What Exactly Is Trader Joe's Iconic 'Pink Sauce'?

Trader Joe's is a grocery store that inspires many questions. Why are Trader Joe's parking lots so small? Why are Trader Joe's bananas so popular? And what the heck is pink sauce? Trader Joe's iconic 'pink sauce,' or Rosatella pasta sauce, is served with the grocer's cheese-filled fiocchetti and in jarred form. The pasta sauce is quite popular online thanks to its photogenic rosy hue.

Let's be honest: Pink sauce sounds fun but also a little suspect. Given Trader Joe's track record of unique creations like vegan salmon dip and turkey and stuffing potato chips, it's not unreasonable to imagine Trader Joe's pink sauce could be something as strange as the mysteriously flavored TikTok pink sauce, which might not be what you want with your pasta.

Luckily, Trader Joe's pink sauce is actually quite simple. It's basically marinara sauce mixed with Alfredo sauce, which is satisfyingly logical. Marinara is also known as red sauce, Alfredo is also known as white sauce, and anyone who's taken an elementary school art class knows that red and white mixed makes pink.

Trader Joe's Rosatella pasta sauce contains a base of cream, milk, tomato paste, and Grana Padano PDO cheese. It looks a lot like vodka sauce, but the key difference is it does not contain vodka and leans more on cream than tomatoes. The pretty pink sauce offers a nice blend of rich cream, tart tomato, and savory cheesiness, ideal for mixing up with your favorite pasta for a quick and aesthetically pleasing weeknight dinner (especially with the addition of chicken sausage and extra veggies).

This all sounds great, but why is Rosatella sauce called pink sauce when it already has a perfectly lovely name? The inner workings of Trader Joe's naming practices are inscrutable, but my personal theory is that the term pink sauce was concocted for maximum social-media friendliness. It offers just the right amount of intrigue, leaving the reader wondering what it is. Honestly, I'd expect nothing less from the creator of Popcorn in a Pickle and Everything But The Bagel seasoning. At the end of the day, Trader Joe's Pink sauce isn't quite as mysterious as the name might suggest, but it's still a fun and tasty pasta topping to add to your weeknight rotation.