I tried 8 popular Alfredo sauces, and the best had a silky texture and great flavor

Paige Bennett

I compared jarred Alfredo sauces from brands including Bertolli, Prego, Classico, and Ragu.I tried eight different brands of Alfredo sauce.Paige BennettI love a big bowl of homemade Alfredo when I'm craving pasta, but sometimes I just want to use a quick and easy jarred sauce.I've tried most of the jarred Alfredo sauces that grocery stores offer, but I never had a favorite. So, I decided to test eight popular jarred Alfredo sauces to see which is the best, focusing on criteria like flavor, texture, and cost.I began with Newman's Own Alfredo sauce, which had a good taste and texture.This sauce contained no artificial preservatives.Paige BennettNewman's Own, which came in a 15-ounce jar, contained no artificial preservatives, colors, or flavors. I thought this was a promising start.Newman's Own Alfredo sauce had a somewhat thin consistency.I feel like this Alfredo needed some more black pepper.Paige BennettThis Alfredo had a somewhat thinner consistency than some other jarred sauces I've tried, though it was hefty enough to cling to and cover the noodles.I really liked the flavor because it was more creamy than cheesy (no strong Parmesan taste), and it didn't have a weird, artificial aftertaste that some grocery-store sauces have.The ingredients list included garlic and black pepper, but I couldn't really taste either. Fortunately, it's easy enough to add some more black pepper on top of pasta.I tried the Classico Alfredo next.I've tried the Classico Alfredo sauce many times before.Paige BennettNext, I tried the Alfredo sauce from Classico, a brand I buy often. This sauce contained water, heavy cream, Parmesan cheese, modified corn starch, salt, sugar, egg yolks, whey-protein concentrate, butter, milk, dried garlic, xanthan gum, black pepper, lactic acid, sodium phosphate, "natural flavor," enzymes, and cheese cultures.I was impressed by how well the Classico sauce coated the noodles.This sauce had a more watery texture.Paige BennettThis Alfredo sauce had an almost cloudy appearance, and its consistency was pretty thin. I think the combination of water, cream, milk, and butter may have contributed to the thinner, more watery texture of this sauce.Despite its consistency, this sauce still coated the noodles well, making them silky. I also enjoyed that it had a stronger cheese flavor compared to some of the other sauces and I liked that I could taste the black pepper.Ragu's Alfredo had a decent texture, but the taste was bland.I noticed that this sauce had an artificial scent.Paige BennettI've had Ragu many times in my life. The first thing I noticed when I opened this jar of Alfredo sauce was an almost artificial smell, despite containing real cheese and spices.Instead of including cream as a second ingredient like the other sauces, this Alfredo listed oil.The consistency had a good balance — not too thin or watery, but not too thick or goopy either. There were also tiny specks of black pepper.The taste was only OK because it wasn't super cheesy, and it was kind of bland, even with the addition of garlic and other spices. I know jarred sauces are typically loaded with sodium, but this one tasted like it needed more salt.The Alfredo sauce from Kroger looked silky.Despite good ingredients, this Alfredo didn't have much of a scent to it.Paige BennettThe first thing I noticed with the 16-ounce Kroger-brand Alfredo when I poured it from the jar was its impressive texture. It looked very silky, clinging to the noodles with an appealing sheen.But I was surprised that I didn't really smell anything at all, especially since jarred Alfredo sauces usually have some sort of strong scent, whether it be Parmesan, cream, or artificial flavoring.The Kroger-brand Alfredo had virtually no flavor to it.This sauce didn't add much to the overall dish.Paige BennettUnfortunately, this blandness was also apparent in the taste.This sauce was super bland and there wasn't even an artificial flavor or weird aftertaste. It had no flavor at all, so it would take a lot of salt, pepper, and fresh Parmesan to upgrade this sauce.I had never tried the Botticelli Alfredo sauce before.This was my first time trying something from this brand.Paige BennettI found this sauce from Botticelli, a