Here I am, Googling for Hunt’s Spaghetti Sauce to check for ingredients and nutrition info to compare to jarred sauce, and I stumble across a review of a can on a blog called Cheap Eats.

By the way, the name sounds promising -- I’m desperately trying to keep the grocery budget in check myself. We’ve been having a lot of beans and meats filled out with frozen vegetables. Sadly, my cheap cooking protein staple -- tofu -- is, oh, about $15-20 a pound in Slovakia.

Why the canned sauce? Well, Scott and I were just discussing pasta sauce the other day, remarking upon how most jars are kind of pricey but don’t give you much good flavor. (But I never buy jarred sauce here anymore -- you pay a few bucks and get a teeny-tiny jar of stuff that tastes like ketchup.) We started reminiscing about our college days, when we routinely opted for Hunt’s pasta sauce in a can (not the kind labeled “tomato sauce” -- that’s something different). It usually cost only $1, and the flavor was just as good as the Ragus and Pregos on the shelves (or any sauce in a jar that costs less than $8).

Hmm, there is one exception, though. Whole Foods had this store-brand sauce infused with pesto back when I was a senior -- wonder if it’s still around?

Anyway, it was nice to stumble upon a review that jived with what we remembered from back-when. Now, back to stumbling -- still haven’t found that nutrition and ingredient info, as hunts.com doesn’t list their spaghetti sauce or even their Cook’s Illustrated-endorsed ketchup.

Hunt, hunt, hunt.

OK -- Hunt’s Four Cheese, $1.85 on NetGrocer

50 cal/1 g fat for 1/2 cup

6 servings

ingredients:

Ingredients: Tomato Puree (Water, Tomato Paste), Sugar, Granular And Parmesan Cheese (Pasteurized Milk, Cheese Cultures, Enzymes), Salt, Soybean Oil, Part-Skim Ricotta Cheese (Pasteurized Whey, Cream, Whey Protein Concentrated, Distilled Vinegar), Dehydrated Onions, Spices, Dehydrated Romano Cheese Made From Cow's Milk (Pasteurized Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes), Dehydrated Mozzarella Cheese [(Pasteurized Part-Skim Milk, Cheese Culture, Enzymes), Whey, Sodium Phosphate, Lactic Acid], Citric Acid, Natural Flavor.

Ragu Robusto! Six Cheese, $2.95 on NetGrocer

90 cal/3 g fat for 1/2 cup

6 servings

ingredients:

Tomato Puree (Water, Tomato Paste), Diced Tomatoes, Onions, Sugar, Ricotta Cheese (Pasteurized Milk, Whey, Vinegar, Salt), Soybean Oil, Aged Asiago, Mozzarella and Fontina Cheese (Pasteurized Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes), Salt, Romano and Parmesan Cheese (Part-Skim Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes), Basil, Garlic, Spices, Natural Flavor (Egg).

Notice that both, like most jarred and canned sauces, are mostly tomato puree. It’s a lot cheaper to ship that tomato paste to the factory and reconstitute it than to ship water-laden whole or crushed tomatoes. Hence, such smooth sauce.

Hey, I’m not saying any are as good as homemade, which is definitely my stock in trade these days -- but if you’re going to buy a cheap jar, why pay extra for stuff that’s not any better?

Tagged: Internet Kitchen, Grocery Pick