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

1. as a parent what is the biggest tea time challenge?
   *finding something that everyone likes to eat!

2. would you say you are more aware of "added sugar" in foods now more than a year ago?
   *I have been more aware and try and buy things which are lower added sugar or no sugar more.

3. what are your top priority as a parent when choosing which purchase or products or meals to cook for the family?
   *to make sure most of the products are healthy and we eat them as no point in buying food only to be wasted because its just a waste of money and food.

4. from the ones you have tried which is your favourite flavour in the range?
   *creamy cheese and tomato pasta.
   which one did the kids like most? again the creamy cheese and tomato it was all around favourite in this family.

5. would you use the products again?

• yes my children have already asked to have the cheese and tomato pasta again.

6. if it come up in conversation would you recommend the sauce to family friends other people?

• yes I would for quick easy and healthy meals as they are filling healthy and no added sugar to them.

thank you for letting us take part in this product test :-)

As a parent, what is the biggest tea-time challenge for you?
Finding something that all three children will enjoy, they have very different tastes.

Would you say you are more aware of the ‘added sugar’ in food now than you were perhaps a year ago?
No, I have always tried to give DC a balanced diet.

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

From the ones you tried, which is your favourite flavour in the range? Which did your children like?
The macaroni cheese was a big hit with everybody. The children did not like the Bolognese pasta sauce, they said it tasted different from the usual sauce, I thought it was fine. The sauce for meatballs had a mixed reaction, the two eldest (17 & 11) liked it but the youngest (5) didn't. I haven't tested the white lasagne sauce yet as I am waiting until I find the red sauce in the shop to try with it.

Would you use the products again? Why?
I would definitely use the macaroni sauce again because everybody liked it, I probably won't use the Bolognese or Meatball sauce due to the children not being keen. I will be looking for the red lasagne sauce so I can try that out with the white sauce I received and if I see the Creamy cheese and tomato sauce I may try that.

If it came up in conversation, would you recommend the sauces to a friend or family member?
I would recommend the macaroni but not the others.

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

Making something that everyone will enjoy gets increasingly more challenging as my children get older and are more inclined to refuse to eat certain foods. In addition, we work and kids are at afterschool so having something that we all enjoy that can be pre-prepared or is quick to cook is the ultimate quest.

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

Due to recent media advertising and celeb chat I know there is a lot of focus on sugar in foods but I wouldn't say it's an additional focus for me more than last year though I am very interested in ingredients and what we are all eating.

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

Ultimately it's something that we can all eat and enjoy together or at least finding something that can be tweaked with minimal effort to tick enough boxes for everyone. Beyond this I'm interested in what's in what we're eating and price in the supermarket.

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

We were given the bolognese sauce, white lasagne sauce, macaroni sauce and meatball sauce. The biggest hits were the tomato based sauces in particular the meatball sauce. This was given a total thumbs up with plates scraped clean. We had a little left over and when reheated later was declared to be even nicer. DH and I were pleasantly surprised by the taste.

Would you use the products again? Why?

I wouldn't use the macaroni sauce as the whole process was long and it would be quicker to just make the sauce from scratch which is a shame because the taste was alright. The tomato-based and white lasagne sauces I would definitely consider adding to the cupboard. I added the meatball sauce to the slow cooker with the meatballs in the morning which meant a tasty dinner waiting for us arriving home. The pasta took no time to cook. Win win.

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

Yes I'd recommend the meatball sauce but less likely to recommend the macaroni sauce for the reason above.

Now tried all the sauces so thought I would update my first feedback.

Used the hidden veg sauce as a pasta sauce and all kids liked it. Not a lot of hidden veg though would like it with a higher %!

The Mac cheese sauce was used as a lunch dish but tasted quite synthetic and not that cheesy! Added extra cheese and it was better.

