Life is full of pasta-bilities! Whether we’re talking about spaghetti, penne or linguine, there’s a type of pasta out there for everyone, including the fussiest of eaters. Naturally, our survey found that the majority of Australians (70%) always keep dried pasta in the cupboard, while nearly half (48%) eat it at least once a week. Obviously, pasta is near and dear to our hearts but with so many brands to choose from it can get tricky. So, which brands were rated ‘tortellini awesome’ and which didn’t ‘pasta the test’? Canstar Blue compares the top brands to find the king of carbs.
Canstar Blue surveyed 1,846 Australians for their feedback on the dried pasta brand(s) they’ve purchased and consumed within the last three months. Note: this refers to dried pasta purchased from a supermarket or grocer.
Respondents rate their satisfaction with their dried pasta brand(s) from zero to ten, where zero is extremely dissatisfied and ten is extremely satisfied. Brand satisfaction was rated by respondents on the following criteria:
The winning brand is the one that receives the highest Overall satisfaction rating once all the scores from the Overall satisfaction criteria are combined and averaged.
Brands must have received at least 30 responses to be included, so not all brands available in the market have been compared in this survey. The brands rated in this survey are listed below in order of best overall satisfaction.
1. San Remo & Vetta
2. Barilla
3. ALDI Remano
4. Zafarelli
5. Coles
6. Woolworths
7. Macro Organics
San Remo and Vetta served up a double-sized win in our ratings, with both brands rating five stars for taste, texture, and overall satisfaction. San Remo scored an additional five stars for variety and range, and Vetta for packaging. Additionally, Barilla rated well for taste and texture, while ALDI brand Remano took home the only win for value for money.
Find more detailed information on our ratings methodology.
San Remo is an Australian pasta brand with an authentically Italian history. Established in 1936, it was one of the first brands to helm the growing popularity of dried pasta in Australian supermarkets. Since then, it’s grown with Australian tastes to offer pasta in all shapes, sizes and forms.
Some San Remo dried pasta products on offer include:
You can find San Remo dried pasta products in most major supermarkets and grocers in the pasta aisle. Prices start around $1.90 for a 250g packet of egg pasta and around $2.95 for a regular 500g packet of dried spaghetti.
Vetta pasta is all about combining traditional pasta-making processes with modern-day healthy ingredients. For example, Vetta’s SMART Protein pasta has 24g of protein per serving and 25% fewer carbs, while maintaining that pasta flavour everyone loves. Vetta offers pasta in traditional shapes and sizes, and with added fibre. Vetta also has a Rural Aid pasta range, which donates 10c of every pasta purchased to Rural Aid initiatives, so you can feel good about eating carbs.
Vetta dried pasta products include:
You can find Vetta dried pasta products in most major supermarkets and grocers in the pasta aisle. Prices start around $2.50 for a 750g packet of dried penne pasta.
This will depend on what you’re dishing up. Pasta can be organised into different categories, including long and short pasta, tubes and stuffed pasta, soup pasta, and other special shapes, of which there are different varieties (i.e. wheat, whole grain, gluten-free, etc).
As a general rule, thin pasta is best served with light, wine-based sauces, while thicker pasta can be coupled with heavier tomato-based sauces, for example. Flat pasta usually goes best with cream sauces, while round and tube pasta tend to work with just about anything.
Pasta La Vista!
Megan is Canstar Blue’s Home & Lifestyle Editor, leading the team that focuses on consumer products and services, ranging from supermarkets and groceries to home and personal appliances and retail stores. She interprets Canstar Blue’s bespoke research on the thousands of brands that we compare, rate and review, to help shoppers make better purchasing decisions.
Samantha Howse is Canstar Blue’s Consumer Research Specialist, coordinating the consumer research program behind our customer satisfaction awards across Canstar and Canstar Blue in Australia and New Zealand. Sam has earned a Bachelor of Business (Marketing) from Griffith University and, with seven years in market research and 2 years in marketing, she is experienced in survey design, implementation and analysis, coupled with an understanding of marketing principles and best practice.
Picture credits: Nitr/ Shutterstock.com, Timolina/ Shutterstock.com.
Here are the previous winners of Canstar Blue’s dried pasta review:
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Purchase restrictions were initially put in place to cope with the onslaught of shoppers panic buying essential items …
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