Victoria Pasta Sauces, Ranked From Worst To Best

Looking for a pasta sauce brand that doesn't completely break the bank, but is a step above your average grocery store brand? Victoria may be the sauce for you. Victoria brand is one of the more luxurious pasta sauces on the market. Its philosophy, according to their website, is "ingredients come first", and the company has a specific method of creating its sauces that make it stand out above the rest. Made with 100% Italian tomatoes, no preservatives, and no added sugar — this pasta sauce is extremely fresh and high-quality. Victoria slow-cooks each batch for 90 minutes, which makes the consumer feel like they are eating a homemade pasta sauce.

If you haven't had Victoria sauce before, you may not have any idea which jar you should pick up for your next pasta dish. Victoria sells a variety of flavors, however it's quite the scavenger hunt to find more than four or five varieties in any given store. Luckily, Victoria sent me a handful of jars to taste test, and I found a couple more in stores to round out the tasting. Overall, I was able to secure 8 different jars of Victoria sauce.

Preparing each plate the same exact way, with plain spaghetti noodles and a generous spoonful of sauce, I tasted each flavor one right after the other. Many factors were taken into account when ranking the sauces, including smell, flavor profile, after-taste, consistency, and general impression, and I'll explain more about the methodology at the end. Hopefully, this list will help you confidently choose the perfect sauce for your next dish.

Although I generally love Victoria sauce, the Low Sodium Tomato Basil surprised me. Compared to the regular Tomato Basil (which, spoiler alert, is delicious), I thought that there was no way a low sodium version would taste that much different. I was completely proven wrong.

When opening the jar, the smell is predominantly of basil. If you did a smell test with your eyes closed, I'm not sure that you'd be able to guess it was a tomato sauce versus a pile of basil leaves. As I went in for the taste test, I discovered that the smell definitely matched the taste here. Personally, I want to taste the tomatoes very clearly in a tomato sauce, and was disappointed that the basil completely overpowered the rest of the flavors.

Another aspect that landed this sauce in last place was the aftertaste. There was something unpleasant about it that sat on my tongue after each bite. It could have been from the excessive amounts of basil, or maybe it was just the generally unbalanced taste. Overall, I didn't really like this sauce at all. If you are a basil lover through and through, however, this might just be your cup of noodles.

Having had the regular Victoria Marinara sauce many times over the years, I was definitely curious to see how this jar stacked up. Nutritionally, there are some differences between avocado oil and olive oil (which most tomato sauce is made with). When looking at the nutrition panels on the sauces, the marinara made with avocado oil is slightly healthier than the regular olive oil marina. It has 3.5 grams of fat versus 4 grams, and zero grams of saturated fat versus regular marinara's half a gram. There's also about 20 milligrams less of sodium. Although these numbers aren't drastic, some people may want to opt for the slightly healthier option.

Overall, this sauce was generally enjoyable. When I had my first bite, I noticed that the sauce tasted slightly different than the marinara. Avocado oil has a neutral taste, and lots of people love to use it for cooking because of its versatility. However, many people are used to the taste of olive oil in their pasta, so you will definitely notice the difference at first. It's not good or bad, just a bit off.

Similar to the Low Sodium Tomato Basil, the Avocado Marinara left a slight aftertaste. It was as if the onions, garlic, basil, and other spices were stuck in your mouth, wanting to be washed down. I will say that this aftertaste wasn't completely unpleasant, and went away fairly quickly. This sauce wasn't bad by any means, but it definitely wasn't one of my favorites.

The Pomodoro sauce is one of the sauces in Victoria's Organic line. It's made with 100% Italian tomatoes, organic extra virgin olive oil, fresh organic garlic, organic basil, organic onions, organic oregano, sea salt, and organic spices. You get the picture — it's organic! This sauce has basically the same ingredients as the Marinara sauce does, however it definitely tastes different.

This sauce is slightly thicker than the Marinara, so if you're looking for something that's a bit more substantial, the Pomodoro might be for you. The main taste of this sauce is the tomato, and you can really appreciate the high-quality tomatoes that are used. It's also incredibly fresh tasting, almost as if it just came off of the stove. Compared to the previous sauces, I didn't taste much garlic in the Pomodoro — but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The flavors ultimately blended together seamlessly.

I will say that out of all of the sauces, this one had the least amount of flavor. I find that Victoria sauces in general are bursting with flavors (especially when I did a Rao versus Victoria taste test), and the Pomodoro just didn't fall into that category. Some people enjoy a more mild taste for their pasta, however, and this sauce is still definitely enjoyable. It just doesn't pack a punch in the way that I know Victoria sauces can.

After not being a fan of the Low Sodium Tomato Basil, I was definitely hesitant to try the Low Sodium Marinara. Right at my first bite, I was completely taken for a turn with this sauce. Overall, it smelled almost identical to the regular Marinara sauce. The taste followed suit, and it was incredibly delightful and fresh. I liked how I could taste the light amount of garlic, basil, onion, and spices while still mainly enjoying the tomato flavor.

