Forget Rao's — Trader Joe's Partnered With An Italian Supplier For This $5 Pasta Sauce

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CORRECTION 10/5/26: A previous version of this article stated Puglia is in Northern Italy; the region is in Southern Italy.

Trader Joe's, the holy grail grocery store for all things single-serve and proprietary products, has a tomato sauce you won't want to miss, and it comes directly from Italy. According to the retailer's website, Caro Sugo Italian Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce comes from Puglia, a region in Southern Italy where growing tomatoes is extremely ideal, climate-wise. The area gets a lot of sunshine, and the coastal soil has a high salt content, making for extremely flavorful tomato varieties like Regina tomatoes. "Caro Sugo" itself loosely translates to "dear sauce" or "expensive sauce" in Italian.

The sauce, which costs $4.99 for a 24-ounce jar, has a surprisingly simple ingredients list: tomatoes, tomato juice, citric acid, olive oil, diced onion, sea salt, chopped garlic, chopped basil, and dried oregano. Rao's tomato basil sauce, retailing at $7.52 for the same size jar from Walmart, has a similarly straightforward ingredients list, although it also contains pepper. So what makes the Caro Sugo sauce stand out from what's considered by some as the best jarred tomato sauce? Not just the price. Trader Joe's unnamed partner not only grows the tomatoes in Puglia — it also makes the sauce right in Italy.

There isn't much available information about who supplies this Trader Joe's pasta sauce, but we do know that the supplier uses fresh, whole peeled tomatoes, right off the vine. Instead of canning the tomatoes and transporting them to a facility in the U.S., like Rao's, the Caro Sugo sauce is made with fresh tomatoes on-site. The resulting bright, fresh flavor makes this inexpensive sauce a standout pick. The lower price is a plus, too.

From Italian fields to the signature bright red TJ's grocery basket, the Caro Sugo sauce has gained a lot of popularity since its release. According to a blogger on traderjoesrants.com, "Caro Sugo Italian tomato pasta sauce seems to be all over the internet, with people saying this new Trader Joe's tomato sauce is Da Bomb...I had to check this out for a review. Well, guess what? Sometimes the hype is true. This sauce is SO GOOD. I was really impressed with this." Other online reviews carry the same sentiment — the sauce is good.

For some, this tomato sauce might be worth trying, but for diehard Rao's fans, particularly those who don't live near a Trader Joe's, switching go-to sauces may not be worthwhile or possible. The major downside with the Caro Sugo sauce is that it's only available in Trader Joe's stores. For shoppers that frequent other grocery stores or Costco, Rao's may still be their go-to sauce, even though it's more expensive.

If you can get your hands on a jar of this Trader Joe's tomato basil sauce, you'll want to make the most of it. The sauce can be used beyond just pasta dishes. Shakshuka, a Middle Eastern breakfast dish that's prime for upgrades, is a great way to utilize it, for instance. It can also come in handy for homemade pizza, whether you're using a pizza stone for a perfectly crispy crust or just your regular sheet pan. Tomato sauce is very versatile, and this one might be the new pick for all of your sauce needs.