12/19/06 | Hunt’s 4 Cheese Spaghetti Sauce
[ Currently Eating: Hot Dog Omelette ]
When I get around to writing that Cheap Eats Manifesto, one of the tenets is definitely going to be “Try Everything Even If You Think It Will Suck”. Here’s an example: I totally thought that this canned spaghetti sauce from Hunt’s was going to be a washout. Although I dig their canned tomatoes and tomato sauce, I didn’t think that spaghetti sauce in a can would fly.
This is a 26 ounce can of their “Classic Italian” Four Cheese Spaghetti Sauce. Checking the ingredient list, the 4 cheese in question are Romano, Parmesan, Ricotta and Mozzarella. The sauce itself isn’t extremely chunky and doesn’t contain any true added veggies (although it does contain dehydrated onions and “carrot fiber”). I was going to put a ton of stuff into the sauce to “fix” it as I normally do, but in the end I only threw in a 1/2 cup or so of sauteed onions before letting it sit on the stove.
Meanwhile, I cooked up some Barilla pasta… this is the first time I’ve used these interesting shaped “Mezza Rigatoni”. They look sort of like normal Rigatoni lopped in half. Then I just dumped the warmed sauce on top.
So, I really was expecting to toss it after a few bites. The ONLY reason I bought the can of sauce was because it was only a dollar. With jarred spaghetti sauce bottles of the same size running 2 dollars on sale, it seemed like a pretty good bargain.
I was expecting it to taste a bit like Chef Boyardee or something. I was also expecting it to be overly sweet. It was neither. It wasn’t as “orange” as the Chef Boyardee or as cheesy smelling. It did have a good cheese flavor, but it wasn’t overpowering. I sprinkled some more grated parmesan on the top as well and it was just right. There isn’t a huge oregano or herby flavor to it, so you may want to add a bit of dried herbs if you like that.
The best thing was that it wasn’t sweet at all. In fact, it was one of the more tart pre-packaged tomato based sauces I’ve ever had. A really pleasant surprise. Too often, spaghetti sauce manufacturers seem to think we’re all 6 year old candy addicts that need to get a shot of sugar in everything.
I think this sauce could be improved by adding ground beef or some other meat, but I wanted to try and see what the basic sauce tasted like first. I think you could make a pretty good baked casserole using the sauce as a base. There are several other different varieties including “Cheese and Garlic” that I’m definitely going to try next time if it happens to be only a buck. Seems like a good pantry stuffer to have around at that price.
Price: $1.00 for 26 oz. can
Cheap Eats Score: 8/10
December 19th, 2006 at 5:20 pm
I’ve been using both Hunt’s and Del Monte’s canned spaghetti sauce for years, usually the Traditional flavor, and it’s a great base for a quick, cheap sauce. I’ve added sausage or ground meat, or gone completely veggie with zuchinni, eggplant , green pepper and lots of onion. To spice it up quickly, a dash of leftover red wine and black pepper work nicely; however, if it’s too tart, a short drip of honey will add a touch of sweetness without sugaring it up. It’s quick, consistent in flavor and it usually runs $1 or less. I also like to buy feta crumbles in bulk, and it’s a wonderful topping for this cheap eats spaghetti.
December 19th, 2006 at 8:34 pm
You know, I usually skip over the canned sauces completely and decide over which of the 600 flavors in the pretty jars I should get. They all kind of taste the same to me, but cost more than twice as much. Thanks for the heads up…I will try a can next time.
December 20th, 2006 at 1:30 pm
I have to agree with you because this canned sauce is one of my favorite sauces because it’s not full of sugar! I was also pleasantly surprised that it’s as good as it is!
December 20th, 2006 at 2:06 pm
I have been using the Hunts Spaghetti Souce for years. I was very broke one time (well more often than once, but one of the times I was broke) I wanted spaghetti bad so I bought it hoping it would taste OK and was surprised. I use it all the time now. I always add stuff to it, but I added stuff to the more expensive ones as well. Around here it is always in the Dollar Tree so I can always get it cheap. Only have a few varities there, but always a buck.
December 21st, 2006 at 10:01 am
hmm, I feel bad now because sometimes I add sugar to the pasta sauce in the jar because it’s too tart! haha.
December 21st, 2006 at 10:25 am
I’ve been using canned sauce for several years now, and I won’t return to bottled. I can’t tell the difference between the two, and there’s no reason to spend twice the money. I always spice mine up, Italian herbs, extra garlic, and meat. It also works well in casserole type dishes.
