What is the Correct Ratio of Sauce to Pasta?

Many people wonder how much sauce to use when cooking pasta. 

For tomato-based sauces, a good rule of thumb to follow is to use one jar of 24-ounce pasta sauce for every 16-ounce package of pasta. 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. 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.