Ranking 16 Store-Bought Vodka Sauces

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Penne alla vodka first became popular in the 1970s after chefs looked to update an Italian classic with a modern twist of vodka. Adding vodka to a classic red sauce will elevate your typical Sunday gravy, of course, making each ingredient smell and taste better. The herbs become more herbaceous, the tomatoes become sweeter, and other seasonings become more pronounced. Quite frankly, this deepening of flavors is likely why vodka sauce has become so popular in the 2020s.

The slight heat the liquor brings and the sweet acidity of tomatoes are balanced by heavy cream and cheese, giving the sauce a mouth-coating texture. Plus, the alcohol burns out of the vodka while it cooks, thus enhancing flavor without imparting the effects of alcohol. Though there are minimal ingredients, making a slow-simmered sauce takes time, which many home cooks don’t have. Thankfully, some jarred pasta sauce brands produce restaurant-quality vodka sauces.

Now, not all brands are equal. To find the best, I conducted a taste test of 16 vodka sauces so you don’t have to. All are available nationwide in 24-ounce jars. The quality of ingredients, nutrition facts, texture, consistency, and price were all considered, along with the overall taste. Here are 16 store-bought vodka sauces ranked from worst to best.

Some recommendations are based on firsthand impressions of promotional materials and products provided by the manufacturer.

The best thing about Bertolli’s vodka sauce is its generally affordable price, and that it’s available nationwide. The bright pinkish-orange hued sauce has comparable nutrition to others, including 470 milligrams of sodium, 100 calories, and 7 grams of fat per serving. The combination of light cream, skim milk, and Italian cheeses created a smoothly blended texture that coated noodles with a thick creaminess other brands didn’t have.

However, it was more reminiscent of alfredo than vodka sauce. Based on the ingredients, I expected to find aromas and flavors of garlic, onions, tomatoes, and spices, but these were missing. Instead, it tasted like unexpectedly sweet cream, and lacked the depth vodka sauce should bring. Since this one tasted the most like jarred sauce, it comes in last.

Pizza Girl Caroline D’Amore comes from a family of California pizza makers. She began her sauce company after finding a limited number of organic options without sugar or additives. While Pizza Girl is similar to others nutritionally (with 110 calories and 8 grams of fat per serving), it uses all-natural ingredients and is USDA-certified organic, which I appreciate. Unfortunately, the sauce itself was not flavorful, which is largely why it ranks near the bottom.

A sour, metallic taste dominated, likely indicating it wasn’t slow-simmered enough to burn off the alcohol. When done properly, cooking with vodka will enrich the flavors, but not doing so correctly can throw all tastes out of balance. Additionally, this store-bought vodka sauce is pricey, and spending a lot of money on a jarred sauce that tastes sour is disappointing.

Pasta Queen founder Nadia Caterina Munno comes from a family of Italian pasta makers, and I had high hopes for Pasta Queen’s spicy vodka creamy pink sauce. With a name like Pasta Queen, I was expecting robust flavor that showcased spicy chilis, ripe tomatoes, and fresh cream. And while it had a fresh tomato flavor, it wasn’t creamy or spicy, and was fairly bland, as well, so it places in the bottom half.

Though it has a comparable price to other premium brands, this sauce comes with less than 1% of the typically essential seasonings needed to flavor such a sauce, including garlic, red pepper, cheese, and vodka. Additionally, Pasta Queen’s vodka sauce contains more sodium than most other brands on this list. Though the name suggests a buttery, spicy vodka sauce, there was little heat, little cream, abundant saltiness, and a liquified texture, making this one to skip.

Like Bertolli, Classico vodka sauce has widespread availability at a very low price, plus less fat and calories per serving that most other brands. While this store-bought vodka sauce was fairly creamy and well-emulsified, with creamy, cheesy flavors following aromas of fresh tomatoes and sweet cream, it was more liquefied than I prefer, which kept it close to the bottom.

Additionally, I found the cheese to be at the forefront of this sauce instead of tomatoes. It didn’t have the slow-cooked taste of the other brands, either, and seemingly lacked premium ingredients. If on a budget, Classico’s price and availability are impressive for the taste. But I also couldn’t rank it higher overall.

