The Canned Tomato Product We Awarded A Mashed Gold Star

Canned tomatoes are a pantry essential. When the fruits (or vegetables, depending on how you look at it) aren't in season — or you just want convenience — then having canned tomatoes on hand makes cooking tomato-based recipes easy. Spaghetti pomodoro, Margherita pizza, and shakshuka are just some of the many foods that put the tomato's taste at the forefront of their flavor profiles, and therefore, it's essential to use a canned tomato you can rely on. We did some of the heavy lifting and ranked popular canned tomato brands, worst to best. Mashed determined that Bianco DiNapoli tomatoes deserve an imaginary gold star.

In order to rank the canned tomatoes, Mashed sampled one tomato product (whether diced, whole, or chopped) from each of the brands on our list. The tasters then looked — or tasted, rather — for qualities of texture, flavor, salt, and acidity content.

A bad can of tomatoes may be overloaded with extra salt and sugar to make up for lackluster flavor (like the last in our ranking and the same brand that 23% of people voted as the worst canned tomato in a poll). They may also be so flat and dull that one can't help but wonder if they were picked underripe. A good can of tomatoes, on the other hand, is so vibrant in both color and texture that it's good enough to eat straight out of the can. Such is the case with Bianco DiNapoli tomatoes.

There's so much to love about Bianco DiNapoli's canned tomatoes. For one, the tomatoes are grown organically in Northern California, where they benefit from the fertile soil and West Coast sun. Bianco DiNapoli tomatoes are also plum-shaped, meaning they have a lower water content and fewer seeds than the average tomato. In fact, canned tomatoes differ from fresh ones mainly in flavor concentration, making Bianco DiNapoli tomatoes extra ideal for cooking.

Speaking of flavor, Mashed tried the 28-ounce can of whole peeled tomatoes, which had a supreme balance of acidity and sweetness, plus an ever-so-slightly firm texture that held with each bite. The can comes with a pinch of salt and a hint of organic basil to jumpstart the seasoning. Who can say no to basil and tomatoes?

Bianco DiNapoli stands out from the rest of its canned peers. The brand has been reported to be favored by chefs at multiple restaurants, like LA's popular Jon and Vinny's, California restaurant Pizzeria Mozza, NYC's Nizza, and the Pheonix-LA chain Pizzeria Bianco. The last of these restaurants was actually founded by a co-founder of Bianco DiNapoli: Chris Bianco. This award-winning chef started Pizzeria Bianco in 1988 and created Bianco DiNapoli in 2010 with third-generation canner Rob Napoli. Their efforts have brought quality tomatoes to restaurants and grocery shelves alike.