Pesto and pasta is the ultimate cheap dinner, and now Which? has narrowed down the exact jar that will give customers the most bang for their buck.

There are plenty of pesto options on the shelves, from supermarket own-brand versions that are more affordable to branded favourites.

To see how the cheaper supermarket own-brand pestos stacked up against branded pestos, Which? tested 10 jars of the herby sauce from Ocado, Aldi, Lidl, Morrisons, Tesco, and more, and compared them to premium pestos.

The consumer champion recruited 71 testers to blind-taste the pestos – and Filippo Berrio’s Classic Pesto was named the winning sauce, followed closely behind by an Ocado own-brand jar.

Filippo Berrio’s pesto, which costs £2.80 for a 190g jar, clinched the Best Buy title with testers saying it ‘wowed’ them with its ‘lovely aroma’ and satisfying basil flavour.

They also said it had the perfect consistency, which was not too coarse or fine. Two-thirds of testers said they enjoyed the premium pesto as it had the right level of saltiness and an appealing colour.

Despite being the second most expensive jar of pesto that Which? tested, Filippo Berrio’s Classic Pesto achieved the highest overall score.

Coming up a close second was Ocado’s Classic Green Pesto, which was also named a Best Buy and, priced at £1.10 for 190g, was given the Great Value title too.

Most testers were pleased with the strength of the basil flavour and level of saltiness, as well as with the thickness and consistency of the sauce.

Thanks to its budget-friendly price, Which? added that it is an ‘excellent choice to stock up on if pesto is often on the menu’.

Aldi’s Cucina Basil Pesto rounded up the top three best pestos and was a real crowd-pleaser, particularly with its tiny 99p per 190g price tag.

The budget offering looked and smelled appealing, according to testers, and the texture was neither too coarse nor too fine.

They also praised the strength of the basil flavour and salt levels were largely satisfying, although around a third of testers said it could use ‘a shake or two more salt, though’.

Asda Green Pesto received a generally good rating, but was not an outstanding sauce, testers thought.

Just like the Aldi pesto, it also costs only 99p per 190g jar, but lost out when it came to flavour as around a third of tasters found it wasn’t salty enough.

However, it was found to be generally good in looks and aroma, and around two-thirds liked its thickness and consistency.

Falling behind Asda’s offering was the most expensive pesto tested, which was the Classic Basil Pesto by pesto brand Sacla.

Costing £3.35 for 190g, this premium pesto is widely available and was generally well-liked for its vibrant colour, balanced salt levels and fresh basil flavour.

Testers were also impressed by its smooth texture and satisfying thickness when it came to the sauce consistency.

However, it simply did not have as good an aroma as some of the better-rated pestos. This, combined with the higher price point, knocked it down the list.

Finally, at the bottom of the top five list, was Lidl’s Baresa Green Pesto, which was priced at 99p for 190g.

Lidl’s offering didn’t look quite as appealing as the other top-rated pestos, with more than half of the testers saying it looked too pale.

However, it had a pleasing thickness and consistency that helped keep it above the rest of the jars.

Nearly two-thirds thought it had a good level of salt, and a similar proportion said they enjoyed the strength of the basil flavour.

The other pesto jars that didn’t make it into the top half of the list came from Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and M&S.

Tesco’s Green Pesto (99p for 190g) scored the highest among the lower-ranking products, with testers saying it had good looks and aroma, as well as a nice consistency – but the basil flavour was actually too strong.

Meanwhile, Morrisons Green Pesto (99p for 190g) was appealing in looks, consistency and thickness, but also had an overpowering flavour of basil and was not salty enough for many testers.

Sainsbury’s Green Pesto (99p for 190g) was declared ‘rather bland’ with an only ‘OK’ consistency. Testers said it could be much improved with more salt and a stronger basil flavour.

Languishing at the bottom was M&S Green Pesto (£1.40 for 190g). While it had a pleasant consistency, more than half of the testers said it lacked salt and the basil flavour was too weak.