Napolina pasta sauce feedback thread; find out what MNers think about the latest range - NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

We asked 250 Mners with children to try the latest range of pasta sauces from Napolina – this is the thread for their feedback.

Napolina say “we are excited to launch a new range of No Added Sugar pasta sauces to complement our existing range of over 130 products including pasta, sauces, canned tomatoes, olive oil, pulses, pizzeria and balsamic vinegar. The sauces enable tasty and convenient meals to be created, whilst reducing ‘added sugar’ intake. Flavours are centred around Italian family classic meals and have been developed to appeal to parents and children alike.

All sauces have a smooth texture and are available in seven flavour variants:

~ Bolognese pasta sauce
~ Pasta sauce for Macaroni Cheese
~ Pasta sauce for Meatballs
~ Creamy Cheese and Tomato pasta sauce
~ Red Lasagne pasta sauce
~ White Lasagne pasta sauce
~ Tomato with Hidden Veg pasta sauce

Available in a 480g/500g jar for families of four or more (RRP £1.69), the sauces are perfect for creating Italian inspired family favourites on busy weekdays or leisurely weekends alike”.

Questions for testers

As a parent, what is the biggest tea-time challenge for you?
Would you say you are more aware of the ‘added sugar’ in food now than you were perhaps a year ago?
What is your top priority as a parent when choosing which products to purchase or meals to cook for your family?
From the ones you tried, which is your favourite flavour in the range? Which did your children like?
Would you use the products again? Why?
If it came up in conversation, would you recommend the sauces to a friend or family member?

Selected testers who add feedback as required will be entered into a prize draw where one winner will get a £300 John Lewis voucher.

Thanks and good luck
MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

We have now tried all of our sauces! We recieved macaroni cheese, red and white lasagne and sauce for meatballs. All were enjoyed. The macaroni cheese was well recieved, but the cooking instructions are woeful. It wasn't right at all, but the children enjoyed the taste. I also think that this jar is too small for a hungry family of four. The lasagne was tested by 3 adults and 4 children and led to clean plates all round. The white sauce was a particular hit with everyone! My fussy eater who has NEVER eaten lasagne before, ate the lot, except for the top. (He doesn't do melted cheese...) The sauce for meatballs was a slight disappointment. It was not smooth and there were visible bits of onion. This is a massive problem for my picky one and made an easy meal harder as I had to ensure there were no 'bits' in his portion. However, they all liked the sauce and ate lots.

As a parent, what is the biggest tea time challenge for you?

My kids seem to pride themselves on only eating things that the other one hates. Until this week, I had a repertoire of 4 meals. Now, while I wouldn't eat these sauces regularly (I follow slimming world and prefer to spend my syns on gin) they will be fab to keep in for the children.

Would you say you are more aware of the 'added sugar' in food now than you were perhaps a year ago?

I've never really been bothered about added sugar. I mostly cook from scratch and I tend to think a little bit of everything in moderation is ok. Having said that, I do buy the low sugar versions of things if they are offered so I'd buy these sauces over others!

What is your top priority as a parent when choosing which products to purchase or meals to cook for your family?

I'm looking for something healthy and filling that doesn't break the bank. Also, speed is good! I managed to make the pasta and meatballs and get it into the kids yesterday in about 35 mins, start to finish. Pretty good going!

From the ones you tried, which is your favourite flavour in the range?

Two votes for sauce for meatballs, two for macaroni cheese. I'm surprised- I thought the lasagne would be first! I'll definitely buy the White sauce again.

Would you use the products again? Why?

Yes, definitely. I like that they save time and my fussy eaters enjoyed them. I'd like to try the hidden veg and tomato and cheese ones too. I'm particularly interested in the hidden veg!

If it came up in conversation, would you recommend the sauces to a friend or family member?

Yes. I've already mentioned them to a few people!

Thank you for letting us take part in this taste test! We have all really enjoyed it and it's added some new meals to the repertoire!

As a parent, what is the biggest tea-time challenge for you?
Getting time to make and put tea on the table in time for us all to eat together before the chaos of homework bath and bed.

Would you say you are more aware of the ‘added sugar’ in food now than you were perhaps a year ago?
Absolutely. Going 'sugar free' seems to be the new trend and I do look at ingredients lists far more carefully if I will be feeding I to the children. However I am wary of replacing sugar with sweeteners, including the new Stevia plant based sweetener. I don't know if there is enough research into how good they are for us.

