocery store. We poured every sauce right into a bowl, heated it, then sampled them in random order alongside cooked pasta. After tasting our manner by way of all of the sauces, we tabulated the outcomes and topped two general winners and a runner-up.

The Standards

Vodka sauce ought to have tomatoes—within the type of paste, canned, or each—vodka, and heavy cream. A superb vodka sauce, says Daniel, must be “creamy and wealthy with a layered tomato taste.” It must also have a pointy, vibrant observe from the vodka, one which enhances the sauce’s aroma with out overpowering it. Although warmth from purple pepper flakes is welcome, it should not be the sauce’s dominant taste. Most significantly, vodka sauce must be balanced—not too candy, salty, or tangy—and luxuriously wealthy.

Total Winners

The Most Crowd-Pleasing Vodka Sauce: Wegmans Italian Classics Vodka Blush Pasta Sauce

This sauce earned high marks from our affiliate editorial director, Megan, who appreciated its “good stability of creaminess and fresh-tasting tomatoes.” Our affiliate visuals director, Amanda, thought it had a “good seasoning” and deemed it her favourite. Although Daniel would have most well-liked a creamier sauce, even he begrudgingly admitted it was “one of many higher ones.” I loved the sauce’s sweetness and creaminess, however wished it had some spice. It wasn’t too thick or too skinny; somewhat it was a pleasurable, medium-bodied sauce that coated the pasta nicely.

The Creamiest Vodka Sauce: Michael’s of Brooklyn Vodka Sauce

This sauce was cream central, and our testers discovered it the richest of the bunch. Amanda, who used three exclamation marks to convey her enthusiasm, described this sauce as “good and tacky and creamy!!!” and marked it as her second-favorite vodka sauce. Like everybody else, Megan thought it was extraordinarily creamy—however detected a contact of one thing “pretend tasting” about it. I beloved the wealthy, lactic notes of cream, and although I loved this providing, it got here throughout as extra of a tomato cream sauce than a vodka sauce—a sentiment that Daniel agrees with. “That is respectable. It will get you 75% of the way in which there, which is greater than a lot of them,” famous Daniel. “Add a splash of vodka earlier than serving, and you will not cry from unhappiness.”

Runner-Up

Bertolli Vodka Sauce

Megan had this sauce tied for first, alongside one in all our winners, Wegmans. Although Daniel stated this vodka sauce was “shut” to what he was searching for, it nonetheless did not fairly hit the spot—and he would have most well-liked the complexity of a do-it-yourself vodka sauce. This sauce was chunkier than most of the others we tasted, with thick items of tomatoes dotting the floor. Although I did not love the chunks, I discovered it well-balanced between the sweetness of the tomato and the richness of the dairy. All that was lacking—for me, anyway—was a beneficiant pinch of purple pepper flakes and a bathe of Parmigiano-Reggiano.

The Contenders

• 365 by Complete Meals Market Natural Creamy Vodka Pasta Sauce
• Bertolli Vodka Sauce
• Botticelli Creamy Vodka Sauce
• Bowl & Basket Vodka Sauce
• Carbone Basic Vodka Sauce
• Carmine’s Basic Vodka Sauce
• Classico Vodka Sauce
• Michael’s of Brooklyn Vodka Sauce
• Rao’s Home made Vodka Sauce
• Sauz Creamy Calabrian Vodka Sauce
• Style of Inspirations Vodka Pasta Sauce
• Dealer Joe’s Giotto’s Natural Vodka Sauce
• Victoria Vodka Sauce
• Wegmans Italian Classics Vodka Blush Pasta Sauce
• Yo Mama’s Vodka Sauce

Key Takeaways and Conclusion

Our high picks all used tomatoes, cream, and vodka. Not like many of the manufacturers we sampled, our two winners contained not solely heavy cream but additionally butter, which gave their sauces a wealthy, velvety texture. They’re additionally made with each tomato paste and canned tomatoes, giving the sauce a fuller, sweeter, and extra nuanced tomato taste. Our least favourite vodka sauces had been nearer in colour and taste to marinara sauces and lacked the creaminess we had been searching for. Even the jarred choice from Carbone—well-known for its vodka sauce—contained no cream in any respect. The successful Wegmans Italian Classics Vodka Blush Sauce is the one model that features pancetta, which possible gave the sauce savory depth.

Not like our winners, our runner-up from Bertolli is made with mild cream as an alternative of heavy cream. In accordance with US Dairy, mild cream solely comprises 18 to 30% milkfat, whereas heavy cream has not less than 36% milkfat—a major distinction that may affect the richness of the merchandise it’s utilized in. Although neither of our winners comprises xanthan gum, a thickener and stabilizer, Bertolli makes use of it, possible to present its sauce further thickness and stability regardless of the lighter cream. (Michael’s of Brooklyn, which we deemed the creamiest vodka sauce, makes use of modified meals starch, one other widespread thickening agent utilized in processed meals.) 

Each of our winners used Pecorino Romano or “Romano” cheese as an alternative of Parmigiano-Reggiano, which can be a cost-saving selection. Each are arduous, salty, long-aged cheeses. Pecorino Romano is constructed from sheep’s milk, whereas Parmigiano-Reggiano is constructed from cow’s milk. In consequence, neither of our winners adopted a standard vodka sauce recipe precisely. 

Whereas all of the sauces we tasted contained vodka, its vibrant taste was lacking in most of them. Once you manufacture a jarred tomato sauce, it will get cooked, jarred, after which heat-sterilized and sealed beneath stress. All of which means that there is a increased probability that no matter vodka they do add will get misplaced to evaporation. As proven by former Severe Eats editor Kenji’s testing, including vodka within the incorrect quantities or too early can result in a sauce that lacks the vodka’s aroma-enhancing advantages. For that motive, it is typically a good suggestion so as to add a small splash of your personal vodka to jarred sauce shortly earlier than sauceing the pasta and serving. This may reintroduce that vital vodka component and make the sauce’s fruity flavors pop (ensure that to style the sauce first to verify it wants that delicate hit of vodka earlier than including any).

Our Testing Methodology

All style assessments are carried out with manufacturers fully hidden and with out dialogue. Tasters style samples in random order. For instance, taster A could style pattern one first, whereas taster B will style pattern six first. That is to stop palate fatigue from unfairly giving anybody pattern a bonus. Tasters are requested to fill out tasting sheets, rating the samples based on varied standards. All information is tabulated, and outcomes are calculated with no editorial enter to offer essentially the most neutral illustration of precise outcomes attainable.