Pantry staples are boring until they aren’t. Spaghetti. Jarred sauce. That’s my backup plan. And honestly, my comfort zone. Fresh veggies run out. Willpower fails. But boiling water is easy.
Rao’s dropped two new creamy sauces. They’re aiming for the top shelf. Again. I tasted them early. Here’s the damage.
The Garlic One Actually Works
I’m obsessed with garlic. Don’t ask me why. Just ask my breath.
This new Creamy Roasted Garlic variant promised the world. It delivered. There’s punch, sure, but not the kind that kills the mood. Raw garlic in sauces? Usually a mistake. Too sharp. Too angry. This one is roasted. Softened. It’s sweet. Mellow. Almost nutty, like something you’d find in a braise that cooked for hours.
It shares the base of the original Creamy Marinara. Mascarpone is the heavy lifter. But Rao’s added Parmigiano Reggino and Pecorino Romano. Real names. Real cheese.
Usually I doctor up the jar. Minced garlic here. A dash of powder there. This time, I left my knife in the drawer.
The sauce does the work. For once. It might be my new favorite. Maybe.
The Peppered Parmesan is… Okay
Creamy Peppered Parmesan. Sounds fancy. Like cacio e pepe met a salad dressing at a bar.
The smell hits first. Peppery. Bold. You see the black specks in the jar, swirling like storm clouds. It’s pretty.
Then you taste it. Warmth on the tongue. A slight burn. Not unpleasant. Just… present. It’s not overwhelming. The pepper doesn’t win the fight, but it stays in the room.
Where it falters? The parmesan. I expected sharp, salty cheese flavor. You know, the good cacio e pepe hit. Instead, I got cream. Lots of it. The mascarpone is loud here. The cheese notes are quieter than they should be. Still rich. Still creamy. But it leans soft. I wanted kick.
Both sauces keep the tomato chunks visible. Good move. “Homemade” on the label is a nice touch, but seeing actual bits of tomato sells it. Feels rustic. Sunday dinner energy. Hand-crushed. Real.
I’ll eat both. Again. But the Roasted Garlic wins the prize. No contest. It’s just better.
Both are out today. Everywhere you shop for pasta. Or online, I suppose. $8.99 each. A little expensive for jarred food, sure. But if you hate cooking? It’s cheap therapy.
Do we really need more sauce options? Probably.