What is your top priority as a parent when choosing which products to purchase or meals to cook for your family?
balance - buying products which enable me to create a meal with a good mix of fruit veg, carbs and protein. However price and speed are high up in the priorities too.

From the ones you tried, which is your favourite flavour in the range? Which did your children like?
The cheese and tomato pasta sauce was a big favourite. I made it into a pasta bake with cheese on the top and both adults and children (almost 2 and 5) enjoyed it. Very useful as I had nothing in the house for lunch when the children's friends were over. I just pulled the jar out of the cupboard and everyone was happy. Very pleased with how well they were seasoned. I have grown accustomed to omitting salt from when the children were tiny but everyone commented on how much they liked the herbs and seasoning so I may well include more in my own cooking! I'm not certain it needed the sweetener personally. I never add sweeteners or sugar in my home made pasta sauces.
We also used two sauces for lasagne. A tomato pasta sauce and a white lasagne sauce. Both were smooth sauces which was a change for us as we usually used tinned tomatoes, chopped onions and mushrooms which adds texture. The kids loved the lasagne however and ate it all. It was much quicker than making my own, even though you still add mince, if only because I didn't need to make up a white sauce. My husband didn't like the lasagne however as he said other than the cooked mince, it tasted like a microwave ready meal. The smooth texture did put me off too.
We also had a jar of macaroni cheese but unfortunately the lid was loose on arrival and the button popped, so we didn't risk using it. I doubt I would have enjoyed replacing my home made macaroni cheese however as I have been refining it since home ec.

Would you use the products again? Why?
I would definitely buy the cheese and tomato pasta sauce again. As a quick, easy, tasty meal for all of us to enjoy on a night when I need something fast, it worked really well. I don't think I would use the lasagne sauces again as the smooth texture just didn't work for the adults.

If it came up in conversation, would you recommend the sauces to a friend or family member?
I like that these jars are trying to cut out unnecessary refined sugar and I think they are well seasoned and well prepared for quick sauce jars, so yes on the whole, if someone was asking about jars of sauce to use, I would recommend the napolina ones.

As a parent, what is the biggest tea-time challenge for you?
My youngest children are a toddler and a newborn, so the biggest challenge will be cooking quickly while still making sure meals are as healthy as possible (although DP has taken over all the cooking at the moment).

Would you say you are more aware of the ‘added sugar’ in food now than you were perhaps a year ago?
No, I remember learning about sugar being added to pretty much all convenience food back when I was at school 20 years ago. I'm aware of the current campaign to reduce sugar intake.

What is your top priority as a parent when choosing which products to purchase or meals to cook for your family?
Value for money, and meals that can be prepared and cooked fairly quickly.

From the ones you tried, which is your favourite flavour in the range? Which did your children like?
We tried the meatball sauce, bolognaise sauce, macaroni cheese and white lasagne sauce. We all preferred the meatball and bolognaise sauces for flavour, but all four were good (although DS won't eat cheese or white sauce).

Would you use the products again? Why?
I'm not sure - the tomato-based sauces tasted good but I'm not convinced that adding sweeteners is a positive move. I might use the white sauces for convenience if I wasn't cooking for DS.

If it came up in conversation, would you recommend the sauces to a friend or family member?
I would recommend them for flavour and convenience but I would mention the sweeteners.

Tried the cheese and tomato sauce tonight and none of us were very keen It was a bit too rich, but also had an acidic taste, none of us finished it Definitely wouldn't be buying that one again!

As a parent, what is the biggest tea-time challenge for you?

Pleasing everyone. There's always someone who doesn't want what I'm cooking! Plus, I am vegetarian, while dh is not...

Would you say you are more aware of the ‘added sugar’ in food now than you were perhaps a year ago?

I have always been aware, but I'm more attentive now I've got kids to feed.

What is your top priority as a parent when choosing which products to purchase or meals to cook for your family?

Something quick and easy, but which is also healthy and appetizing.

From the ones you tried, which is your favourite flavour in the range? Which did your children like?

Macaroni cheese is a firm favourite in our house. The kids really enjoyed the creamy sauce.

Would you use the products again? Why?

