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Ina Garten’s homely yet elegant cooking style is based on simplicity and high-quality ingredients. Start with tasty produce, and even a simple recipe with a few elements becomes scrumptious. Considering how often tomatoes form the flavor base of a dish, ones worthy of the food icon behind The Barefoot Contessa should definitely find a spot in your pantry. Turns out, one of Ina Garten’s favorite foods is San Marzano tomatoes, and while there’s nothing quite like getting them fresh, canned is often the only way to conveniently get these elongated Italian tomatoes in most parts of the world. Plus, they come already peeled and, being packaged near their peak ripeness, are bursting with flavor. Consequently, canned San Marzano tomatoes are a great combination of ease and elevated flavor, especially for tomato-forward sauces.
Authentic San Marzano tomatoes are grown in a region of Italy near Mount Vesuvius, where the volcanic soil, combined with the region’s geography, results in a fruit that is fleshy and more intensely flavored with higher sweetness and lower acidity. Interestingly, Ina Garten is often seen using an American brand of San Marzanos, which contains whole peeled tomatoes that are grown in the United States. Some may argue these are not completely authentic San Marzano tomatoes since the difference in geography and soil means subtle flavor differences.
While there are ways to tell whether your San Marzanos are the real deal, like looking for the DOP stamp, sometimes that’s not the ideal way to get the best tomatoes for your sauce. The San Marzano tomatoes grown in the U.S. — the ones that Ina Garten often favors — are quite delicious too, and comparable to the Italian canned variety.
Italian or American canned San Marzano tomatoes — which are better for cooking?
While taste and, therefore, opinions on the best San Marzano tomatoes differ, some aspects are relatively widely agreed upon. Fresh San Marzano tomatoes in Italy are likely to taste the best, but when it comes to the canned variety, several factors come into play. A DOP label means the tomatoes are grown and canned in a specific area in Italy. However, this label alone doesn’t mean the can contains the best tomatoes. Some brands that have DOP labels may have tomatoes that taste acidic because of how they are processed or when they are harvested.
While the flavor of American-grown San Marzano tomatoes may differ from their Italian counterparts, they still channel the sweet, low-acidity qualities that make San Marzanos so delicious. A particularly popular brand that we’ve seen Ina Garten use in her penne arrabiata is San Merican Whole Peeled Tomatoes. They have a relatively firm, meaty texture that cooks down to a luxurious sauce, and the mellow yet deep flavor makes them almost good enough to eat straight out of the can.
Brands have different methods of processing their canned tomatoes; some add flavoring ingredients like basil or even a heavy dose of salt or seasonings, while others don’t. To ensure a more consistent flavor and fewer additives, it’s generally a good idea to buy whole canned tomatoes instead of the chopped or crushed variety. While you should try the canned Italian DOP offerings, you may find Stateside brands with canned tomatoes that taste equally delicious when cooked.