The look of Italo’s alla gourmet vodka sauce was unlike any others I tried. With visible chunks of onions, herbs, tomato pulp, and seeds mingling together in a sea of olive oil and tomato puree, it appeared to have a homemade rusticity. The minimal list of ingredients on Italo’s label indicate the inclusion of fresh cream and 80-proof vodka, along with New Jersey-grown tomatoes, hand-cut onions, garlic, imported olive oil, and herbs. Now, this store-bought vodka sauce was savory, but the creamy taste was lacking in my opinion.

The texture of this Italo sauce was more like a hand-chopped marinara or chunky bruschetta dip. In fact, it was watery, separating when stirred into pasta. Another downside to this brand is the general lack of availability, as you can’t necessarily pick the sauce up easily when a pasta craving calls. Given this and the fact its watery texture lacked richness, it ranks lower than most other sauces on the list.

Yo Mama’s vodka sauce is ideal if you’re looking for a healthy sauce. Each serving has only 80 calories, no added sugars, and a relatively low 200 milligrams of sodium, while packing the flavor of a well-crafted homemade sauce. Unfortunately, it wasn’t creamy or cheesy, keeping it below most other sauces on this list.

Now, Yo Mama’s comes with white wine in addition to vodka. Like vodka, cooking with wine enhances the flavors within a dish while imparting its own taste; when reduced, it becomes caramelized, enriching the sauce. With that in mind, the alcohol in this jarred sauce combines with tomatoes, cream, cheese, and others to produce a well-rounded, well-seasoned, and tomato-forward taste.

However, as noted, I didn’t detect any creamy flavors, reminding me more of marinara than velvety vodka sauce. The texture was chunky, clinging to noodles. The fresh, well-seasoned, slow-cooked, tomato-rich flavor was appealing in this sauce, as was the smart nutrition. But the lack of creaminess made it hard to call this vodka sauce, hence its lower placement.

Specially Selected is the in-house brand at Aldi that features gourmet selections, offering high quality and affordability. On that note, Aldi’s Specially Selected Premium vodka sauce marries ripe Italian tomatoes with heavy cream, olive oil, cheese, vodka, and seasonings. And while the sauce contains imported ingredients and tasted creamy and fresh, it lacked the slow-cooked depth of flavor that the higher-ranked sauces had, so it comes in tenth.

Now, the thick, chunky texture was better than those below it, and the creaminess was on point. The nutrition is comparable to most other store-bought vodka sauces on this list, though the price is generally affordable (like most Aldi products), which helped it rank it above others. Even if other brands ranked higher, don’t be afraid to pair this with one of the best products at Aldi for under $1 in the store’s dry pasta.

Rao’s is a dining institution for Italian food lovers visiting New York. Founded in 1896, the company began jarring and selling Rao’s homemade pasta sauces in 1992, which made plenty of Rao’s lovers happy, including Ina Garten. Rao’s marinara is the Barefoot Contessa’s favorite store-bought sauce, after all — presumably because the brand prides itself on delivering slow-simmered sauces in small batches. Now, while Rao’s vodka sauce has comparable nutritional facts  as other sauces on this list, and is generally priced lower than some of its competitors, I found the flavors to be somewhat muddled, keeping it in the middle of these rankings.

The aromas of roasted garlic and ripe tomatoes got me excited when I first opened the jar. However, upon sampling the sauce, I felt it lacked the slow-cooked taste I was hoping for. Additionally, this jarred vodka sauce lacked the creaminess of authentic vodka sauces, which the higher-ranked sauces had. This could be because the brand forgoes cream in its vodka sauce, instead including whey, olive oil, and a blend of Italian cheeses.

The use of high-quality ingredients is essential to Victoria. The company exclusively utilizes imported Italian tomatoes and olive oil, only includes fresh ingredients, and makes its sauces without water. Now, like Rao’s vodka sauce, Victoria vodka sauce contains whey with Parmesan and Romano cheeses instead of adding cream. But while those two brands have similar ingredients, Victoria’s vodka sauce has a more complex flavor, with a slow-cooked taste that lingers, so it places just above the Rao’s variety.