If they were on offer, yes. We eat a lot of pasta, so it's often cheapest and best, but would look out for it.

If it came up in conversation, would you recommend the sauces to a friend or family member?

Yes I would recommend the sauces to someone if it came up in a conversation

Thanks for the opportunity!

As a parent, what is the biggest tea-time challenge for you?
Finding something that everyone agrees on or can be adapted to suit everyone (e.g. doing peas and carrots with it for 2, peas only for 1 and carrots only for 1) second challenge is making something and getting it eaten in time before activities, the eating part is especially hard if they aren't fussed on the meal
Would you say you are more aware of the ‘added sugar’ in food now than you were perhaps a year ago?
Always been aware and always tried to get low sugar / no sugar options or make myself. I'm more aware of possible problems with sweeteners now though
What is your top priority as a parent when choosing which products to purchase or meals to cook for your family?
I can make one meal and please everyone, and it's healthy and filling
From the ones you tried, which is your favourite flavour in the range? Which did your children like?
Hidden veg sauce was everyone's favourite. The cheese and tomato sauce sounded odd to me but I tried to just think of it like tomato sauce and cheese on top and didn't pass my thoughts on to everyone else, adults all thought same so we served it to the kids who weren't impressed. They did give it a good try but ended up making beans on toast for everyone
Would you use the products again? Why?
Pasta - this was a lovely bonus and we really enjoyed it, I would buy this pasta again instead of our current pasta
Cheese and tomato - definitely not
Hidden veg - yes, I prefer homemade and would rather it had neither sugar nor sweeteners in it, but I would keep a jar in the cupboard for emergencies. We all enjoyed it and I think it would be a regular if they took out the sweeteners
Lasagna white sauce - no, if I'm going to the effort of making a lasagna then using that jar doesn't save much time/effort so I probably would just make from scratch. Tasted fine though, didn't really notice a difference
Macaroni cheese - I think the instructions on this really need to be updated. I had a lot of stress testing this, I have been checking all of the comments here about it, messaged a poster to ask how she did hers (because it was one of the few that went right!) looked on the napolina website. The instructions don't say how much pasta to use, whether to part cook it, fully cook it or use raw, and there needs to be measuring lines on jar if that is supposed to be used for the milk and water. We ate the end result but it was nothing special so I wouldn't buy again even though I know how to make it now (well, I know how I made it worked anyway, even if it's not the right way, who knows)
If it came up in conversation, would you recommend the sauces to a friend or family member?
Yes, I would recommend the hidden veg sauce but I would mention the sweeteners because I know a few people who are strongly against giving them to children. I wouldn't mention the other sauces at all because I think they didn't really suit us but I wouldn't want to put someone else off buying them. I may mention that we tried the macaroni and how I cooked it if they seem interested in the hidden veg sauce, in case they decide to try more from the range

Overall we are grateful to have been chosen, the kids loved giving their opinions and feeling that they would be heard by a big company, it made them feel really important. I am glad we got the chance to try some new meals, and it has given me a new pasta for all of the time and a new sauce for emergencies

As a parent, what is the biggest tea-time challenge for you?
Making healthy homemade dinners in a very short period between coming home from work and clubs etc the children attend.
Would you say you are more aware of the ‘added sugar’ in food now than you were perhaps a year ago?
No. I've always been aware since having children.
What is your top priority as a parent when choosing which products to purchase or meals to cook for your family?
I want meals to have as many natural healthy products as possible. I want my children to remember lovely homemade dinners when they look back on their childhood. They also need to be fills as I have 2 very hungry boys!
From the ones you tried, which is your favourite flavour in the range? Which did your children like?
The hidden veg pasta sauce was a big hit in our house. I used it when I was very time constricted and the boys liked the flavour (so did the adults). The boys also loved the macaroni cheese dinner. If I'm honest I thought it was ok (prefer homemade) but we would buy it again as a 'quick and easy' dinner. We did add cheddar cheese on the top.
Would you use the products again? Why.
Please see above. Hidden pasta and macaroni as they are very quick dinners and the children liked the taste.
If it came up in conversation, would you recommend the sauces to a friend or family member?
Yes although I would say add some extra cheese to the macaroni. I wouldn't recommend the lasagne sauces as homemade is just so much better and worth the effort.

