Watch out for unhealthy ingredients when buying pre-made pasta sauce

Pasta and sauce is an easy meal for families, especially with the number of healthy, pre-made sauce options now available at the grocery store.

Sauce made from scratch can be really good, but it’s not always possible. According to market research firm Mintel, 61 percent of consumers said they have used ready-made pasta sauce in the past six months.

To find the tastiest tomato sauces, Consumer Reports tested 35 marinara-style sauces.

“Marinara is a simple, tomato-based sauce, so when we taste them we’re looking for the fresh flavors of tomato, onions, garlic and herbs to come through,” Consumer Reports nutritionist Amy Keating said.

Keating said tomato sauce can be really good for you. Tomatoes are high in the antioxidant lycopene, which is linked to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and other illnesses.

Consumer Reports did find that some sauces aren’t so healthy.

Half of all the sauces tested were salt bombs, including three that had close to 500 milligrams or more in just a half-cup serving.

Testers did give top ratings to two low-sodium sauces: The Silver Palate Marinara and Victoria Marinara.

Consumer Reports said that even if those sauces aren’t salty enough for you, you can add a little salt of your own and it would likely still be less than the amount found in the worst offending jarred sauces.

Consumer Reports said the lower-scoring sauces were typically made with tomato puree, rather than whole, peeled tomatoes, and dehydrated spices rather than fresh.