Victoria Vs Rao's Pasta Sauce: Which Is Better

Victoria and Rao's are known to be luxurious, high-quality pasta sauces. They both go a step above your average grocery store pasta sauce by following a slow-cooking method and only using Italian tomatoes. Knowing that these are considered to be some of the best sauces on supermarket shelves, I was curious to see how they stacked up against one another.

Pasta sauce is always great to have on hand in your kitchen, especially for those nights where you want a delicious, filling meal that doesn't take too much effort. With the variety of sauces available on the market, you can never be bored.

If you're going to spend that extra buck or two on a fresher, tastier pasta sauce brand — you're going to want to know which one is truly the best. In this article, I'll compare four different flavors of Victoria and Rao's using a variety of criteria. From price, nutrition, flavor, and more — I'll be sure to let you know which one is worth stocking up on.

As a city-dweller, I wasn't sure where I was going to find Victoria sauce. I frequent a variety of grocery stores each month, and I couldn't recall ever seeing Victoria on the shelves. Growing up in New Jersey, I remember seeing Victoria right next to Rao's in many stores there, like ShopRite and Wegmans.

I began my search by heading to Morton Williams, CVS, and Balducci's. All three carried a large variety of Rao's, and Morton Williams and Balducci's only had Victoria's Marinara sauce. When looking at the store locator on the brands' websites, it showed that Rao's is available at nearly any store in the city. Just as I suspected, the locations that carried different flavors of Victoria sauces were few and far between. Ultimately, I decided to turn to Instacart — as I wanted to make sure that I could get four jars of similar flavors from each brand.

Now, it's clear that Victoria isn't sold widely in NYC. According to its website, however, you're more likely to have better luck in the suburbs. When looking at suburban New Jersey zip codes, I found that locations of Stop & Shop, Foodtown, and Acme all carried multiple flavors of Victoria. Rao's is found in even more stores, including those previously listed and others like Walgreens, Walmart, and Target.

I've always been aware that Rao's tends to be the most expensive sauce on the market. I usually reach for a cheaper sauce, just because a 24-ounce jar of Rao's can cost nearly double the price of standard brands like Prego and Ragú. For context, at my local Morton Williams (a popular grocery store in NYC), you can get a jar of Prego for $5.49 and a jar of Ragú for $4.99. Meanwhile, Rao's costs between $8.49 and $12.49. Rao's products sometimes go on sale, and when I was shopping around I actually found the Marinara sauce discounted to $7.99. Whenever there's a sale on Rao's, I tend to treat myself to the nicer sauce — and I always enjoy the upgrade in quality.

Victoria is still much more expensive than the standard brands, however, I was pleased to see it was consistently cheaper than Rao's. At Morton Williams, I found the Victoria Marinara sauce available for $7.79. Ultimately, I ended up ordering four flavors of each brand on Instacart from a Shoprite located in New Jersey. Rao's was much more expensive than Victoria — In total, I spent $38.56 on four 24-ounce jars of Rao's, and $27.20 on Victoria. With over a $10 difference, it made me even more curious to see how the sauces stacked up taste-wise.

Both Victoria and Rao's use high quality ingredients in their sauces. When looking at the Marinara Sauce for both brands, they are made with nearly the same ingredients. Both have Italian tomatoes, onions, olive oil, salt, garlic, basil, and spices. However, when you look at the nutrition panel for a ½-cup serving size, Rao's has 100 calories and Victoria has 70. These difference in calories come from fat. Rao's has 7 grams of total fat while Victoria contains 4 grams. That's a pretty large difference, especially because both have similar components. Rao's must use more olive oil — it's worth seeing whether it affects the taste in a positive or negative way.

I also had three other flavors to compare: Vodka, Tomato Basil, and each brand's version of spicy marinara. For each of those jars, Rao's still had more fat in each ½-cup serving than Victoria's sauce. The Vodka sauce fat content comparison was more similar as both sauces contain cheese; Rao's has 6 grams of fat while Victoria has 4.5. However, considering the added dairy ingredient, it's peculiar that Rao's Vodka Sauce has less fat than its Marinara Sauce. That's an important detail to note, as many people tend to think that marinara is the healthier, lower-calorie sauce option. For Victoria, that is the case, but for Rao's it's not.