The bolognaise sauce didn't taste any different to the sauce I make with passatta and garlic and I don't add sugar to that do not sure I'd buy that to be honest.

thanks for picking me - my sons enjoyed giving me their feedback! I've attached pictures of the macaroni cheese and lasagne I made.

as a parent, what is the biggest tea time challenge for you?
Cooking meals that my children will eat for a reasonable cost. Preparation time can also be an issue

would you say you're more aware of added sugar in food than perhaps a year ago?
Not really. I'm a bit about the whole sugar is the devil thing. I tend to avoid processed food, and if I'm eating cake or biscuits, well, I would expect them to have sugar in.

what is your top priority as a parent when choosing which products to purchase or meals to cook for your family?
Probably how tasty the food is is my top priority. I think cost and healthiness are probably joint second.

from the ones you tried, what is your favourite flavour in the range? Which did your children like?
i think the creamy cheese and tomato was my favourite. I added it to pasta and boiled broccoli for a very quick and cheap lunch. Both my boys enjoyed it.

would you use the products again? Why?
I'm not sure I would. I wouldn't expect tomato sauce to contain sugar, so was a bit surprised that was a selling point. Also, the tomato sauces
I was sent had a sweetener in, so they were still sweeter than my home made sauce would be.

I liked the idea of the macaroni cheese sauce, it made for a brilliantly easy meal. However, it didn't taste very cheesy, despite me stirring a load of extra grated cheddar in. It also didn't tell you how much pasta to use, so I ended up with a bit of a dry dish.

if it came up in conversation, would you recommend the sauces to a friend or family member?
Maybe, if speed when preparing a meal was their top priority. These sauces certainly make for fast preparation. Home made does taste better though, and I'm happier with the list of ingredient in my own pasta sauces. In general I'd rather eat sugar than a sweetener I've never heard of. I'd also rather my pasta sauce was not sweetened at all.

As a parent, what is the biggest tea-time challenge for you?
Finding something that will be quick to make but not sacrificing healthy, low fat and low sugar choices.
Would you say you are more aware of the ‘added sugar’ in food now than you were perhaps a year ago?
Yes definitely, there's been so much more media coverage.
What is your top priority as a parent when choosing which products to purchase or meals to cook for your family?
Difficult to say just one priority but I would probably say health- so making sure that it's balanced (veg, cards, protein etc)
From the ones you tried, which is your favourite flavour in the range? Which did your children like?
We all really loved the hidden veg tomato sauce which we had just with pasta. It was really tasty and nice and quick and easy to prepare.
Would you use the products again? Why?
Yes because it's handy to have in the cupboard something like these sauces for nights when I'm late getting back from work.
If it came up in conversation, would you recommend the sauces to a friend or family member?
Yes

As a parent, what is the biggest tea-time challenge for you?
A balanced, healthy, tasty meal that's quick to prepare and appeals to us all.
Would you say you are more aware of the ‘added sugar’ in food now than you were perhaps a year ago?
Due to all the press on this topic over the past year it's impossible not to be.
What is your top priority as a parent when choosing which products to purchase or meals to cook for your family?
Healthy balanced meals with no additives. Also some evenings we need something quick and tasty.
From the ones you tried, which is your favourite flavour in the range?
I liked the tomato sauce with hidden veg. I made it into a bolognese and feel it would be handy to keep a jar on standby as it could be adapted to many dishes
Which did your children like?
The macaroni cheese, clean plates all round and ds had second helpings!
Would you use the products again? Yes, definitely
Why?
They were all tasty and quick to prepare. I also liked the versatility of all the sauces.
If it came up in conversation, would you recommend the sauces to a friend or family member?
Yes, in fact I already have.

As a parent, what is the biggest tea-time challenge for you? Finding something that we can all eat.
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? Ease of cooking!
From the ones you tried, which is your favourite flavour in the range? Which did your children like? We haven't truly enjoyed these sauces, which was very unexpected and disappointing.
Would you use the products again? No Why? Nobody really enjoyed them, my pasta loving dd couldn't eat it.
If it came up in conversation, would you recommend the sauces to a friend or family member? No.

We tried 2 of the sauces (the macaroni cheese and the tomato and cheese one) and were so disappointed that we haven't used the other 2 yet. We do buy and use pasta sauces, and occasionally make our own sauces.

I had high hopes for these sauces as my ds is 13 and has dyspraxia, and will eat plain pasta with no sauce because he can't cope with lumpy sauces. He did try the tomato and cheese sauce and still gagged.

The rest of us eat pasta and sauces once or twice a week. I probably liked them the most. Dh and dd couldn't get on with them at all and could not finish their meal.