brand I had never heard of before, at Ralph's. It looked like a higher-quality Alfredo, so I expected it to taste great.I noticed this sauce's packaging stated that it was made with D.O.P. cheese, which means Protected Designation of Origin, a label reserved for products that are produced and processed in their place of origin. According to La Cucina Italiana, this certification is commonly used for Grana Padano cheese, which is in this sauce.Botticelli's Alfredo was uniquely tangy and a little sweet.I wasn't a huge fan of this sauce's taste.Paige BennettThis sauce was incredibly thick and gloopy coming out of the jar, which was a little unappealing. However, it smelled really good, unsurprisingly like cheese.As for flavor, this sauce was very tangy and even a little sweet. Overall, it tasted good but was a little tangier than I would have liked.I wasn't sure how the Bertolli sauce would compare to the other Alfredos.I thought this sauce smelled like straight-up cream.Paige BennettI've purchased this Bertolli sauce many times before, but I wasn't sure how it would hold up when compared with other Alfredos.When I opened the jar, I noticed it smelled like cream and a little like black pepper. The consistency was just right, not too thick or thin, and the sauce had a light-cream color.The Bertolli Alfredo was creamy and buttery but could use more seasoning.I thought this Alfredo needed some more seasoning.Paige BennettOverall, I enjoyed the buttery, creamy flavor with a bit of a tangy, cheesy taste. But despite smelling the black pepper, I couldn't really taste it or the other spices listed in the ingredients, like garlic powder.It's a reliable choice and not too rich, but it could use a bit more seasoning to punch up the flavor.Prego was a familiar brand among the many sauces I tried.I noticed that this sauce had a darker color than the others.Paige BennettJust about everyone is familiar with the Prego brand, and I've had this Alfredo many times before.Compared to the other sauces, this one was darker in color and almost had a pink tone to it.Prego's Alfredo had a more robust flavor.This Alfredo sauce had a more unique flavor profile, with an especially garlicky taste.Paige BennettThis sauce's consistency was pretty thick, but not as goopy as the one from Botticelli.Rather than a strong cream or cheese scent, I smelled a variety of spices when I gave this jarred Alfredo a sniff.This sauce had a good flavor balance of cream, cheese, and spices (the ingredients include garlic and bay leaves), and it had an especially garlicky taste to it. However, I didn't taste much of the black pepper.Rao's sauce seemed fancy.I had high hopes for this sauce.Paige BennettI've only tried the Rao's Alfredo once before as a treat.The first thing I noticed was that it had very similar ingredients to the other sauces, like light cream, water, butter, Parmesan, Romano cheese, and black pepper.The sauce smelled cheesy and had a darker beige color. When I poured it into a pot, it had a very thin consistency and large pieces of cracked black pepper.Rao's Alfredo sauce tasted great but was really thin.This sauce had the best taste out of all the Alfredos.Paige BennettThough I wasn't thrilled about the thin consistency, this sauce made up for its shortcomings with its flavor.It was creamy and cheesy with a good umami flavor, and I could taste the pieces of black pepper without it being overpowering.This flavor was probably my favorite of the bunch, but I wished the sauce was thicker because it dripped off the noodles with every bite.My top two picks include Rao's and Classico.Rao's was my favorite flavor but Classico was the best overall choice.Paige BennettOf the eight sauces I tried, the only two I wouldn't buy again are the Kroger-brand Alfredo, which I thought was too bland, and the Botticelli version, which was a little too sweet and tangy for my liking. In terms of flavor alone, Rao's was the best. It was savory, cheesy, and delicious. But because of its thin consistency, it fell just shy of being the best on the list.With a silky texture and great flavor, the Classico sauce is my overall favorite. I plan to add it to my shopping list the next time I skip homemade Alfredo.This story was originally published on July 25, 2022, and most recently updated on November 8, 2024.