The 13 Unhealthiest Store-Bought Marinara Sauces

Making marinara sauce from scratch can be an all-day affair. From washing all of the produce to simmering the tomatoes, onions, spices, and other ingredients for hours to get that rich consistency, it's a time-intensive process that isn't for the faint of heart. It's no surprise, then, that jarred marinara sauce is a popular and time-saving alternative to the homemade stuff when you're in a pinch.

Though this pantry staple will save you headaches in the kitchen, it can be an unexpectedly unhealthy addition to your next pasta night. Because it's made mostly of tomatoes, it seems like it would be healthy. While that is sometimes the case, it's also true that store-bought marinara sauce can be packed with tons of sodium, lots of added sugar, and mysterious additives that should be avoided. 

Learn which store-bought marinara sauces are the unhealthiest — and why — so you can find a better alternative on your next grocery run.

If you're looking for a sauce made with whole, real ingredients, this marinara fits the bill. And that's probably why it has impressive online reviews, with one customer even claiming the sauce rivals their homemade version crafted with home-grown San Marzano tomatoes and basil.

Though the flavor and quality are impressive, unfortunately, this sauce is also packing a lot of fat and sodium. At 410 milligrams of sodium per half-cup serving, the salt quantity is something you'll want to watch out for — because at 18% of your daily recommended value, it will add up quickly. The sauce also has 9 grams of fat (or 9% of your daily value) along with 1 gram (or 5%) of your daily recommended value of trans fat.

It's no surprise the sauce has a high fat content given the olive oil in the ingredients list. And though olive oil is considered a healthy fat thanks to its monounsaturated fatty acids, too much of a good thing can still be bad for you. Consuming too olive oil much can lead to weight gain, digestive upset, and increased cholesterol.

At first glance, this marinara sauce may not seem terribly unhealthy. Though it is still high in sodium at 350 milligrams, it's lower than most of the other sauces on this list at 15% of your recommended daily sodium intake. While that may be lower than most, it is still a lot of salt for a half-cup serving.

But where this sauce really runs into problems is the sugar content. With 11 grams of sugar per serving, that's nearly half of the recommended daily amount for women and one-third the recommended amount for men. If you have just one cup of this sauce on top of pasta or in lasagna, you'll have eaten almost an entire day's worth of sugar in a single meal.

In addition to the sugar content, the ingredient list features the ambiguous "natural flavors" as the final item (not to be confused with artificial flavors). The jury is still out on the health risks of this general, often undefined catchall category. And while not all-natural flavors are necessarily harmful, consider avoiding them for a "better safe than sorry" mentality.

The beginning of this sauce's ingredient list may lull you into a false sense of security. You'll find tomato purée and onions at the beginning, however, these distract from some less-than-healthy items at the end. Though there's less than 2% of each, the sauce has sugar, soybean, olive oil, and natural flavors. Though sugar and oils aren't inherently bad, they should be consumed in moderation to avoid negative health effects like weight gain, inflammation, or insulin resistance.

Like most processed marinara sauces, this product is also packed with a lot of sodium. At 450 milligrams per half-cup serving, it uses up 19% of the daily recommended value. Considering it's made with mostly vegetables, it's also fairly high in carbohydrates at 9 grams, or 3% of your daily value. If you're eating this sauce over a carb-heavy base like pasta — no matter your preferred shape — the total carb count of your meal will start to add up quickly (especially if you're using multiple servings of sauce).

This pasta sauce has a decadent texture and depth of flavor that makes it a popular option to stock the pantry. Unfortunately, it's filled with tons of sugar and sodium that make it a less-than-stellar option when compared to many other jarred marinaras. With 470 milligrams of sodium and 9 grams of sugar per half-cup serving, it doubles down on unhealthy additives. It's no surprise that sugar tops the charts, with this sweet additive coming in third on the ingredient list.

Toward the end of the ingredient list is also canola oil. Like all oils, canola oil is high in fat and should be consumed in moderation. There is also conflicting data on whether or not canola oil is inflammatory or negatively impacts memory, as the two have been linked in animal studies. Though this sauce contains less than 1% canola oil, it might be best to look for a sauce without this ingredient to be on the safe side.