Maybe these would appeal more to younger children who cannot have other sauces.

Review number three from me.

This time I'm reviewing the cheese sauce for macaroni cheese. I have a confession to make...I hate macaroni cheese and completely went off piste with this one. When I make fish pie I always make it with a cheese sauce, so decided to use this Mac cheese sauce for that. Put the fish in the bottom of a dish, put the cheese sauce on top and then mashed potato on top of that. Then in the oven for 40 mins, couldn't have been easier.

End result? It was really nice. The sauce was gloopier than our usual, but as I didn't follow the instructions on the jar, that's probably my fault. But it was tasty and really simple. I would keep a jar of this in the cupboard for rush days.

We've just had the lasagne. It was much more successful than the macoroni cheese. I don't normally bother with lasagne as it's such a faff but this was easy. My only comment would be that the tomato sauce was too thick so I added some water.

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

For me it's having the time to cook. Being a working parent it's difficult turning around something that's filling and tasty for the kids

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

Yes definitely. A lot of products now say sugar free which is helpful when deciding on purchases

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

When it comes to meals my top priority is cost. Usually I make homemade sauces over the weekend but sometimes I do prefer something quick and easy

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

I haven't been able to try them all. The kids loved the macaroni cheese and lasagne

Would you use the products again? Why?
If it came up in conversation, would you recommend the sauces to a friend or family member?

Definately! The sauces are really tasty the kids kept asking for more! The size of the jars are good too and I really like the packaging

As a parent, what is the biggest tea-time challenge for you? Meeting everybody's likes and tastes while making meals healthy and enjoyable
Would you say you are more aware of the ‘added sugar’ in food now than you were perhaps a year ago? Yes it's becoming more and more evident and publised the badness of sugar
What is your top priority as a parent when choosing which products to purchase or meals to cook for your family? Sugar and salt content, fat type
From the ones you tried, which is your favourite flavour in the range? Meatball sauce
Which did your children like? Lasagne
Would you use the products again? Why? Yes due to the less sugar content and the kids loved it
If it came up in conversation, would you recommend the sauces to a friend or family member? Certainly

s a parent, what is the biggest tea-time challenge for you?
Cooking the dinner whilst managing behaviour and being avialable to interact with the kids.

Would you say you are more aware of the ‘added sugar’ in food now than you were perhaps a year ago?
More aware of the breadth of sugar added to a wide range of products.

What is your top priority as a parent when choosing which products to purchase or meals to cook for your family?
In order , taste, time , and (minimum) tidying.

From the ones you tried, which is your favourite flavour in the range? Which did your children like?
My favourite was the White lasagne sauce and smooth bolognese, with which I made a lasagna , which I haven't made in ages. It was really tasty.
The kids loved the creamy cheese and tomato, a close second was the macaroni cheese ,which was really easy to cook in the oven ( one pot).

Would you use the products again? Why?
They made a tasty alternative to dolmio sauces , I would use them again .

If it came up in conversation, would you recommend the sauces to a friend or family member
If it came up! I don't think I'll be starting a conversation about it , but if it came up I would recommend them!

We used our last jar, the hidden vegetable sauce, tonight, over meatballs and pasta. We really enjoyed this, and I think it was my second favourite, after the White lasagne sauce.

I maybe reduced it a bit too much (simmered the meatballs in it for 20 mins in a frying pan), but it tasted quite tomatoey and fresh. DD ate the meatballs (after I ducked off the sauce ), and DS demolished his, so it went down well.

Would definitely buy a jar of this for the cupboard.

The biggest problem is keeping everyone happy. We have a range of preferences so it is a matter of juggling.
Yes I am definitely more aware of added sugar.
The priority is to produce something filling, nutritious, widely appealing and preferably not requiring too long to prepare as the teenagers tend to be very hungry.
We liked the tomato based ones, less keen on the others. Might buy them as I always keep some sauces in. Not sure they are better, particularly the cheese ones, to others on the market.
Might mention if they were interested in low sugar sauces.

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

The biggest challenge is getting a healthy dinner made quickly.
Would you say you are more aware of the ‘added sugar’ in food now than you were perhaps a year ago?

No. I think I have always been aware of this.

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

Making sure they are reasonably healthy.

