This footy finals season, tomato sauce brands such as Heinz, Rosella and MasterFoods are going head-to-head to score the top spot on your next meat pie.

In this taste test, the Good Food team tackled 10 of the most popular tomato sauce products available in major supermarkets.

We were looking for a rich, smooth and complex sauce with a balance of salt, acidity and sweetness: the perfect complementary condiment for meat pies and sausage rolls in stadiums and pubs across Australia.

Each sauce was tasted by at least three Good Food Guide reviewers, who scored out of 10. Scores were then averaged. They are presented here in ascending order.

12. Pop’s tomato sauce

$3.50 for 600ml

Pop’s tomato sauce is an old-school tomato sauce with a loyal fan base. It contains the greatest percentage of (Australian) tomatoes, so why does it taste so unpleasant? It’s like watered down, uncooked tomato paste – gluggy, bitter and blergh.

3.25/10

11. Woolworths tomato sauce

$1.95 for 500ml

A largely inoffensive addition to the line-up. Woolies sauce has a biting acidity, but little else – making it neither too sweet, nor too sour, nor particularly memorable. A watery but acceptable (and affordable!) choice, if you’re in a pinch.

4.5/10

10. Rosella tomato sauce (squeezy)

$3.75 for 500ml

It’s sweet, it’s sour, and it’s … fine? The flavour of the Australian-grown tomatoes shines through, but there’s no real bite to back them up. It doesn’t taste as though it has one of the highest salt contents of all the sauces on the list – though it does.

5/10

9. Beerenberg tomato sauce

$4.50 for 300ml

Is it tomato sauce? Or glorified chutney? Maybe it’s more like a tomato relish? Beerenberg’s addition goes heavy on chunky onion and sweet apple puree, so the end product doesn’t have the vinegary kick it should. “I can smell the sweetness straight out of the bottle,” says Good Food Guide co-editor Callan Boys.

6/10

8. OzeSauce tomato sauce

$4 for 500ml

“It tastes like overcooked hot dogs and sad soggy chips from a bowling alley, but in the best way,” Good Food Guide co-editor David Matthews says. OzeSauce has a nostalgic appeal, but little balance. It’s sharp and salty, pushing the flavour of tomatoes further into the background.

6.25/10

7. MasterFoods tomato sauce

$3.80 for 500ml

A tomato sauce for those who prefer their condiments to whisper, rather than shout. It is thick, darker in colour and sweeter than most (though not necessarily in a bad way). “It’s got that classic flavour … not particularly complex, but it would be exceptional with some mini frankfurts,” says Good Food app editor Erina Starkey.

6.5/10

6. Heinz pickle ketchup

$4 for 500ml

If the thought of downing the briny remnants of a pickle jar sounds appealing, this is the tomato sauce for you. It does what it says on the label, bringing a strong dill-spiked acidity to the table, like a punchier version of the burger sauce at Maccas. We’re not against it.

6.8/10

5. Colway tomato sauce (Aldi)

$1.89 for 500ml

The label said tomato sauce, but there’s an unexpectedly savoury aftertaste. A quick review of the ingredients list reveals the inclusion of worcestershire sauce – a positive for some reviewers, and an unpleasant surprise for others. “It feels like cheating, but there’s nothing wrong with that,” says Matthews.

7/10

4. Heinz tomato ketchup

$5 for 500ml

Presented in a strong (and potentially messy) squeezy bottle, Heinz is a popular and powerful choice. Its bold, salty flavour is so quintessentially “tomato sauce” that Boys finds it difficult to find the right words: “It’s like trying to describe the colour blue,” he says. “I’d squeeze it on a hot dog, put it on a burger, or mix it up in a burger sauce with mayo and mustard.”

7.5/10

3. Coles tomato sauce

$1.95 for 500ml

If there was a definitive tomato sauce flavour, one that has been stamped onto our collective taste buds since childhood, one we could give to overseas visitors wanting the true Aussie experience – it would be this one. Coles tomato sauce has a notably high sugar content, but it doesn’t taste overwhelmingly sweet. Rather, it’s punchy, viscous and unabashedly bright red. Best for sausage sizzles and shepherd’s pies.

8/10

2. Fountain tomato sauce

$2.40 for 500ml

An immediately recognisable tomato sauce flavour to most reviewers, Fountain has moderate levels of salt and sugar, allowing the ripe tomato flavour to hit home. A great all-rounder and an affordable crowd-pleaser. It is now owned by Kraft Heinz, but with a local connection, having started production in Sydney’s Surry Hills in 1906.

8.5/10

1. Rosella organic tomato sauce

$4.50 for 250ml

An absolute crowd favourite, Rosella’s organic sauce takes the familiar flavours of tomato sauce and enhances them with a lingering acidity and depth of flavour. “It’s a sauce I’d want to have more of, one which could become more of a main event,” Matthews says. Boys recommends this one on hot chips: “I don’t think tomato sauce and chips are great together … it’s often too sweet and too sharp, but this has a bit of depth I think would work well.”

9/10