Mutti boasts about this sauce's "remarkably fresh taste and natural sweetness" — but it fails to mention the high calorie density. Compared to other marinara sauces, this version is very high-calorie at 110 calories in a half-cup serving. Because the ingredient list is otherwise filled with vegetables and spices, it's safe to assume these calories come primarily from the olive oil included in the recipe. At 120 calories per tablespoon, olive oil —though a heart-healthy monounsaturated fat — is also calorically dense. The addition of olive oil in this sauce is also likely why it has 8 grams of fat per serving, representing 10% of your daily recommended value.

Last but not least, the sauce also has a whopping 560 milligrams of sodium per serving — nearly one-quarter of the recommended daily value in just one-half cup. Though it may be delicious thanks to the high-quality ingredients and authentic approach, it's best to steer clear of this sauce if you can.

This sweet and tasty sauce lives up to its name, with 10 grams of sugar and a whopping 4 grams of added sugar in just one half-cup serving. The high sugar content, however, shouldn't come as a surprise given that sugar is the third ingredient in the list, following only tomato paste and diced tomatoes.

Like most other marinara sauces, this one is packed full of sodium in addition to the sky-high quantities of sugar. 440 milligrams (or 19% of your daily value) can be found in a single serving, making it a salt-filled topping for your favorite pasta. When using it in other marinara-heavy recipes like lasagna that use the entire jar of sauce, it'll quickly add up to a lot of sodium for a single meal.

Otherwise, this sauce is relatively healthy. It's made with whole, high-quality ingredients and flavored with all-natural spices like dried basil and fennel seed. While you can certainly find a sauce that is unhealthier, it's still best to whip up your own sauce instead to avoid these unhealthy levels of sugar and salt.

Though Mezzatta boasts about this sauce's healthy accolades — like being gluten-free, vegan, non-GMO, and preservative-free — there's another story to tell if you look closely at the nutrition info. With 100 calories per serving, the sauce is relatively high in calories — especially when you consider you're likely putting it atop carb and calorie-heavy bases like pasta. Though the calories likely come from the heart-healthy olive oil included in the recipe, it's best to tread carefully since the serving size is small and the calories can add up fast.

Along with the calorie count, the sodium levels are concerning. A half-cup has 520 milligrams of sodium, or 22% of your daily recommended value. One upside for this sauce, on the other hand, is that it has 0 grams of added sugar. That means that the 5 grams of sugar in the sauce are naturally occurring, likely coming from the two different kinds of tomatoes and onions used as the sauce's base.

This marinara sauce has some major pros: it's super-affordable at less than $3 per jar, and it has stellar reviews. The fan-favorite is beloved thanks to the slight sweetness (likely from the tomatoes) and amazing versatility. Reviewers love grabbing this classic marinara to use in everything from pizza sauce to lasagna to classic spaghetti and meatballs. But despite the flavorful makeup, some may want to look for an alternative because of a few nutritional red flags.

At 80 calories per half-cup serving, it's higher in calories than many other marinara sauces that hover around 50 or 60 calories for the same quantity. But the biggest concern isn't caloric; with 480 milligrams of sodium per serving, this sauce is a salt bomb that accounts for 20% of your daily intake. This sauce's saving grace is that it's high in vitamins, low in fat, and has 8% of your daily fiber intake, so there are some positives to offset the crazy salt quantities.

While this marinara sauce might have a bold, rich flavor, it's masking the high sodium content. With 460 milligrams per half-cup, one serving accounts for 20% of your daily salt allotment. This can add up quickly, especially if using more than a measly half-cup serving for a bowl of pasta or another saucy dish like chicken parmesan.

In addition to the high sodium, the sauce also has sugar and soybean oil hiding in the ingredient list. While neither of these ingredients is inherently bad, they can lead to negative health outcomes when consumed in high quantities. Instead, if you want the signature flavor of a jar of Emeril's but are looking for something healthier, you can opt instead to make your own marinara. His homemade sauce recipe uses whole ingredients and is free of sugar and other unhealthy additives while offering the same delicious flavor.