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

They enjoyed the lasagne. We got the white sauce to try and used the meatball sauce as we didn't get the lasagne sauce. It worked well and I was surprised by how well it worked.

We have also tried the macaroni cheese sauce which we didn't enjoy. The children didn't eat it and I thought sauce made from scratch tasted better. It also doesn't take any more time than the jarred sauce.

Would you use the products again? Why?
If it came up in conversation, would you recommend the sauces to a friend or family member?

I would use the lasagne one again and would recommend it to a friend. I wouldn't recommend the macaroni one. They seemed reasonable prices as well.

Hi Mumsnet, here are our thoughts as a family:

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

We always seem to eat the same thing so finding something that excites everyone (family of 5) is a challenge

Would you say you are more aware of the ‘added sugar’ in food now than you were perhaps a year ago?
Yes, definitely - especially with constant media portraying negatively re. sugar in diet. We believe in "everything in moderation" but I do worry about added sugar, not really about obesity but more about teeth condition. I think about the amount of sugar in everything.

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

Fresh, healthy, organic

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

Macaroni cheese was enjoyed by all

we made a lasagne with the white sauce and bolognese which we arll enjoyed.

Would you use the products again? Why?
yes, we enjoyed everything. And the pasta was good quality.

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

Yes, the fact they are reduced sugar is great.

Tested the meatball sauce yesterday - was a huge hit all round, would definitely recommend and buy if they got the sweetener aspect sorted.

I completed the additional survey today. However there was no where to say that I was not sent four useable jars. One was open and I did not receive a replacement. Therefore I only tried three varieties.

Used the white sauce in a lasagna a few days ago and also a white sauce is easy to make, was easier to just open a jar. Jo complaints from anyone who ate it (2 DC and one DP)
Will try the meatball sauce at some point

Firstly, I would NEVER add sugar to a homemade sauce, secondly though I can't remember the last time I did actually make a homemade sauce so I guess that's completely irrelevant

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

I struggle to make tasty, nutritious meals which my children will actually eat. It is also tricky to balance my cooking time with that needed to help with homework and keeping a beginning to get tired/grumpy toddler occupied!

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

Massively. I must admit until a year or so ago I was more concerned with salt content and making sure we all got our 5 a day. There has been a lot of media coverage on sugar recently as well as a glut of new no/low sugar products available.

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

I try hard to balance nutrition and low salt, sugar, fat, within meals they will actually eat. I've learnt the hard way that the most perfectly balanced meal has no nutritional value to the bin!

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

I was really impressed with these sauces. We tried the macaroni cheese first, a small bit of feedback for Napolina would be to include instructions on how much pasta to use for the jar. I worked it out by using the serves 4 information on the jar and the fact that the pasta supplied had six 75g portions, so 4 x 75g = 300g pasta. This worked really well and the resulting dish was delicious.
Next I used the red and white lasagne sauces and made a roasted vegetable and red lentil lasagne. This again was beautiful, I had a friend for dinner and she (without any prompting or knowledge of the trial) remarked how authentic the tomato sauce was.
Lastly we have just had the creamy cheese & tomato sauce for dinner, we all went swimming this afternoon and (as usual) completely forgot to think about dinner planning before we left. We were all starving so I literally cooked some pasta, heated sauce and stirred through a bag of microwaved veg from the freezer. Served with garlic bread, took less that 20 minutes to get on the table and definitely another winner as 4 cleared plates.

As for a favourite, for me probably the macaroni cheese and for the children creamy cheese and tomato.

Would you use the products again? Why?

Yes definitely, as I said I wouldn't add sugar to a homemade sauce but the reality is more often than not I will reach for a jar so having a sugar free version in the cupboard is brilliant. The things I'd usually look for are no added artificial flavours, colours or preservatives and these sauces tick all those boxes with the added bonus of no added sugar.

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

Yes I would, it's such a current subject at the moment that I'm sure I will at some point. My friend who enjoyed the lasagne with us is already a convert.

Thank you for this trial, very much enjoyed all 4 sauces.

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

For me biggest challenge is to cook tasty, healthy meal that everybody will enjoy preferably in as short time as possible.

