I tried 8 popular Alfredo sauces, and a common, affordable brand beat out the tasty $9 jar

I love a big bowl of homemade Alfredo when I'm craving pasta, but sometimes I just want to use a quick and easy jarred sauce.

I've tried most of the jarred Alfredo sauces that grocery stores offer, but I never had a favorite. So I decided to test eight popular jarred Alfredo sauces to see which is the best, focusing on criteria like flavor, texture, and cost.

Newman's Own comes in a 15-ounce jar for $3.69, putting it in the middle of the price range of all the Alfredo sauces I tried.

The label said this sauce contained no artificial preservatives, colors, or flavors, which was a promising start.

This Alfredo had a somewhat thinner consistency than some other jarred sauces I've tried, though it was hefty enough to cling to and cover the noodles.

I really liked the flavor because it was more creamy than cheesy (no strong Parmesan taste), and it didn't have a weird, artificial aftertaste that some grocery-store sauces have.

The ingredients list included garlic and black pepper, but I couldn't really taste either. Fortunately, it's easy enough to add some more black pepper on top of pasta.

Next, I tried the Alfredo sauce from Classico, a brand I buy often because it's more affordable at $3.49 for a 15-ounce jar. 

This sauce contained water, heavy cream, Parmesan cheese, modified corn starch, salt, sugar, egg yolks, whey-protein concentrate, butter, milk, dried garlic, xanthan gum, black pepper, lactic acid, sodium phosphate, "natural flavor," enzymes, and cheese cultures.

This Alfredo sauce had an almost cloudy appearance, and its consistency was pretty thin. I think the combination of water, cream, milk, and butter may have contributed to the thinner, more watery texture of this sauce.

Despite its consistency, this sauce still coated the noodles well, making them silky. I also enjoyed that it had a stronger cheese flavor compared to some of the other sauces and I liked that I could taste the black pepper.

I've had Ragu many times in my life, especially because of the low price tag at $2.69 for 16 ounces. The first thing I noticed when I opened this jar of Alfredo sauce was an almost artificial smell, despite containing real cheese and spices.

Instead of including cream as a second ingredient like the other sauces, this Alfredo listed oil.

The consistency had a good balance — not too thin or watery, but not too thick or goopy either. There were also tiny specks of black pepper.

The taste was only OK because it wasn't super cheesy, and it was kind of bland even with the addition of garlic and other spices. I know jarred sauces are typically loaded with sodium, but this one tasted like it needed more salt.

The first thing I noticed with the $1.79 16-ounce Kroger-brand Alfredo when I poured it from the jar was its impressive texture. It looked very silky, clinging to the noodles with an appealing sheen.

But I was surprised that I didn't really smell anything at all, especially since jarred Alfredo sauces usually have some sort of strong scent, whether it be Parmesan, cream, or artificial flavoring.

Unfortunately, this blandness was also apparent in the taste.

This sauce was super bland and there wasn't even an artificial flavor or weird aftertaste. It had no flavor at all, so it would take a lot of salt, pepper, and fresh Parmesan to upgrade this sauce.

I found this sauce from Botticelli, a brand I had never heard of before, at Ralph's.

It was a more expensive jar at $6.99 for 14.5 ounces, but I was excited to try it. It looked like a higher-quality Alfredo, so I expected it to taste great.

I noticed this sauce's packaging stated that it was made with D.O.P. cheese, which means Protected Designation of Origin, a label reserved for products that are produced and processed in their place of origin. According to La Cucina Italiana, this certification is commonly used for Grana Padano cheese, which is in this sauce.

This sauce was incredibly thick and gloopy coming out of the jar, which was a little unappealing. However, it smelled really good, unsurprisingly like cheese.

As for flavor, this sauce was very tangy and even a little sweet. Overall, it tasted good but was a little tangier than I would like.

I've purchased this Bertolli sauce, at $4.99 per 15-ounce jar, many times before, but I wasn't sure how it would hold up when compared with other Alfredos.

When I opened the jar, I noticed it smelled like cream and a little like black pepper. The consistency was just right, not too thick or thin, and the sauce had a light-cream color.

Overall, I enjoyed the buttery, creamy flavor with a bit of a tangy, cheesy taste. But despite smelling the black pepper, I couldn't really taste it or the other spices listed in the ingredients, like garlic powder.

It's a reliable choice and not too rich, but it could use a bit more seasoning to punch up the flavor.

Just about everyone is familiar with the Prego brand, and I've had this Alfredo many times before. It cost $2.79 for 14.5 ounces at my local grocery store.

Compared to the other sauces, this one was darker in color and almost had a pink tone to it.

This sauce's consistency was pretty thick, but not as goopy as the one from Botticelli.

Rather than a strong cream or cheese scent, I smelled a variety of spices when I gave this jarred Alfredo a sniff.

This sauce had a good flavor balance of cream, cheese, and spices (the ingredients include garlic and bay leaves), and it had an especially garlicky taste to it. However, I didn't taste much of the black pepper.

I've only tried the Rao's Alfredo once before as a treat. At $8.99 for 15 ounces, it's the most expensive Alfredo I found at the grocery store, so I had high expectations.

The first thing I noticed was that it had very similar ingredients to the other sauces, like light cream, water, butter, Parmesan, Romano cheese, and black pepper.

The sauce smelled cheesy and had a darker beige color. When I poured it into a pot, it had a very thin consistency and large pieces of cracked black pepper.

Though I wasn't thrilled about the thin consistency, this sauce made up for its shortcoming with its flavor.

It was creamy and cheesy with a good umami flavor, and I could taste the pieces of black pepper without it being overpowering.

This flavor was probably my favorite of the bunch, but I wished the sauce was thicker because it dripped off the noodles with every bite.

Of the eight sauces I tried, the only two I wouldn't buy again are the Kroger-brand Alfredo, which I thought was too bland, and the Botticelli version, which was a little too sweet and tangy for my liking. 

In terms of flavor alone, Rao's was the best. It was savory, cheesy, and delicious. But because of its thin consistency and high price tag, it fell just shy of being the best on the list.

With a low price, silky texture, and great flavor, the Classico sauce is my overall favorite. I plan to add it to my shopping list the next time I skip homemade Alfredo.