How to Select a Can of Crushed Tomatoes

I love crushed tomatoes. I eat them on toast with shaved pecorino romano. I eat them from the can. With a little doctoring they make a good pasta sauce and I never have to buy jarred sauce again.  (And believe you me, I have a long and public history with pasta sauce.)

There are two things to consider when buying a can of crushed tomatoes: price and number of ingredients. You want to pay the fewest cents and you want to eat the fewest different ingredients. Cook's Illustrated tested a lot of crushed tomatoes and decided they liked the can with the most chemicals and basil and every other thing. They also love the flavor of cottage cheese in lasagna, so Cook's Illustrated is no longer a publication I respect. Anyway.

The best crushed tomatoes I've found are Colavita. $1.50 at Key Food. I keep a can of this in the refrigerator so it's always cold and tasty.

For a survey of the junk they try to stick in the other brands, continue reading.

 Three preservatives? You must be kidding!

 This is acceptable, but costs more than Colavita.

 I also object to combining types of tomatoes into my can of crushed ones.

 I bet this is good. I'm not going to pay over $2 for this though. If someone wants to buy me a can, I'll try it and tell you what I think.

 I have my own basil. I don't need yours. Disgusting.

 They probably have a reason for putting tomato juice in this can, but I'm never going to find out what it is.

I don't mind citric acid instead of salt. I just don't want both.

 10% of your sodium allowance per serving? What a joke. This food is a joke! I have to go rinse my mouth out with Octagon soap now.