Thank you so much for choosing us to test. We had great fun cooking together and my family certainly loved giving their opinion!

When will these sauces be available to buy in store? I looked in my local Sainsburys today and there were none of these available yet

As a parent, what is the biggest tea-time challenge for you?
Making something that all the children will eat.
Would you say you are more aware of the ‘added sugar’ in food now than you were perhaps a year ago? I am very conscious of added sugar and usually make sauces like this from scratch following recent research into the subject.
What is your top priority as a parent when choosing which products to purchase or meals to cook for your family? That they are healthy and tasty.
From the ones you tried, which is your favourite flavour in the range? Which did your children like?
Would you use the products again? Why? We had homemade meatballs stuffed with mozzarella with the meatball sauce and all loved it. Ds can be fussy about pasta sauces but there were clean plates all round.

If it came up in conversation, would you recommend the sauces to a friend or family member? Absolutely... Having a tasty good quality sauce in reserve for busy nights is a must and this is the nicest one I have tried to far!

Our biggest challenge is getting everyone to eat the same meal. It is a nightmare but at least with pasta, although a couple are fussy with sauces, we can at least have more if less the same. Then along came your sauces! We tried the meatball sauce first. Very tasty, not everyone had meat but at least had same sauce, and everyone agreed it was lovely.

My top priority, especially with the children, is to get them to eat well but healthily so having the reduced sugar in bought sauces is a bonus.

We have also had macaroni cheese and lasagne.

I know we can't eat pasta every meal but at least it can be the one main meal of the day where I know we can all eat the same, making my life a lot easier.

I would definitely be buying these sauces in the future and also will be recommending them to friends and family.

These days everyone seems to be in such a rush, children off out doing out of school activities etc that keeping a couple of these jars in the cupboard makes sense. I certainly don't believe that we would be harming our health or our children's health if we used ready made products now and again instead of cooking everything from scratch.

Biggest challenge is trying to think of varied nutritious meals that don't take too long to prepare and that everyone will eat.
Am quite conscious of added sugar in foods and tend to steer away from processed foods where a lot of sugar can be hidden.
Top priority is to look for nutritious food which is value for money and children will eat.
The children enjoyed the bolognaise sauce best although I thought it looked a little slimy and lacked any depth of flavour. I favoured the creamy tomato sauce but kids didn't like it! Wasn't too keen on the lasagne white sauce, I always make my own and though it wasn't "offensive" it just tasted a bit off compared to what we used to.
I'm not sure I would use again, truth is I make my own normally and although I'm keen to finding a ready made alternative that I could use from time to time I'm afraid it won't be any of these sauces. Saying all that we did have fun tasting them and the children feel very grown up being part of a "tasting experiment" so thank you for the opportunity.

We used the tomato and cheese pasta sauce today. After last nights lasagne disaster from ds I didn't have high hopes - he's not a cheese lover!

I reassured him that it's not a very cheesy sauce and gave half of his pasta to him without any sauce on. To my amazement he declared it to be the nicest sauce ever so it will definitely be bought again in this house for when I need a quick, safe and not too unhealthy tea!

It's a shame that it contains an artificial sweetener - I don't add any to my home made pasta sauces, but at least it's not aspartame.

As a parent what is biggest tea time challenge? - getting all my kids to eat same meals & more veg !

Would you say you are more aware of tea added sugar in food than you were perhaps a year ago ? No , I've always been conscientious of sugary foods & try to eat fresh because it tastes better without sugar

What is your top priority as a parent when choosing which products to purchase for a meal to cook for your family? - I like to purchase foods to cook that's easy & can mix or go with vegetables. Also try to avoid 'lumpy' foods because kids always seem to dislike if they see lumpy sauces!

From the ones you tried which is your favourite flavour in the range -which did your children like ?
We tried Macronci cheese sauce , white lasagne sauce, bolognaise sauce & creamy cheese & tomato sauce .
All sauces were found to be easy to cook - we had macronci cheese which we found bit bland & kids disliked it but still ate it ! With white sauce & bolognaise sauce made a beef & chopped carrots to make a lasagne -everyone loved it , it didnot take long to cook .we usually don't like white sauce & often use creme friache but the white sauce was surprisingly nice -not too creamy .
With cheese & tomato sauce -we used the pasta for pasta bake -added bacon to it - kids loved it & said this was their favourite!

