While we promote whole, unprocessed foods, we are realists. When we find a product that is wholesome and healthy that meets our criteria of no added sugars and good nutrition, we not only occasionally eat those foods, we will tell you about them! I was a SAHM, (stay-at-home-mom) for many years and even then, I was not making marinara from scratch. I have always been able to find a bottled sauce that I liked, but Newman’s Own Marinara is the best bottled sauce that I have found by far.
This delectable sauce is made with heart healthy extra virgin olive oil. It’s kosher and also gluten-free. It has a perfect tanginess balanced with a slight sweet tomato flavor like truly vine-ripened tomatoes should have. I am from the Deep South and we know what tomatoes should taste like. So often, I have bought marinara that had that “Winter tomato” flavor that only comes from low quality tomatoes. This sauce tastes like it was made from tomatoes that were grown for producing a great sauce. It’s seasoned to perfection.
The texture of this sauce is perfect for my purposes. My son doesn’t like anything “chunky”, while I prefer a bit of bulk. This sauce satisfies both of us because it doesn’t have obvious chunks of veggies but it does have a nice thick quality. You can feel the texture of the vegetables on your tongue so it tastes more like a freshly cooked, home-made sauce straight from the garden than some of the thin, super smooth pasta sauces that flood our grocery store shelves. It contains diced tomatoes that have been cooked until there is no obvious bulk and pureed carrots that thicken it up nicely.
I don’t eat pasta but I understand that there are protein pastas available. I brown ground beef in chunks and add this sauce and serve it like a stew or thick soup. This fits my low-carb lifestyle perfectly and fills me up with a smile on my face. Instead of saying, “Lot’s of sauce, please.”, I just eat the sauce. You might also like pouring a jar over chicken breasts in a slow-cooker and topping it with mozzarella. Use your imagination, you can’t go wrong with this sauce.
At only $2.18 per bottle, you can use this product as much as you like. There are 5 servings of 1/2 cup each per bottle and each serving has only 70 calories, 1 gram of fat, 11 grams of net carbs and 3 grams of protein, a nutritional goldmine for sure. The lycopene content of this product is high because it’s made from tomatoes. Lycopene is an antioxidant that fights the oxidative stress that is associated with certain chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease and Alzheimer’s. (1) Lycopene may also prevent or delay the formation of cataracts and reduce your risk of macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in adults. (1)
When I consider the excellent flavor, texture, price and dense nutrition of this sauce, it’s hard to imagine not stocking this great convenience food in my pantry. As with all of our reviews, you may not agree but I challenge you to give it a try.
(1) https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/lycopene