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

Well.After my son got lot of cavities and enormous amount of fillings I search for sugar everywhere.would like to add that I didn't feed junk before and tried to choose healthy food as much as possible,spending more money and buying brands naively believing that this will be enough.Now I check not only sugar content but also hidden sugar.as there are 56 other suagr names like: barley malt,dextrose,corn syrup,maltodextrin, lactose, etc. That's why sugar is everywhere. To be honest sometimes I just don't get it why you need to use sugar in most products when homemade tastes perfectly fine if not even better without sugar.

What is your top priority as a parent when choosing which products to purchase or meals to cook for your family?
I try to cook from scratch with fresh ingredients, try to buy organic, but prices are so high that it is not always possible. I love tasty and simple to make dishes as with very active and bossy toddler I don't have hours to spend in cooking.

From the ones you tried, which is your favourite flavour in the range? Which did your children like?
I liked all sauces they were so delicious and come so handy as I felt so run down that didn't have energy to cook everything from scratch.They added flavour to my simple dishes. My son liked hidden veggies sauce, toddler enjoyed pasta and husband was impressed with Lasagne sauce which I used to bake cannelloni stuffed with minced pork onions and garlic.He told that it was best ever dish and it really tasted so good.

Would you use the products again? Why?

Yes. I eve tried to buy those jars in shop but couldn't find them.I avoid jars but time from time for peace of mind it is good to have something stored in cupboard. There are times when I am just so tired and fed up with everything that cooking is last thing I want to do.Sauce jar with quick meal is cheaper than take away, tastes great and probably is even healthier.I was bit concerned about added stevia,as I never used it but I read in lot of healthy eating and living blogs that people are using it as stevia is better than sugar.Thank you for choosing me.We enjoyed every bit of this yummy test.

If it came up in conversation, would you recommend the sauces to a friend or family member?
Yes.I would. I really enjoyed sauces,they tasted lovely, ingredients list were quite simple and I loved glass jars. They are so lovely shaped that I need to admit that I converted sauce jars in my herb and tea jars.Looks lovely.

We were lucky enough to be selected to try these sauces and were sent the following -
~ Bolognese pasta sauce
~ Pasta sauce for Macaroni Cheese
~ White Lasagne pasta sauce
~ Tomato with Hidden Veg pasta sauce
and some pasta too.

Our whole family (3 children) love pasta but they do have differing favourites, 2 of them love cheese sauces, the other one only tomato.

I made a lasagne with the bologna series sauce and white lasagne sauce first. They really enjoyed it but my husband said the sauce wasn't quite avarice as the regular sauce we had, but we all agreed we could forgo that for the reduced sugar option as it was still yummy.

I made macaroni cheese and added some Parmesan and cauliflower to this and it was a huge hit, no one noticed any different and I would definitely buy this again.

The only one my children weren't over keen on was the tomato sauce with hidden veggies, they don't have a problem eating veggies so I don't particularly look for a sauce with hidden ones but thought this would be an added bonus. The children said it was a bit "boring", other comments they made were "not as tasty" "tomato soup on pasta"

Although I would avoid the hidden veggie one I wouldn't hesitate to buy the others we tried, the fact Napolina have focused on decreasing sugar is important to me, whilst I limit sweets etc, sugar is hidden in so many things sometimes you don't realise just how much you're feeding your family.

Thanks for letting us be a part of this taste test Napolina!

Also - the Macaroni Cheese. Doesn't state how much pasta to use nor whether this should be dry pasta or cooked. Pretty unhelpful!

My last review. We only had the White lasagne sauce left to try so that's what I've made this morning. We're going out this afternoon so we'll be eating it for dinner tonight when Dh gets in from work, but dc and I have had a taste so can review it now!

I have to admit, I often cheat when making lasagne and use a ready made cheese sauce, usually Sainsburys or Asda fresh cheese sauce. I've never used a ready made 'white' sauce before. When I opened the jar and had a sniff, I wasn't initially impressed. It smelled almost chemical and seemed very thin.

I used the sauce as directed, although I did sprinkle some black pepper into it, and I have to say that the finished result was delish! The White sauce had a lovely smooth, rich, almost smoky flavour. I'd definitely use it again.

Many thanks Napolina, we've really enjoyed trying and reviewing these sauces.