Tomato sauce is a classic, and Alfredo is both silky and luxurious, but nothing brightens up a bowl like a warm smattering of pesto. A satisfying mix of basil, garlic, crushed pine nuts, parmesan, and olive oil, it’s a simple sauce packed with flavors both salty and herbaceous.
While there are as many different places to purchase this sauce as there are ways to make it, Costco has a surprisingly affordable pesto made of high-quality ingredients. if you haven’t already, meet Kirkland’s Signature Basil Pesto. One of the biggest green flags for this sauce is that it’s made with fresh ingredients such as 100% certified imported Genovese basil. Italian Genovese basil is peppery and fragrant and tastes especially good in pesto. While other pesto brands can stay out on the pantry shelf until opened, Kirkland’s pick has to stay refrigerated to keep those additions fresh.
Costco members on Reddit are big fans of the taste. As one pre-made sauce convert said, “I have been anti-store-bought pesto for pretty much my entire life, but I recently bought theirs in the refrigerated section near the meat because it looked good. Life-changing, in my opinion.” Clearly some customers are impressed with this sauce, but how does it compare to others?
How Costoco’s pesto stacks up to other brands
To see how Kirkland’s Signature Basil Pesto stacks up against the competition, let’s compare it to some other store-bought pesto brands. While Kirkland’s pesto comes from Genovese basil, other popular brands like Rao’s don’t specify what kind of basil is inside their sauce. This means any variety of basil across the spectrum of peppery or sweet could be inside. Other sauces, such as Barilla’s creamy pesto sauce, claim to use Genovese basil, but they don’t come with the certification label that Costco has.
Rao’s pesto also comes from a cheese blend, while Costco strictly uses parmesan. The term parmesan is vague, so it could come from anywhere, while Barilla’s pesto is made with Parmigiano Reggiano, which means it comes from Italy.
Ingredients aside, Kirkland’s pesto seems to have slightly more fat and calories than other options. (Although pesto is usually full of healthy fats.) For example, Cento’s organic pesto sauce has 230 calories per serving, while Costco has 330 calories. Kirkland pesto, like most other store-bought sauces, also has 630 milligrams of sodium. If nutrition is important to you, you might want to consider making pesto at home. Otherwise, Kirkland’s pesto is one of the most well-rounded options out there in terms of quality, nutrition, and price. If you like it, try Costco’s impressive vanilla extract next.