Would you use products again -why ? I'd probably use the tomato & cheese sauce again because everyone cleared their plate !
If it came up in conservation would you recommend the sauces to a friend or family member?

Yes I would if they were concerned with the sugar intake in foods & easy to cook in short time but I'd would go to say tothem it does still taste sweet because it has sweetenters instead of full sugar .& leave them to decide themselves.

We were very happy to get chosen as pasta is a regular weekly meal here on a Monday when life is very manic with after school activities. It was good to try some different sauces to the standard ones I do - bolognaise, Mac n cheese and tomato and basil (home made in bulk then frozen).

As a parent, what is the biggest tea-time challenge for you?

Quick tasty meals that are on the table 30 minutes after getting in. Wide age range of children (plus their friends!) from 6 - 18. Minimal washing up is always a winner!

Would you say you are more aware of the ‘added sugar’ in food now than you were perhaps a year ago?
Yes, there has been a lot more in the media about it. Am more aware how many grams equals a teaspoon of sugar and choose accordingly.

What is your top priority as a parent when choosing which products to purchase or meals to cook for your family?
Ingredients (need to be recognisable!), no nasties like lots of sugar, sat fat etc. Taste - no good cooking it to be left on plates. If it counts towards the 5 a day that's a plus point too.

From the ones you tried, which is your favourite flavour in the range?

My favourite was, surprisingly, the meatball sauce. Was sceptical as easy to knock up your own but was tasty and fast.

Which did your children like?
All of them! We had macaroni cheese, meatball, red lasagne and white lasagne.

Would you use the products again?
Definitely. I will keep a couple of jars in the cupboard.

Why?
Super convenient, affordable, nothing on the ingredients list that worried me and ALL of my children cleared their plates.

If it came up in conversation, would you recommend the sauces to a friend or family member?
Yes, I would recommend it to other busy mum's. I like to cook from scratch but not to the exclusion of convenience. These felt like a nourishing meal that reduced prep time and was tasty.

Macaroni cheese sauce - kids loved this, personally it was too bland for me. Next time I would sauté some mushrooms and bacon for extra flavour. Loved the convenience of not precook ing the pasta and only one dish to wash.

Meatball sauce - this was delicious. Felt lazy not making my own tomato sauce but will definitely keep a jar of this in the cupboard.

Lasagne sauces - everyone enjoyed this. Would never usually cook a lasagne mid week when working and kids are at school so felt like a treat. Really quick and simple. Will use these again too.

Overall, will keep a couple of these jars in the cupboard. They are quick and tasty. Easy to prepare so my 17 year old could confidently prep them if I was working late. Probably will use them about twice a month.

Thanks for the samples :)

The 'hidden vegetable sauce' was the biggest hit. The kids all commented on my pasta sauce tasting better than usual and I was pleased that the sauce had hidden vegetables as I usually have to blitz the vegetables to hide them myself in the pasta, so this was a time saver. The jar size was better for us too. Many thanks

As a parent, what is the biggest tea-time challenge for you? making nutritious tea quickly on a weekday

Would you say you are more aware of the ‘added sugar’ in food now than you were perhaps a year ago? YES
What is your top priority as a parent when choosing which products to purchase or meals to cook for your family? cost/size/ingredients
From the ones you tried, which is your favourite flavour in the range? Hidden veg Which did your children like? Hidden veg
Would you use the products again? Why? Yes - definitely the hidden veg
If it came up in conversation, would you recommend the sauces to a friend or family member? Already have done.

As a parent, what is the biggest tea-time challenge for you?
I find the biggest challenge is finding a new and exciting meal. A lot of the time I feel sick of eating the same things. We include our 11 month old in all our meals so we also try to eat things with little salt and sugar and lots of vegetables.

Would you say you are more aware of the ‘added sugar’ in food now than you were perhaps a year ago?
Yes. Before our daughter was born i never bothered checking labels. The thought of sugar content never crossed my mind. Whereas now sugar and salt are always on my mind when choosing meals.

What is your top priority as a parent when choosing which products to purchase or meals to cook for your family?
My top priorities are that the meal is balanced and fairly healthy, and also that it's not too time consuming. Alot of the time I'm surviving of little sleep so come 5/6pm (teatime) I'm way too tired to spend hours cooking.

