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.