At first glance, this marinara sauce may seem healthy because of its relatively low-calorie count. But upon closer inspection of the nutrition content, it's hiding some seriously unhealthy additives like high fructose corn syrup. Though this may add a delicious sweetness to the sauce, high fructose corn syrup packs this sauce with 8 grams of sugar in just a half-cup serving. The American Heart Association recommends women consume only 25 grams of sugar per day and men consume only 36 grams, so a single serving of this tomato sauce uses up 32% or 22% of the daily allotment respectively.

The sauce is also packed with salt. In a single half-cup serving, there are 590 milligrams of sodium, accounting for a quarter of your recommended daily intake. Consuming too much sodium can increase your blood pressure and put you at risk of heart disease and stroke, so you should tread carefully when portioning out this high-sodium sauce to avoid the negative health impacts of too much salt.

Soybean oil is also hiding in the middle of the ingredient list. Though not inherently bad on its own, this oil is high in omega-6 fatty acids that can be detrimental when consumed in excess and lead to chronic inflammation. Besides the less-than-stellar ingredients, reviewers also complain about how watery and bland this sauce is, so it may be best to skip it on your next grocery run.

It's no surprise that with the word "creamy" in the name, this sauce is high in fat content. A single half-cup serving has 8% of the daily total fat recommendation and a whopping 15% of your daily saturated fat. Some studies suggest high levels of saturated fat can lead to increased bad cholesterol levels and, in turn, increase the risk of heart disease. The culprit? Cream is the second listed ingredient and is filled with fat. Though not unhealthy in small quantities, it's easy to go overboard.

Following cream in the ingredient list is sugar, leading to 9 grams of added sugar per serving. The sauce also has 460 milligrams of sodium or 20% of your daily recommended intake. With only 2 grams of protein and limited quantities of vitamins and minerals like calcium, vitamin D, and iron, the sauce doesn't add much to your daily diet.

With a sky-high 600 milligrams of sodium per half-cup serving, this sauce has the highest sodium levels we came across. A single serving accounts for a whopping 26% of your daily sodium intake, making this sauce a bonafide salt bomb.

And most of us are already eating too much sodium to begin with; the average American consumes more than 3,300 milligrams of sodium per day, on average — almost a third over the recommended 2,300 milligrams. Continuously overindulging in sodium-heavy foods can have severe negative health effects, increasing the risk of stroke, heart disease, and high blood pressure.

Besides the salt factor (which should be enough to make you reconsider this purchase alone), this sauce also has a dairy product listed in the ingredients — parmesan cheese to be exact — unlike most other marinara's. While this doesn't necessarily contribute to the sauce being more unhealthy, it makes it unfavorable for those who are sensitive to dairy or those who are vegan.

While most jarred marinara sauces are low in calories thanks to mostly whole ingredients like tomatoes, onions, and spices, this sauce comes in surprisingly high. With 100 calories per half-cup serving, it's nearly double some of the other sauces on this that clock in at 50 or 60 calories for the same amount.

But the downsides don't stop there. It's also high in fat, with 7 grams per serving that accounts for 9% of your daily value. This uptick in fat can likely be linked to the inclusion of olive oil on the ingredient list. Though not necessarily bad for you, olive oil should be consumed in limited quantities of a few tablespoons per day to help keep your daily fat and caloric intake under control.

It's no surprise that this sauce, like most others, is high in sodium. With 420 milligrams (or 18% of the daily recommended value) per serving, it will quickly eat up your daily salt allotment. Between the high calories, fat, and sodium, it's probably best to look elsewhere next time you're looking for a jar of healthy sauce to stock your pantry. 

To determine how unhealthy each marinara sauce is, we took a close look at both the nutrition label and the product ingredients. By evaluating the sodium, sugar, and fat levels of each of the sauces in conjunction with the quality of the ingredients, we determined how unhealthy each sauce is. While some sauces had a few red flags (like high sodium, for example), others had multiple issues to consider, which generally means they're considered the unhealthiest of the bunch.