GO! Pesto™ - How Much Pesto For Pasta - Pesto Per Person (2024)

GO! Pesto™ - How Much Pesto For Pasta - Pesto Per Person (1)

Short answer
We recommend 50 grams of pesto per person if serving as a simple pasta dish. Our accountant recommends more.

Long answer
In Italy, you'll find that chefs use just enough pesto to coat the pasta, and they certainly don’t allow the dish to drown in it. As a very rough guide, your pesto should weigh about 2/3 the weight of the dried pasta you are cooking. So, for a standard, single serving of 75g of dried pasta, we think that 50g of pesto is about right.

Naturally, everyone’s tastes are different, so you’ll have to adjust the quantities up or down depending on who you are cooking for. It also greatly depends on what other ingredients you are serving your pasta with. If you're making a dish with chunks of chicken breast, for example, you’ll want to add a little more pesto to ensure the meat is as well coated as the pasta.

Bear in mind that you will (or we at least hope you will) be adding some extra liquid to your sauce in the form of some of the starchy water that the pasta cooked in.

This water is not only incredibly flavourful, but it also acts as an emulsifier and thickener that enables you to create a silky, luxuriously smooth, restaurant-quality sauce. It also helps your jar of pesto go that little bit further.

Approximate pesto-to-pasta ratio in grams
Note: 190g is the standard size jar for pesto in the UK, and that's perfect for feeding four adults. Likewise, for a standard 500g bag of dried pasta, we recommend using about 335g of pesto.

ServingsDried pastaPesto
175g50g
2150g100g
3225g150g
4300g200g
5375g250g
6450g300g
7525g350g
8600g400g
9675g450g
10750g500g

Approximate pesto-to-pasta ratio in pounds and ounces

Servings

Dried pastaPesto
12 oz1.3 oz
24 oz2.6 oz
36 oz4 oz
48 oz5.4 oz
510 oz6.6 oz
612 oz8 oz
714oz9.3 oz
816oz (1lb)10.6 oz
918 oz11.9 oz
1020 oz13.2 oz

A note on using spoon or cup sizes to measure pesto and pasta
We have purposely omitted a chart showing recommended cup sizes for two key reasons. Firstly, shapes that don't fit into a regular cup (e.g. spaghetti) simply can't be measured in the usual way. Secondly, tiny, compact pasta shapes like orzo can weigh up to twice as much as cylindrical shapes like penne, where much of the physical space is taken up by pockets of air.

GO! Pesto™ - How Much Pesto For Pasta - Pesto Per Person (2024)

FAQs

GO! Pesto™ - How Much Pesto For Pasta - Pesto Per Person? ›

How much pesto per person? You can add 2 to 4 tablespoons of pesto per portion of pasta (2.1 to 3.5 ounces or 60 to 100 grams), depending on your taste and diet.

How much pesto for pasta per person? ›

How much pesto per person? You can add 2 to 4 tablespoons of pesto per portion of pasta (2.1 to 3.5 ounces or 60 to 100 grams), depending on your taste and diet.

How much pesto sauce for 16 oz of pasta? ›

For pesto sauces, use about one jar of 5.6-ounce sauce for a 16-ounce package of pasta. The amount of pesto sauce needed for pasta per person would be about . 75 ounces of sauce for each 2 ounce (about 1 cup cooked) serving of pasta.

What is one serving of pesto? ›

Because it's made with olive oil, nuts, and cheese, classic pesto can contribute a fair amount of fat and calories to your diet. A 1/4-cup (63-gram) serving provides ( 1 ): Calories: 263. Protein: 6 grams.

How much penne per person? ›

As with all dried pasta shapes, you should allow between 75g-100g of penne per person if serving as a main course. If you're using fresh penne, allow between 100g-125g per serving. Halve these amounts if you're serving pasta as a first course, which is how Italians prefer to eat their most beloved export.

How much pasta portion per person? ›

Typically, Italian guidelines recommend the following quantities of uncooked pasta per person: 60-100g of dried pasta. 70-120g of fresh pasta. 100-130g of gnocchi.

How do you calculate pasta per person? ›

Measuring Pasta

When you cook pasta, 2 ounces (56 g) of dry pasta per person is a good rule of thumb to follow. What does 2 ounces (56 g) of dry pasta look like?

How much sauce for 1 lb of pasta? ›

An average ratio of tomato sauce to pasta is 1 1/2 cups of sauce to 1 pound of pasta. For oil-based sauces, use 1 cup per 1 pound of pasta. Go even lighter with creamy, rich sauces. Typically, we like the ratio of one jar of our sauce to 1 pound (or package) of our pasta.

How much does 16 oz of pasta feed? ›

For long pastas like spaghetti, angel hair, linguini, and fettuccini, your best bet is to hold the pasta on end to measure it. Two ounces of dry pasta is approximately 2/3 of an inch across, or one serving. A 16 ounce box of these shapes will have eight servings.

Do you heat pesto for pasta? ›

PESTO SHOULD NEVER BE “COOKED”. If you cook Pesto Sauce, you change the make up of the fresh basil and cause it to turn darker in color. It is best to warm it up and use it at room temperature. If it needs to be thinned out, you can do so by adding a little water, chicken stock, cream or white wine.

What is the best pasta with pesto? ›

Pesto Sauce

This fresh and fragrant pasta sauce is served uncooked, so choose a pasta shape that won't overwhelm it. Similar to oil-based sauces, pesto is served best with longer cuts of pasta, like the corkscrew shape of Fusilli. Pesto works best with Bucatini, Capellini, thinner Spaghettini, and Fettuccine.

Is pesto healthier than alfredo? ›

It has a pretty high sodium content unless you make it from scratch, but both versions have an added protein boost. Alfredo sauce is based on cream and cheese as its two primary ingredients. Neither sauce is going to win a health competition, but pesto is the superior option for that reason.

How much pasta water to add to pesto? ›

Cook your pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water according to the package directions. Before draining the pasta, reserve some of the starchy pasta water. Then, add 1/4 cup of this pasta water back into the pot with your pesto, and stir to thin the pesto.

How much is 2 portions of penne pasta? ›

Measuring Penne Pasta

If you are using measuring cups, a single 2 oz. (57 g) serving is 3/4 cup of dried pasta. Two servings = 1 1/2 cups; four servings = 3 cups; six servings = 4 1/2 cups; eight servings = 6 cups.

How much pasta sauce per person? ›

When calculating how much sauce for pasta per person, generally about 2 to 4 ounces (1/4 to 1/2 cup) of sauce for each 2 ounce (about 1 cup cooked) serving of pasta would be needed. For pesto sauces, use about one jar of 5.6-ounce sauce for a 16-ounce package of pasta.

How much pesto should you eat? ›

No matter which tummy trouble you're experiencing, you should take 1 dose of Pepto Bismol every half hour to hour until you feel better, but do not take more than 8 doses in a 24-hour period.

How to use pesto from a jar? ›

What are some ways to use pesto sauce? Other than pairing it with pasta, pesto sauce is a great way to add flavoring to soups, dips, or vegetables. Add pesto sauce as a condiment on sandwiches or use it to make compound butter. Finally, adding pesto to scrambled eggs introduces bold flavoring to this simple dish.

How much pasta do I need for 4 adults? ›

When you cook pasta, 2 ounces of dry pasta per person is a good rule of thumb to follow.

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