Actually, this brand’s combination of ingredients produced a savory vodka sauce, one with a homemade taste. Victoria is a healthier vodka sauce than some others, as well, with 80 calories and 4 grams of fat per serving, and has a similar cost to premium sauces. This sauce was grainy, thought, lacking creaminess and the well-emulsified texture expected in a vodka sauce, so it places in the middle.

The original Carbone in New York City has been dressing pasta with rich sauces for its glamorous clientele since 2013. The brand began to jar its pasta sauces in 2021, which became available nationwide soon after. Carbone’s vodka sauce uses imported Italian tomatoes and fresh herbs (instead of dried seasonings), and is certified non-GMO. It has fewer calories and less fat than other brands – due to leaving butter and cream out of the sauce — though it also has the highest sodium level (750 milligrams per serving) of all the vodka sauces on this list.

Now, Carbone does include suggestions on the jar for consumers to add a certain amount butter and cream themselves to 1 pound of pasta. And while it’s generally preferable to have everything included in a single jar, adding fresh dairy produces a more authentic flavor.

As a result, this had a fresh and natural creaminess most jarred sauces can’t deliver, elevating the authentic, slow-simmered vine-ripe tomatoes and savory herbs tastes. Of course, even though the price is comparable to other gourmet sauces, the need to add additional ingredients and the high sodium level kept Carbone’s vodka sauce from ranking higher than seventh.

Chef Joe Isidori pays homage to the historic Italian restaurants in New York City with Arthur & Sons restaurants and products, bringing old school nostalgia to the plate. Arthur & Son’s spicy vodka sauce showcases the Michelin-starred chef’s flavors. He combines non-GMO tomatoes, fresh cream, chilis, and seasonings with vodka for a garlicky, tomato-rich sauce that has a nicely pureed texture, coating pasta thoroughly.

This brand is one of the few vodka sauces to include tomato paste as well as whole tomatoes, bringing slow-cooked, caramelized flavor. Though the sauce’s sodium is a low 260 milligrams per serving, there are 13 grams of fat — the highest of every sauce on this list. More than that, this store-bought vodka sauce is likely to cost more than any other sauce I tasted, keeping Arthur & Son’s from cracking the top five. Still, the slow-cooked taste was spicy and rich with buttery creaminess, helping it stay above the lower-ranked sauces that lacked a homemade taste.

Sauz creamy Calabrian vodka sauce delivers a spicy punch of flavor that lives up to the chili’s name. The heat of a Calabrian chili is high, after all, and though not as high as a scotch bonnet or habanero, Calabrian chili still packs a punch. Consequently, Calabrian chilis are a vibrant ingredient to spice up your sauce, though Sauz tames this fire by incorporating mouth-coating fats to the sauce. Diced tomatoes, onions, salted vodka, and seasoning finish the blend, producing an aromatic, well-balanced flavor, earning it a place in the top five.

Aside from the savory taste, the texture of this well-blended (but not liquified) sauce was terrific, delivering a spicy buttery goodness to the palate. Its delicious taste and unctuous texture bring a decadence often missing in jarred sauce. Unfortunately, Sauz isn’t necessarily ideal nutritionally when compared to the sauces ranked above it.

Similar to Arthur & Son’s, Sauz’s has a high fat content and calorie count. It’s also somewhat expensive overall, which kept it from moving higher up. Still, the slow-simmered and authentic taste was well-rounded, and better than those ranked below.

Upon tasting Carbone’s spicy vodka sauce, I knew Carbone’s pasta sauces are worth buying. Thankfully, you don’t have to venture to New York City to enjoy its famous pasta sauces, and Carbone spicy vodka sauce is available in a jar for interested customers. Imported Italian tomatoes meld with spicy, vinegary Calabrian pepper to produce a zesty, vibrant red sauce with kick. There’s no butter or cream here, though like its regular vodka sauce, the brand recommends adding a certain amount of each before serving. Now, if adding ingredients is a deterrent, then Carbone isn’t for you. But I didn’t mind that, so it comes in fourth place.