From the ones you tried, which is your favourite flavour in the range? Which did your children like?
I was sent the bolognese, creamy tomato and cheese, macaroni cheese and white lasagne sauce.
The bolognese was our favourite. It was really tasty and the best jar sauce we have ever had. We very rarely use jar sauces mainly because of the sugar and other contents but I'm so glad we tried this. My 11 month old had 2 servings of it! We also really really really enjoyed the tomato and cheese and will defo be buying both of these in the future. The macaroni and white sauce were also nice but as I said the bolognese and tomato were the family fave!

Would you use the products again? Why?
Yes absolutely. I have always had a issue with jar sauces and thought they are full of Rubbish and tasted bland so we never buy them.
Now we have tried these and I've looked at what's in them I would have no problem feeding them to my family. The ingredients are fine and they are really tasty.My husbands already asked when we will next be having the bolognese!

If it came up in conversation, would you recommend the sauces to a friend or family member?
Yes. I have already mentioned them to a few of my friends.

as a parent what is the biggest teatime challenge for you

My biggest challenge is having enough to go round! With teenagers you never know what or when they've eaten! But the jars did all seem to stretch well. I felt reassured knowing the jars were there for our busiest days when I need to cook quickly

Would you say you are more aware of the ‘added sugar’ in food now than you were perhaps a year ago?

No. I've always been aware of the sugar content. I low carb myself but realise it's not for everyone so like to look for a 'happy medium'

What is your top priority as a parent when choosing which products to purchase or meals to cook for your family?

Top priority has to be that it will be eaten and not wasted. With teenagers there's never waste, but I sometimes have to leave their meal to be reheated later, so that's a consideration too

From the ones you tried, which is your favourite flavour in the range?

Favourite of mine was the bolognese sauce. Great taste and versatile. Kids loved the Mac cheese!

Would you use products again -why ? I probably will use them again,yes! The lasagne sauce was great. Never used a jar before! Def buy that one

f it came up in conversation, would you recommend the sauces to a friend or family member?

yes. Already have done. I know a few people trying to cut the sugar, this makes a great start. Thank you napolina and mumsnet!

We've now tried the macaroni cheese sauce and I agree with the previous posters that the cooking instructions were inadequate - no quantity of macaroni and should I have pre cooked the pasta or used it raw? The instructions about the water/milk are misleading as 320ml of liquid does not fill the jar as stated. I used a measuring jug but other pasta bakes just want you to fill the jar which makes life easier.

However, with lots of extra cheese in the sauce it tasted good and not floury and was demolished by the fussy teenagers.

I may buy this again as I do use pasta bakes occasionally but I would recommend looking at the instructions.

As a parent, what is the biggest tea-time challenge for you?
The biggest challenge is finding the time, I enjoy cooking but by tea-time the children are after their food whilst also being clingy and not wanting me to leave them to actually go and make it!

Would you say you are more aware of the ‘added sugar’ in food now than you were perhaps a year ago?
No, I have been aware of added sugar in things from a young age. I must say though that I don't want added sweeteners in the food I give my children either!

What is your top priority as a parent when choosing which products to purchase or meals to cook for your family?
Meals that can be prepared and cooked quickly, also healthier choices. I'm not keen on added sweeteners and wouldn't necessarily conclude that this was a good thing for children to be having.

From the ones you tried, which is your favourite flavour in the range? Which did your children like?
We tried the meatball sauce, cheese and tomato sauce, and white lasagne sauce, of which we received two.

I was not keen on the meatball sauce (artificial taste), and the children didn't eat much of it either, saying they preferred home made. The cheese and tomato sauce was edible, but not great, I would eat it if we had nothing else in. The white lasagne sauce was nice and was eaten and enjoyed by all.

Would you use the products again? Why?
I may do. I was not comfortable with the sweeteners added, and thought they affected the taste as well.

If it came up in conversation, would you recommend the sauces to a friend or family member?
Probably not due to the added sweeteners.