When browsing both websites, it's very clear that Rao's has a larger selection of sauces. Victoria keeps it simple with about 16 varieties, but Rao's, on the other hand, has over double with 33 options. They both have all of the classics, and Victoria has different variations like low sodium and vegan. Rao's has a wide array of unique and interesting flavors, and in my opinion, that makes the brand a bit more appealing.

Some of Rao's flavors that stuck out to me were sauces that mixed two styles into one. For example, it sells Spicy Vodka Arrabbiata sauce, which sounds absolutely mouth-watering. There is also a Spicy Creamy Alfredo Arrabbiata sauce – talk about yum! Straying away from the spice, there are other options that can appeal to just about anyone. From Homemade Basil Pesto, Mushroom and Bell Pepper, and Bolognese Sauce — Rao's covers just about every flavor palate.

There is also a Rao's Limited Reserve line, which seems even more delectable. It includes flavors like Balsamic Marinara, White Truffle Marinara, and Melanzane e Ricotta Marinara. For variety, Rao's definitely wins this round.

Many people flock to certain brands because they offer both large and small options, as opposed to the average 24-ounce sauce jar. With both Victoria and Rao's, you don't have to worry about that. Each brand sells its most popular sauces in a variety of sizes.

Rao's has a few more flavors in different sizes due to its overall variety. The most basic and traditional sauce, Homemade Marinara, is available in 32, 24, and even 15.5 ounces. The latter is the perfect size for someone who lives alone, as it holds about 3.5 servings per jar. That way, you can use it all up in a few meals, and you don't have to worry about the sauce going bad. Rao's also offers 24-ounce and 32-ounce sizes of its Spicy Arrabbiata, Homemade Roasted Garlic, Homemade Vodka, and Homemade Tomato Basil.

Victoria tends to go bigger than Rao's, and offers 24-, 32-, and 40-ounce options for its Marinara Sauce. Buying the 40-ounce for a large family meal is the perfect option, as it has a better value with about 10 servings per container. Victoria also offers the Vodka Sauce in 32 and 40 ounces, and lastly, the White Linen Marinara Sauce in 40-ounce and 80-ounce jars. This is the ultimate option for a large gathering, especially if you want to save on money yet make sure not to run out of sauce.

I was incredibly curious to see if the marinara sauce for either brand would really taste that distinct, considering the ingredients were almost exactly the same. I was immediately proven wrong as soon as I opened each jar.

Victoria's Marinara had a strong, herby scent that was prevalent right when I popped the lid. It also had a deep color and was thick, which was interesting since many marinara sauces tend to be on the thinner side. As for the taste test, the scent and appearance matched up exactly with how it tasted. This sauce was bursting with flavor — the garlic, onion, and basil particularly stood out, however, they didn't overpower the main taste of tomato.

Rao's Marinara, on the other hand, presented with a much more watery consistency. It had a pleasant smell, however, it wasn't as strong as Victoria. The sauce was also much lighter, both in texture and flavor. It had an enjoyable taste, however I think that the possible extra olive oil in this sauce toned down some of the intensity, which I personally wasn't a fan of. Overall, I preferred the bolder flavor of the Victoria sauce. It felt like a more decadent, expensive sauce all around.

I normally reach for tomato basil pasta sauce, so I was very excited to try both of the brand's versions. The Victoria Tomato Basil sauce once again had a darker hue. The consistency was about the same as the marinara sauce — not at all watery but not super thick. It didn't have a very fragrant smell, however, the taste was incredibly powerful. There was a strong, earthy flavor to this sauce that I really enjoyed. It was incredibly fresh, and if someone served this sauce without showing me the jar and told me they had made it from scratch, I would absolutely believe them. There was also a nice after-taste that lingered following each bite.