Since this is a low-sodium sauce, many people would think that it has less flavor than a regular Marinara. I wouldn't necessarily say that this sauce had that issue. It just tasted a bit different — maybe because the sodium in the regular marinara helps to bring out the flavors in a different way. The Low Sodium Marinara had extremely pleasant flavors and didn't seem watered down or subdued at all. In all honesty, it actually tasted more expensive. If I was served this pasta sauce at a fine-dining restaurant, I wouldn't think twice. If I were watching my sodium intake, this would absolutely be my go-to sauce of choice.

The Victoria Tomato Basil has a dark, thick consistency. The smell is actually not that different from the Marinara, but the taste profile has a big difference. This sauce has the perfect amount of basil added into it. With each bite, you can enjoy and appreciate the basil flavorings, which add a very earthy and natural taste to the sauce. Unlike the Low Sodium Tomato Basil, the basil flavor doesn't overpower here. There is a perfect balance between the tomato and basil that makes it incredibly enjoyable.

The thing I love about this sauce is that it tastes incredibly fresh while still bursting with flavor. Other sauces on the market (like the affordable and commonly used Ragù) taste a bit sweeter, which almost takes away from the natural flavors. Victoria sauces don't have any sort of sugary taste, and the Tomato Basil especially has a very pure, vibrant, earthy flavor.

If you can't already tell, I'm big on aftertastes. This Tomato Basil sauce left an extremely pleasant aftertaste, one where it didn't feel strange on your tongue, but left you wanting more instead. This sauce is absolutely one of my favorites out of the Victoria lineup, and I will definitely reach for it in the grocery store when stocking up on sauces.

One thing that's great about the Victoria Marinara sauce is that it isn't soupy or watery, like other brands tend to be. This is a substantial sauce that is dark, thick, and coats spaghetti noodles perfectly. There's nothing worse than when you're trying to get a solid bite of your pasta, and the sauce just slips right off the fork. You truly don't have to worry about that with the Victoria Marinara.

Besides the great consistency, this is just a perfect-tasting marinara. It has a fresh, herby scent that entices you in, but the flavor that bursts through on your first bite will keep you wanting more and more. I usually skip out on buying regular marinara sauce when I buy other brands, because it usually ends up being underwhelming in both flavor and consistency. Because of that, I usually opt for one of the more flavored options. With the Victoria Marinara, however, that's not an issue at all. Trust me when I say that this sauce is incredibly flavorful.

I think that the secret to the Victoria Marinara having such a rich flavor and thick consistency is because there isn't that much olive oil in the recipe. When compared to Rao's, the Victoria sauce has a few less grams of fat in it. This means that you are actually getting more of the actual tomato and spices, and it's not diluted with oil. This is absolutely my favorite standard marinara sauce on the market.

I'm the kind of person who throws cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes into every single meal. When anything is labeled as "spicy," I have very high expectations. I was absolutely blown away by the Victoria Spicy Marinara (also known as Fra Diavolo). This sauce is basically the marinara sauce with crushed red pepper added — aka my ultimate sauce dream.

On the spice scale, I give this sauce a solid 5.5 out of 10. It doesn't reach the high-spice insanity levels that you might find at a Thai or Indian restaurant, but it doesn't lay low, either. It's the perfect amount, where you definitely notice the heat right as you take a bite. The heat also builds up with each bite, but doesn't leave your mouth burning. It did make my nose run a little bit, which I consider the perfect litmus test for spice.

Besides the spice, this sauce has a great flavor profile. I was still able to taste the other flavors in the sauce, like the onions, garlic, and basil — and could enjoy the freshness of the tomatoes just the same. This sauce would be absolutely perfect with any sort of seafood dish, like spaghetti with shrimp or penne and scallops. My mouth is watering just at the thought.

I'm going to come right out and say it — the Victoria Vodka sauce is one of the best sauces I've ever tasted in my life. Right off the bat, it has an incredibly rich and creamy smell. Upon tasting, I first noticed the fresh tomatoes that I tasted in the other sauces. Then, the creaminess kicks in and it is delectable. I love how there is a perfect balance between the tomato flavors and the creamy consistency that one craves in a vodka sauce. The flavor is rich, full, and perfect.

I love how this vodka sauce has layers to it. It's made with 100% imported Italian tomatoes, imported olive oil, fresh basil, garlic, onions, Parmesan, Romano cheese, and vodka. There is also some whey protein concentrate, which probably helps bind the flavors together. Victoria really perfected the amount of each ingredient that is used in this sauce — because it couldn't be more well-balanced if it tried.

The Victoria Vodka sauce almost tastes like a treat in a way, because of how rich and indulgent it is. I could have eaten the entire jar right then and there. This is my favorite pasta sauce, not just out of all the Victoria sauces I've tasted, but on the market in general.

When taste-testing the Victoria sauces, I wanted to get as much variety in flavors as possible. Victoria sent me a few jars, and I found a couple others to round out our list. Although this isn't every single Victoria sauce out there, these are the sauces that you are most likely to find when grocery shopping. When taste testing, I considered consistency, smell, flavor profile, aftertaste, and my overall impression. I prepared each dish exactly the same, with the same measurement of noodles and sauce, and tasted them one right after the other. When doing so, I took meticulous notes so I could accurately describe my experience to you, and then ranked them accordingly.