December 22nd, 2006 at 3:39 am
I love canned sauce, I’m glad I’m not the only one! I usually add stuff to mine to make it my own but who dosen’t! Yes it is tart, which is good and bad…depending on the application but overall a great choice for most pasta dishes…and the tradional makes a good base for pizza due to its tartness…
December 22nd, 2006 at 8:37 am
I like canned sauce, but always have to add something to it, any pasta sauce just feels wrong without meat
December 22nd, 2006 at 8:48 am
deborah - hey yes, I do like feta crumbles as well on pasta - though I usually don’t put it on tomato based sauces.
ace - yes, I have always bought the jars as well, and they are usually twice as much though equal in volume. very, very surprising that this was decent.
jennifer - I have had problems with Chef Boy-ar-dee type pasta in a can, but the Hunt’s can was so different.
budderocks - I did check the Dollar Tree near me afterwards to see if it was there as well, but they didn’t have it. I’m hoping they’ll continue to offer it for a buck at the markets, and if so I’ll just stock up.
kim - more sugar!?
joes_amy - I was thinking of throwing some garlic in next time…yes, they even have a recipe on the back for a casserole (a ziti bake)
andy - that’s interesting, I’d like to try it on pizza too. Maybe I’ll use it for ghetto pizza…
yummyyum - I’ll definitely add some sausage or something next time.
On a general note - WOW, I’m surprised that a lot of you out there have already found out that canned pasta sauce is decent. I truly had no idea until I tried this Hunt’s version. I’m going to have to investigate the can vs. jar phenomenon some more.
December 23rd, 2006 at 12:13 am
I’m going to stick with my bottled pasta sauces for now, since I don’t have a can opener. I wonder if Santa will help me out with that?
December 23rd, 2006 at 9:28 am
marvo - don’t lie I know you’re a real man and open cans with your teeth instead…
December 24th, 2006 at 11:18 pm
I’m a single mom of four and wouldn’t think of buying the expensive bottled sauce. I’ve used Hunt’s for years and have used it plain to fancied up, depending on how broke I am. Lately we’ve had the money to add Italian sausage, sauteed onion with garlic, chopped bell pepper and a bit of red pepper. Mmmm, delicious!
December 25th, 2006 at 10:11 pm
I’ve found these canned sauces are great with about half a can of diced tomatoes mixed in with a pinch of cayenne. The dices tomatoes make the canned sauce taste “fresh” and the cayenne gives it a bit-o-zip. Yummy.
December 25th, 2006 at 10:16 pm
My problem is the size of the can, it would take me a week to finish off that much sauce. even with the jars, they get fuzzy and blue before it is empty. so i am kinda stuck doctoring up the small cans of Hunts tomato sauce. i WISH that the Pomi brand came in small containers.
December 26th, 2006 at 11:50 am
We also use the canned sauce. Seems to taste more like real sauce. My husband also takes cheap red wine and reduces it down to add to the sauce. We can pick up the sauce and wine at grocery outlet stores and it makes a cheap meal. The biggest problem for us is finding gluten free spaghetti, but I did find some rice spaghetti at the outlet too.
December 27th, 2006 at 10:09 am
jgodsey–Get some small plastic containers, or even zip top baggies, and freeze individual portions of sauce after you open a can or jar. It works great and reduces waste.
December 31st, 2006 at 7:35 pm
I 2nd Del Monte’s Canned Sauce (4 cheese *yum*). I have personally never bought bottled spaghetti sauce. I suppose now that I am no longer a broke student, I can maybe afford to try the more expensive bottled stuff.
September 29th, 2007 at 10:08 am
CEE: Definitely get the Cheese and Garlic. It is a very nice sauce. I too was reluctant to try a canned spaghetti sauce but I gotta say with the addition of meat, it was really quite good, especially when finished off with some grated parmesan. Under higher heat, however, the sauce did seem to break down a little so for a pound of spaghetti, I went with 2 cans instead of one and this seemed to be the perfect formula to get the most out of the sauce. Not bad at all for $1.29 a can!
October 23rd, 2007 at 1:40 pm
I have been eating this stuff for years - (Having grown up poor and I’m currently in college to remedy that, nonetheless still temporarily poor) and I love it. I think my favorite thing about it is that it’s lower in calories than my sweet, expensive, delicious prego sauce. (Yeah, all these years of living on ramen and donated potato flakes have put some poundage on me). But yeah, as someone said, they make a great base for a sauce - usually for me all I have to do to make it taste like one of the “pricey” brands is a handful of ground beef or crumbled italian sausage, and some salt, pepper, and oregano. Sometimes I sautee garlic and then pour the sauce in over it. Flavors it nicely