Is Homemade Pesto Better Than Store-Bought? (2024)

FAQs

Is Homemade Pesto Better Than Store-Bought? ›

Homemade basil pesto is a wonderfully versatile and tasty sauce/spread made from a handful of flavorful ingredients. It comes together in minutes and tastes worlds better than store-bought because it's so fresh. (Just like with lemon curd, store-bought pesto is nothing like real, FRESHLY made pesto!)

Both homemade and shop-bought pesto sauces have their advantages. If convenience is your top priority, then store-bought pesto is right for you, but if freshness is your main concern, then nothing can compete with making pesto yourself.

Overall, I would say it's definitely worth a try if you have a food processor. The taste was much more different from packaged pesto than I thought it would be – fresher, earthier, and nuttier.

It's traditionally made with fresh basil, olive oil, and a few other ingredients, though it's easy to make at home and customize to your taste. As long as you don't have allergies, the ingredients used to make pesto are generally good for you.

You'll want to be mindful of the sodium content. Some jars have more than 500mg per serving and the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines recommend you eat no more than 2,300mg per day. It would be hard to stay within those guidelines if you get more than 20% of your sodium from pesto.

The most common reason for pesto tasting bitter is that the olive oil is past its best and has started to turn rancid. If the pesto has been made in a food processor or blender, there's also the possibility that it has turned bitter from the crude, sheering action of the blades.

FAQ: How Long Does Homemade Pesto Last? You can store this basil pesto in a jar or sealable container, then tightly seal and refrigerate for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 2–3 months. Let it thaw at room temperature or in the refrigerator.

You might not like it (for some people the basil has a too strong taste): You might be allergic to nuts (real pesto genovese contains pine nuts, cheaper commercial versions might contain cashew nuts, etc). You might be a vegan (in which case the pecorino sardo and the parmigiano reggiano cheeses don't work for you).

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.

There is nothing wrong with your water. The reason pesto (and guacamole) turns brown is because of a chemical reaction the cut basil has from being exposed to air.

What do Italians eat pesto with? ›

Italian Tradition

It can be mixed into tomato sauce to enhance the flavor of pasta dishes or used with fish fillets to make them more appetizing. There are other versions of pesto with variations in the ingredients, but these are not part of the Ligurian tradition.

Add a pinch of salt if the basil tastes too bitter or the pesto needs more zing. Add more Parmesan if you'd like a creamier/cheesier pesto. If desired, you can thin out the pesto with more olive oil.

The weeds in the garden can contribute to this delicious pesto that provides nourishing phyto-nutrients to support our liver health. This pesto goes well on crackers, in pasta dishes, or with vegetable sticks.

Almost all the jarred pestos you find in the supermarket will have been pasteurised to not only ensure that they can last a long time unopened, but so they are perfectly safe to eat straight from the jar. There is no need to heat pesto, although too many people do.

As you would expect, pesto's wider variety of ingredients means it does slightly better in the vitamin and mineral stakes. Pesto outsmarts tomato sauce in many of these, but the pasta sauce still provides a sizeable chunk of your recommended daily targets.

While some foods scream ultra processed (ready meals, doughnuts, cookies, we're looking at you), others are much more surprising – and often marketed as healthy options. Energy bars, pesto, almond milk and protein drinks are all ultra processed foods, to name a few.

Any variety of herbs, cheese, nuts, and other robust ingredients can be pounded in the same way to make a pesto with local flavor, just as people in Genoa used their abundant basil to make theirs. There are dozens of local variations of pesto that you can find across Italy today—more than we could possibly list.

The best store bought pesto is herby, garlicky, and nutty. It should be oily, but not too oily. The best jarred pesto doesn't need to have cheese—but if it does have cheese, there should be a lot of cheese. Most importantly, the best jarred pesto shouldn't have a weird, funky twang.

2 Potential Downsides

First, since traditional pesto contains nuts, someone with a nut allergy must avoid traditionally prepared recipes. Luckily, there's an easy workaround using recipes without nuts. Second, store-bought pesto may or may not contain extras you may not want to eat.

You can customize to your tastes by swapping onions for shallots, grated parmesan for shredded asiago, or a sprinkle of fresh herbs. Heat the mixture with al dente pasta, and you'll have a gourmet meal in minutes.