Even without the fats, this savory, aromatic sauce has a fresh acidity, balanced saltiness, and spicy flavors that are robust and delicious. The taste becomes layered, complex, and divine with inclusion of fresh cream and butter, balancing the Calabrian’s heat and the tomato’s tang. Quite frankly, it becomes a restaurant-worthy sauce you can enjoy at home when served as suggested. The one drawback (beyond the need to add ingredients) is its staggering amount of sodium, which is why this tasty sauce couldn’t crack the top three.

Rao’s vodka arrabbiata sauce was one of the best-tasting vodka sauces I tried. Adding vodka to a traditional arrabbiata sauce helps to intensify the peppery spice of the crushed red pepper flakes in the sauce, and including cheese and creamy whey helps tame the heat, creating a cravewothy balance. The additional ingredients combine with vodka to create a thick, rich, rustic sauce with a spicy, mouth-watering flavor — hence its third place ranking.

Unlike its classic vodka sauce, this Rao’s option tasted like it had been simmering for hours, resulting in a well-balanced heat and creaminess. There was still a freshness, though, and a balanced acidity, lifting the palate through the richness. Price-wise, Rao’s vodka arrabbiata is slightly less expensive than some other brands on this list, and less fat and sodium generally, as well. Though not as viscous as the top two entries, I want to enjoy this spicy sauce again and again.

Primal Kitchen achieves everything a vodka sauce lover could want without the inclusion of any dairy. The sauce is certified non-GMO, organic, vegan, and gluten-free, with a silky smooth texture coming from the inclusion of pumpkin seed butter and avocado oil. Both ingredients give the sauce a viscosity that clings to noodles. The fat and calories are similar to others (130 calories and 9 grams of fat per serving), though the sodium is very low at 280 milligrams, which factored into its second place ranking.

The all-organic blend of California-grown tomatoes, vegetables, herbs, and spices combine with organic vodka to create a tomato-forward sauce with a mouth-coating richness. This brand is particularly appealing if you don’t like spice in your sauce, as well. You can make pasta primavera creamy with this vegan sauce, or spread it on a grilled veggie pizza.

Plus, the cost of Primal Kitchen’s vodka sauce is comparable to other premium brands, including ones that aren’t organic. This organic gourmet selection’s rich flavor, creamy texture, low sodium content, and inclusion of healthier fats helped it rank high, with a single store-bought vodka sauce above it.

Botticelli is a New York-based company that brings authentic flavors of Italy to each of its products. It also focuses on sustainability by using every part of its ingredients, turning many byproducts of sauce-making into renewable energy. Among these offerings is the delicious Botticelli organic creamy vodka sauce. Made with organic Italian tomatoes, cream, cheese, herbs, and seasonings, it was the best store-bought vodka sauce I tasted.

The first thing I noticed about this orangish-red sauce was the appearance of chunky vegetables, which lingered throughout the jar. Beyond that, the aroma was bright and herbaceous, and its authentic taste mixed freshness with slow-simmered flavor. And though it contains no added sugars, there was lovely sweetness present.

The freshness of the tomato and earthiness of the chunky allium vegetables and herbs combine with a decadent creaminess that any pasta would beg to wear. The sauce’s thick texture clung to the noodles, wrapping them in richness. The creamy sauce was delicious, with reasonable nutrition, and an affordable price for an organic option, and Botticelli’s vodka sauce came out on top.

To create the ranking, I gathered various popular sauces based on what was available at local grocers. Though each brand’s ingredients were similar, all were unique.

I tasted each store-bought vodka sauce side-by-side on its own to access the flavors, though I also tasted each entry on top of pasta. Adding it to pasta allowed me to see how the texture, viscosity, and consistency stood up with noodles, and how each sauce potentially enhanced the pasta flavor. After trying each, I evaluated the quality of each brand’s ingredients, nutritional factors, availability, and price. After combining these elements, deciding which brand was on top was easy.