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Step 1
Examine the ingredients on the tomato sauce label. Make sure it doesn't contain tomato puree and water. This indicates the manufacturer made the sauce by mixing the two ingredients rather than by using fresh tomatoes.
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Step 2
Make sure the label ingredients specify that the tomato sauce contains diced or chopped tomatoes. This means the sauce has fresher tomato taste.
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Step 3
Avoid tomato sauces that don't contain at least small amounts of sugar and salt. Professional taste testers found that tomato sauces lacking sugar and salt tasted flat.
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Step 4
Buy a tomato sauce that doesn't contain tomato paste. Tomato paste makes a sauce heavy and concentrated and does not add to the fresh tomato flavor.
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Step 5
Notice the order of the ingredients on the label. Stay away from sauces that list sugar before ingredients like garlic, onions or herbs. This means the manufacturer is covering up the lack of fresh vegetable flavor by adding too much sugar.
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Step 6
Choose a tomato sauce made in Italy as opposed to those prepared domestically. Italian manufacturers don't buy pre-chopped vegetables. They prepare them right at the plants. They also don't cook sauces longer than it takes to kill the bacteria.
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Step 7
Get several different brands of tomato sauce and taste each one straight from the jar. It should taste like you're biting into a fresh tomato. The color should also be bright red rather than dark red.
