Those in need of a quick, cheap, and minimal-ingredient midweek meal might find pastawith a simple tomato sauce their best bet. But which shop offers the best one?

One reporter who typically cooks with just a few basic ingredients - garlic, tinned tomatoes, tomato puree and dried herbs - has expanded their horizons to store-bought sauces. When a low-effort dinner is needed, a supermarket jar of sauce can be a lifesaver. Despite its simplicity, there can be a lot of variation in a tomato pasta sauce and finding one that's as tasty as it is convenient could set you up for many more satisfying midweek meals. The writer at the Liverpool Echo put four supermarket pastasauces to the test to see which would make it into the weekly shopping basket.

Lidl - 65p/500g

Lidl's sauce was very smooth, so if that's your preference, this is the one for you, according to the tester. However, they highlighted that a bit of texture is needed in a sauce to prevent it from tasting overly processed.

"I found that, combined with it being quite sweet, the Lidl pasta sauce was a bit too much like ketchup and not close enough to tasting homemade," they shared. Though the sauce redeems itself somewhat with its fuller taste, with the basil being a noticeable and welcome component.

5/10

Aldi - 65p/500g

According to the tester, Aldi's sauce tasted significantly fresher and more like real tomatoes than the Lidl sauce, despite both having a tomato content of 74%. This could be attributed to the generous seasoning with marjoram, oregano, garlic puree (as opposed to powder), and parsley.

It also had a less smooth texture, giving it a slightly more homemade feel with small chunks of tomato noticeable. Aldi's sauce wasn't the winner on taste alone, but taking price into consideration, it was one of the best sauces.

7/10

Sainsbury's - 65p/500g

Sainsbury's sauce turned out to be quite sweet, but much more flavourful than Lidl's version, which balanced it out. Unlike the Lidl and Aldi sauces, Sainsbury's sauce reportedly has real onions (6%) as opposed to just a bit of onion powder.

The tester indicated that the sweet and oniony taste was a bit more like a salsa than something they would want on pasta, though they clarified that they tend not to add onion to a simple tomato sauce unless making a Bolognese. Value-wise, Sainsbury's sauce was deemed to match Aldi and Lidl.

6/10

M&S - £2.20/340g

The M&S sauce was by far the favourite, though unfortunately, it is also the most expensive. The sauce was found to have a delightful homemade quality, with carrots and celery in the mix - something the other sauces lacked. It also boasted a well-balanced amount of onion and garlic, adding plenty of flavour without being too strong.

The sauce wasn't lumpy and reportedly spread evenly over pasta, maintaining a thick consistency akin to a sauce made from scratch. It sported a lovely orange-red hue with herbs visible throughout.

However, the price is a downside, making it a less sustainable choice. The tester wrote: "For a quite simple sauce, I could have made my own for half the price." They concluded by saying it was the only sauce of the four they liked enough to purchase again.

8/10