Before your next pasta night… 🍝🇨🇦 / @CanadianCounter
7 Canadian Pasta Sauce Brands You MUST AVOID (And The 3 That Are Worth It)
That jar of pasta sauce sitting on your shelf—often marketed as authentic, homestyle, or Italian-style—may not be as good for your saucepan (or your health) as it looks. While pasta sauce can be a simple, delicious base for meals, many Canadian brands rely on excess sugar, refined oils, artificial flavors, fillers, and vague “seasoning blends” to mask bland tomatoes and boost shelf appeal.
More concerning, some products trade on familiar branding and comforting packaging while offering little transparency about tomato quality, ingredient sourcing, or sugar content. Trust in popular pasta sauce jars remains high and largely unquestioned—even when the ingredient list tells a different story.
In the next 23 minutes, I break down 7 Canadian pasta sauce brands you should seriously avoid—which ones cut the most corners, what red flags to watch for, and why they don’t deliver real flavor or quality. I’ll also reveal 3 pasta sauce brands that are actually worth buying, offering better ingredients, richer taste, and cleaner labels.
44 Comments
I'm guilty as charged, I guess. I happen to be a really big fan of Classico for years now. I don't use really anything else aside from what I make on my own.
this one is the best i ever taste, and i just eat one few minuts ago. Jardins Saint-Antoine inc.
this is great to watch and what are your suggestions for low income families cause who in their right mind on a fix income can afford 6 cans at roughly 85 dollars @canadiancounter help the low income families #please#getbent
You jokers can’t even pronounce ’Prego’ correctly
Your videos are always so full of shit!
For a start Prego pasta sauce isn't a Canadian product
9:18, where the hell is Lamington, ON??
There nothing wrong with citric acid and look pasta sauce that are using olive oil
I have ordered some Stefano. Also switched to bioitalia pasta and it's way better than what I've tried before. Thank you.
I only buy straight tomato sauce never pre-made.
God help us agaist these evil greedy corporations
I make my own every harvest. I can dozens of jars of tomatoes, salsa, curry and pasta sauce. I know exactly what is in it and it costs a fraction of the money. It also makes nice gifts in these economic times.
bon a savoir
This video is less about pasta sauce and more about bashing large companies and there practices.
The pricing on the avoid list, for the most part, is less than the price of the approved list. Sorry but there are anlot of families living near the poverty line, and those few dollars mean a lot.
I have started using Stefano and found it to taste way better than others and can't go back. And after seeing this now i know why glad i found this
Canadian Counter and 7 Other comparative Youtube videos you should avoid…
Most of the time, I rely on either Rao's or Carbone's for jarred sauce. I recently tried Mike's Bolognese as I was short on time. It was worth it when I got it for half price. For meat sauce, I usually make my own, with sofrito, Italian tomatoes and medium ground beef plus spices.
At 16:25 the narration says no citric acid in Canada Red sauce but the ingredient list 16:16 shows citric acid.
When Classico shrunk their jars a few years back, Canada Red showed up at the same time with more product, a cheaper price and impressed me with the simple ingredients list. I switched over and never looked back.
So easy to make your own pasta sauce. Tomatoes, basil, and olive oil, that's it.
Thank you
I rather make my own homemade pasta sauce since I know what goes into it & control how much salt goes into it. I also freeze it in portion sizes & use how much for how much pasta to cook.
I have switched to Canada red when I found it at Walmart. It’s the go to sauce. For its flavour.
What about Bravo? The sauce Canadians fought to get back on the shelves. Sold at Giant Tiger.
Sefano's for the win – all four varieties that I've tried. I can make as good from scratch, but it'll cost me more per serving than Stefano's. Their Rosee is amazing. Their Marinara is as good as Nonna's.
You missed the PC black label sauces. No sugars and no water added. They are very good and reasonably priced.
the guy in the kitchen in the Hunt's commercial is a fraud québecois chef, Jean Claude (Giovanni) Apollo !
I enjoy watching Stephano on Master Chef Québec. I will have to try his products. I've been buying Classico for it's affordability, but it has to change now.
