It’S Pasta Anytime Not Worth The Time

First came Chef Boyardee. Then came an ever-expanding line of pasta sauces in a jar. The latest entry in the pasta wars is It’s Pasta Anytime.

Classico earlier this year launched its line of single-serving pasta dishes that do not need to be refrigerated and cook in about 3 minutes in the microwave.

When you think about it, the concept isn’t much different from canned spaghetti, it’s just repackaged. And the taste isn’t that much better either, according to The Spokesman-Review Reader Food Panel.

We served up the most basic flavor It’s Pasta Anytime offers, Traditional Tomato Sauce. But the sauce baffled us because it doesn’t really taste like an Italian tomato sauce. Most panel members said it had an odd sweet taste to it.

Several tasters said that if they were looking for a quick pasta meal, they’d rather spend a few extra minutes cooking some noodles ahead of time and opening a jar of pasta sauce when the urge strikes.

Classico It’s Pasta Anytime with Traditional Tomato Sauce

Price: $2.79 for 15.25 ounces (1 serving)

Nutrition information per serving: 550 calories, 8 grams fat (13 percent fat calories), 890 milligrams sodium.

Taste: **

Value: **

Comments: “Noodles are OK, but that’s not saying much. A better sauce and more of it would have improved this not-stellar pasta.” - Mike Connelly

“Sauce tastes sweet-and-sour. A small portion is OK, but I wouldn’t want to make a meal of it.” - Larry Inman