Rao's Tomato Basil was a bit chunkier, with actual pieces of tomato in the sauce. I really enjoyed that aspect, as I personally love a textured sauce. It was much more fragrant than the Victoria sauce, however, the taste didn't live up to the smell. It wasn't as flavorful as I had hoped, and it was also much sweeter tasting than its opponent. The flavor was once again more subdued, especially when compared to the Victoria product. The fact that it tasted a bit sweeter made it seem like it wasn't as fresh. Overall, the Victoria sauce was much more enjoyable.

Vodka sauce is one of my all-time favorite types of sauce to order when I eat out. I rarely make it myself, and I was pleasantly surprised by both the Victoria and Rao's versions. Right from the start, they looked and smelled very different, even with nearly the same ingredients. 

Victoria's Vodka Sauce had a creamier look to it, with a deeper orange color. I could really only smell the tomatoes, so I wasn't feeling optimistic that it would have that creamy vodka sauce taste. As I took my first bite, I was pleasantly surprised. The Parmesan and Romano cheeses blended perfectly together to create an incredibly cheesy profile. It also had a strong and pleasant aftertaste, which I always prefer.

Rao's Vodka Sauce looked a lot thicker and darker, and had a strong garlic smell. I went into it feeling very optimistic, but was immediately disappointed. This sauce, once again, tasted a lot sweeter than Victoria's version. The rest of the flavors were also a lot more muted, especially when compared to the potency of the Victoria sauce. I couldn't really get a sense of the cheese, which is what you want with a vodka sauce. It tasted similar to the tomato and basil sauce with just a tad bit of added creaminess. Overall, Victoria blew Rao's out of the park.

For the grand finale we have the spicy marinara sauces. I am a huge spice lover, so I was especially excited to see which sauce would win this round. Both brands have different versions of a spicy marinara — Victoria sells Fradiavolo sauce and Rao's sells Arrabbiata sauce – however, they are very similar products seasoned with crushed red pepper.

Both sauces smelled and looked almost identical, however, Rao's had visible red pepper seeds. I tasted the Victoria sauce first, and immediately loved it. It was spicier than I imagined, and was very fresh and light. I would say the spice level was a 5 out of 10. It was absolutely delicious and I could see that it would taste great with some shrimp or mussels added into the pasta. At that moment, I wanted to abandon my taste test and make a full plate.

I went into tasting Rao's version thinking there was no way it could taste better. I've never been proven wrong so strongly in my life. This sauce is one of the best I've ever tasted. It was even spicier, rating a 6.5 out of 10 on my spice-scale. It also had a more full-bodied, smoky flavor. The spice didn't overwhelm the profile, but instead enhanced it — I could still taste and enjoy all of the delicious ingredients in the sauce. Rao's was the clear winner here.

For my final verdict, I took into consideration price, availability, and overall taste. Victoria immediately won the price category, and by a significant amount. Rao's, on the other hand, won the availability category by far — considering it can be found in so many stores and has a wide range of flavor varieties. This left me with the taste tests to determine the true winner.

Overall, Victoria had much more flavor in its sauces. I could really taste all of the herbs and spices, and felt that the sauce had a lighter, fresher taste in comparison to Rao's. I found Rao's sauces tasted a bit diluted and didn't live up to the aromas they gave off. The only outlier was the spicy marinara, which I must admit blew me away. If this review was just based on that sauce alone, Rao's would definitely win.

If I have to recommend one overall sauce brand, it's a no brainer to go with Victoria. It's cheaper, has some great flavors to choose from, and the overall taste mostly blew Rao's right out of the competition. Though I thoroughly enjoyed both brands, I think that I'll be grabbing a jar of Victoria pasta sauce on my next grocery run.

When picking which sauce flavors to assess, I wanted to make sure that I had very similar styles to compare to each other. This is why I went with the classic marinara, tomato and basil, vodka, and spicy marinara. All of the jars had very similar ingredients, which also made the comparison even more interesting as there was seemingly a lot of overlap in composition. 

I checked multiple stores for pricing and availability, used the brands' websites as a tool for sizing and nutrition information, and secured the jars I decided to test. When tasting each sauce, I served it on plain gluten-free spaghetti noodles. I sampled bites back and forth between the two brands to really get a fair comparison, and took note of smell, consistency, flavor profile, and overall impression.