JUST SAUCE
SHERNIS – SOLENZITRE MARI – La ROSE – California Sandwiches- Pasqualino – Monastery Bakery- Vince’s Country Market – all have real Italian Sauces with No Additives and truly produced in small batches ! Shop local and support family owned brands and TRUE family manufacturing In Canada 🇨🇦! Stop deleting my comment!I went to a mall and I saw a store that sold real italien canned tomatoes, my god the taste difference was incredible and no sugar added. Will never buy mirth American canned tomatoes
The best canadian sauce is favuzzi not stefano, favuzzi is loved and used by real Italians and taste like italy , its very similar to mutti fresh tasting, stefano can't cook
If I come across a deal on tomatoes and various peppers and other fresh ingredients, I make pasta sauce and ketchup myself. I often just buy the plain whole tomatoes or crushed, paste but again some brands are loaded with extras.
Citric acid powder is commonly used in home canning, I do not have an issue with it
I make my own pasta sauce. It’s better than all of these, just basic tomatoes, garlic and a lot of basil as a base and I alter its taste accordingly by adding different spices and herbs
People this page is run by an idiot. Dave Nickle is actually a journalist not the owner of Loblaws. Loblaws is owned by the Weston family. Next on the list is going to be manufacturing practices. Sugar is added to most tomato products to reduce acidity. There are people that do it at home. Dehydration doesn’t decrease the flavor of a product it removes the water. Manufacturers use it as it more shelf stable then fresh. They order by the truck load (could be 1500 cases) Next is tomatoes are not delivered from the aliens. Depending on where the product is made and what it is made from fresh or processed. Made in Canada fresh US and Mexico, processed US, Italy and Egypt. Next is what oil is used in the manufacturing the premium olive oil (Italy and Spain) or the cheaper canola oil (Canada is the largest producer). No, manufacturers are not going to be like you at the grocery store comparing prices and get the best price oil. Manufacturers have to order by the truck load and need to be able supply their. customers. Citric Acid comes from fruit and is used as a preservative. Now here’s my research list that you should try Canada Red made in Lemmington ON by an Italian Family, 100% Canadian tomatoes, Stony Creek, Stefano, Primo (they source their tomatoes from Lemmington ON). Primo does advertise as a base sauce. Unico. The clown in charge of this needs to put more effort into their channel if they want to actually help people
Good information!
New subscriber.
Stefano sauce is good
Nothing wrong with dried herbs, you imply there is but in this application is superior to fresh. Not a negative.
You do point out a lilot of negatives.
Never buy jarred pasta sauce, a can of tomatoes, fresh garlic and even dried herbs and you have a great sauce in as quick as 20 minutes. And you know what's in it. Who buys that crap?
Classico is more like thick soup than proper pasta sauce.
Canada Red isn't available at our Leamington Walmart, Ironic eh?
I stopped buying Classico a few years back as I noticed it wasn't tasting the same, watered down. Sure enough, looked at the ingredients label and saw where water was on the label. I mostly now buy a glass bottle of passata, just tomatoes and salt. Sometimes fresh basil leaves in it. It takes minutes to add some oregano, basil and garlic/onions which I almost always have on hand at home. I have never seen these other brands (top 3) here on Vancouver ISland but I don't shop at Walmart. Thanks for the info but pretty much have never bought the brands on your naughty list!
I never buy any pasta sauce. Usually they have sugar, and too much salt. I prefer to make all my own sauces.
Premo is the only sauce I will buy. I know the tomato's are grown in Ontario, it is canned in Ontario, and everything comes from Ontario. Hunts is the worst of them all, it is more like soup with lots of cornstarch, I wouldnt use that stuff if it were free. I am not paying 10 bucks for a jar of sauce. The sauce is just the base. I add fresh vegetables and meat myself. I am also skeptical when watching vids like this. No doubt if Hunts sponsored it, the message being put across would be much different.
home made's always the best. Stephano seem's interesting!. But what about David Rocco?? Pis si vous avez le temps de regarder cette vidéo, ben vous avez le temps de faire une sauce tomate. Huile d'olive, quelques gousse d'ail (dépend des régions), Une canne de pulpe de tomate Mutti ou blend toé des tomates italiennes fraîches à pas cher de la fruiterie 440, basilic frais / origan (régions), mijote, sel. pis merci, bon soir… Sérieux… y'a tu moyen???