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Prego Pivots From Budget-Tier Pasta Sauce to Small Microphones That Listen to Your Family's Intimate Conversations (futurism.com)
submitted 6 months ago by to c/nottheonion@lemmy.world
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[–] 40 points 6 months ago (19 children)

And not even good cheap pasta sauce. Store brands are often times much much better for half to almost a quarter of the price.

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  • [–] 17 points 6 months ago (9 children)

    In my experience store brands are maybe 75% the price of Prego, and comparable quality. It's not high end but it's also not vastly overpriced. Maybe $3-4 a jar vs $2-3 for store brand, or $7-10 for the fancy brands.

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  • [–] 10 points 6 months ago* (4 children)

    i really dislike Prego: too sweet for me and the flavor is weak

    my grocery store has nice canned San Marzano-type tomatoes for about $4 for a big can. Enough to make maybe 2 jars of sauce.

    You need to add your own herbs, spices, and simmer a bit but the end result is generally as good as the $10/jar fancy brands. I keep a fancy brand jar in the cupboard in case i don't have time, but i try to simmer my own sauce as often as possible

    My go-to herbs are coyote mint, yerba buena (Clinopodium), Mexican oregano (Lippia) and california bay leaf. i will also throw in some toasted garlic and some hard cheese when on hand

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  • [–] 3 points 6 months ago (2 children)

    There are varieties made with little or even no sugar.

    I respect the DIY sauce game, but my point was that if you're buying pre-made sauce it's neither pricey nor necessarily loaded with sugar.

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  • [–] 1 point 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 child)

    Which ones? Every single Prego variety at my local grocer has added sugar. It's not good sauce

    there might be inexpensive brands without added sugar but if they exist they aren't available in my grocery store. The "store brand" at my local grocer is on the expensive side, like $8/jar, but it's very good

    My grocery store is within walking distance of my apartment, and i live in a very very car-centric region, so i'd much rather go there than drive to say a Costco

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  • [–] 2 points 6 months ago

    I guess it does depend a little bit on the grocery store. I'm more accustomed to seeing store brand price range comparable to Aldi, aka $1.50 for the bottom range for the varieties that have added sugar, and $2 and up for the "authentic" or organic varieties that don't have it.

    As for Prego, well I'm probably actually thinking of Ragu at the moment but they have "Simply" or "Kettle" or "Homemade" or authentic or organic styles that don't have added sugar. Not sure remembering all the right names for them, but having sauce without added sugars something that people seek out a lot easier so it makes sense that brands try to varieties to accommodate that market niche.

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  • [–] 6 points 6 months ago (3 children)

    I get great value and best choice(?) and they beat the crap out of not only prego but some other higher end pasta sauces as well. Especially great value. I was super surprised by them. And they are like $1.50 vs $4-6 for the various prego and analogs. And I actually think the great value is better than most premiums in the ~$10 range. Carbone might be the one that is hands and fists above all others.

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  • [–] 3 points 6 months ago (2 children)

    Great Value is Walmart and I just won't shop there. I can say I notice little difference (in a good way) between lower end brand names like Ragu or Prego and various store brands. I just don't see the price difference as much though. Maybe a dollar's difference. I'm still a store brand buyer, but I'm more price sensitive than taste sensitive on the question.

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  • [–] 2 points 6 months ago (1 child)

    You're not wrong about avoiding Walmart as best you can. But I live in their home territory, so it's that or Kroger, and Kroger donates big to trump and have a history of union hostility. So it's really a push for me until a locally owned place pops up.

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  • [–] 4 points 6 months ago (7 children)

    The cheapest pasta sauce is fine as long as you’re willing to fix it. More garlic, spices, salt, cooking down, or adding water. The solution varies.

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  • [–] 2 points 6 months ago (6 children)

    I dare you to try great value marinara just as it is straight out the bottle. I may add some garlic to it and maybe some red pepper flakes from a pizza place that didn't get used on the pizza, but the shit is awesome unadulterated.

    But you are absolutely right, and I tend to put a little cayenne and fresh ground black pepper in anything I cook.

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  • [–] 4 points 6 months ago (5 children)

    I can’t, tomatoes make me die :(

    But I’m not one to reject a dare so I’ll go borrow a bit from a nei

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  • [–] 2 points 6 months ago (4 children)

    Please don't. Although it's pretty good, it's not really worth the risk.

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  • [–] 2 points 6 months ago (3 children)

    You’re right, and I was just joking. Enjoy tomatoes double-hard for me! They used to be my favorite, until they turned on me.

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  • [–] 2 points 6 months ago*

    Buy a couple of cans of crushed tomatoes, toss in some garlic powder, Italian seasonings, salt, pepper, and simmer for a long time. Add browned ground beef and/or mushrooms. Maybe a few ounces of red wine. Add some red pepper flakes if you want it spicy.

    It will be better than any sauce you can buy.

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