Most difficult part of teatime is finding a meal we can enjoy together as a family.
Really pleased napolina has launched this range as reducing salt is so important. I have 3 children under 5, so this is always on my mind when choosing meals or snacks. Especially as my eldest child has to be careful how much salt she has due to a medical condition.
I was sent the tomato with hidden veg (which was my favourite), macaroni cheese, creamy cheese and tomato, and white lasagne. I would have liked to try the red lasagne suce as well so I could have tasted the overall reduction in salt. The children seemed to like them all. I thought that the taste wasn't affected by the reduction in salt, if anything they tasted better.
Thanks very much for choosing me to participate in this trial, it has

I forgot to mention that yes I would buy them as I found it difficult to find many low salt products until recently, and I would indeed recommend them to others.
It has opened up more options to me for meal times, especially as I do not need to cook everything from scratch now.
Thanks again

We are a family of 4. Daughter (9) is good with veg but doesn't like meat much. Son (6) is rubbish at eating veg. We eat a lot of pasta and also use pasta sauce to make pizzas.

As a parent, what is the biggest tea-time challenge for you?
Meals that everyone will eat or can adapt slightly individually to please each person. Nutritious meals quickly.

Would you say you are more aware of the ‘added sugar’ in food now than you were perhaps a year ago? Yes

What is your top priority as a parent when choosing which products to purchase or meals to cook for your family? Balance of price & quality.

From the ones you tried, which is your favourite flavour in the range? Which did your children like?

Macaroni cheese - Kids liked it after being unsure of jar cheese sauce. Said better than ready meal macaroni cheese but not as good as school dinners but I think that's to do with baking longer. I found it acceptable but prefer to make my own.

Cheesy Tomato - Kids really liked this but found very rich so didn't each as much as usual which to me isn't a good thing. Son also had some on chicken as doesn't like curry sauce so I have to take some chicken out for him to have in separate sauce as won't eat in bare either. Personally I found it tasted sweet & powdery and didn't like the taste as the cheesiness felt very fake.

Meatballs - We all enjoyed this but felt need to add extra vegetable so may as well use passata or can of chopped tomatoes. However I am interested to try the hidden veg one for on meatballs for ease & speed & good way to get more veg into my picky son. I would possibly use this for making pizza.

White Lasagne - did not try this as not everyone will eat lasagne and is an all or nothing kind of meal i.e. not adaptable to suit individual tastes. Also would have required me buying or making a tomato sauce or using the meatballs one but as meatballs a common meal in our house, we tried as intended.

Would you use the products again? Why? I might buy the macaroni cheese one again as a stand by and would like to try the hidden veg one. However probably only on special offer as usually pay about £1 for named brands on offer which seems to happen regularly and slightly less for own brands so £1.69 is more than I would spend as not significantly better than the others.

If it came up in conversation, would you recommend the sauces to a friend or family member? Not something we discuss much.

Finally tested all four, so here's what we thought:

As a parent, what is the biggest tea-time challenge for you?

Definitely finding something everyone will eat. DS1 has a very limited diet and is very wary of new foods so almost every teatime is a struggle. Also trying not to make the same meals over and over again for DH, seem to get stuck in a food rut very easily.

Would you say you are more aware of the ‘added sugar’ in food now than you were perhaps a year ago?

Not particularly, I think that a balanced diet is the key and not cutting out entire food groups. As long as the DC are eating a reasonable diet I don;t really worry about their sugar intake. I would much rather see added sugar than sweeteners

What is your top priority as a parent when choosing which products to purchase or meals to cook for your family?

That everyone will eat and enjoy them and they are reasonably healthy.

From the ones you tried, which is your favourite flavour in the range? Which did your children like?

I'm afraid the jars didn't go down very well.

The cheesy tomato I would say was the most well received and both DD and DS2 eat most of the meal. I found it had a strange, tangy, sweet taste that I did;t particularly enjoy. If something is no added sugar I'd prefer if it didn't taste sweet.

Macaroni cheese, this wasn't overly successful with the DCs but DH quite enjoyed it. I added more liquid than stated on the pack and it was still quite dry. I would have preferred more flavour.

White lasagne sauce, I found this not too bad as a substitute for homemade if I was in a rush or too pushed for time to make my own.

Bolognese, again there is the tangy sweet taste that I don't particularly enjoy but made a decent bolognese.

Would you use the products again? Why?

Perhaps the lasagne if I was pushed for time.

If it came up in conversation, would you recommend the sauces to a friend or family member?

If they were on a reduced sugar diet then possibly yes.