Nonna Tonda review

Nonna Tonda recipe choices

There’s no real choice on Nonna Tonda – it helps if you’re not a fussy eater! There are two pastas on the menu each week – one meat/fish, one vegetarian. Depending on your dietary choice and portion size, you’ll either get the meat/fish option, the vegetarian option, or both. You can also choose to add an antipasti selection to your order, which also changes subtly weekly.

The simplicity will be a positive or limitation for different people. The lack of choice makes it incredibly simple and takes out hours of indecision scrolling through lots of recipes. However, if you’re a fussy eater or one week the recipe doesn’t interest you as much, you have no other options to try.

Is Nonna Tonda healthy?

As a pasta subscription service, this isn’t going to be the healthiest dinner option – depending how you define healthy. There’s likely to be cheese and butter involved! However, ingredients used are seasonal British where possible, or sourced from carefully chosen suppliers in Italy for specialist ingredients.

It is not possible to filter dietary requirements beyond vegetarian, e.g. cannot pick vegan or gluten-free options due to the lack of choice model.

How many recipes do you get with Nonna Tonda?

You can choose between two, four or six portions of pasta delivered each week. If you choose two portions, you’ll get one recipe per week. If you choose four portions, you can choose to get all four portions of the same recipe or try both the recipes on offer that week. If you’re adding antipasti to your order, you just choose portion size and again whether to go meat or vegetarian.

What are the first impressions of the delivery? How much packaging is there?

We were impressed by how compact our delivery was, deceptively containing two pastas to serve two and two antipasti selections in a cardboard box. Each pasta, cheese and sauce comes in a sleek cardboard box so it is clear which elements go together. A lot of the packaging is recyclable and reusable – we kept the resealable bags that our ciabatta and pasta came in to use again!

What do you get in a Nonna Tonda box?

A Nonna Tonda box contains a bag of pasta, a bag of sauce and a small plastic pot of cheese. Smart A5 recipe cards (with a picture of the finished dish on one side) come with each recipe and the antipasti, plus a general info card.

What are the delivery options?

Delivery days are determined by your postcode - fresh pasta is made in the morning and delivered to you that day. Delivery is free. If not ordering antipasti, the pasta delivery may well just fit through your letterbox.

Does it offer good value for money?

When ordering two portions, Nonna Tonda starts at £8.25 per portion. This reduces drastically when you order more – six portions is £5.83 per portion. This is the same for both meat and vegetarian options. You get 30% off your first two deliveries, reducing this to £4-5 per portion to start with.

This means Nonna Tonda is more expensive than a ready meal, but just about less than eating out for a bowl of pasta would be. It may feel expensive for pasta and would get expensive if doing regularly but works as a one-off, plus quality is high.

How easy are the recipes to make?

The recipes are super easy to make: simply boil the fresh pasta for 2-3 minutes, reheat your sauce (either in a frying pan or you could even do this in the microwave), combine and top with cheese and you’re done! Dinner can be on the table in 5 minutes. There is no real cooking involved in either of the recipes we tried.

Is there any food waste?

We received portions to serve two and didn’t experience any food waste – portions are generous but more than manageable! If your plans change, the bags of pasta and sauce keep in the fridge for two-three days and can even be frozen.

What are the finished recipes like?

We were really impressed by the finished results of our pasta. Spinach and ricotta ravioli had much more vegetable flavour than usual storebought tortellini and came with a sweet tomato sauce. We loved trying tender strozzapreti (a traditional Umbrian pasta shape that is hard to come by in supermarkets) with a rich beef ragu.

Our generous antipasti selection included ciabatta, salami, mozzarella, marinated green olives and herby smashed cannellini beans. The veggie option swapped out the salami for caponata (a Sicilian aubegine dip). This felt like a brilliant extra treat that elevated a simple pasta delivery. You could also easily save the antipasti for a weekend lunch and have the pasta for a midweek dinner.

How many people does Nonna Tonda serve?

You can choose to serve two, four or six people.

What utensils did you need?

All we used was a saucepan and warmed our sauce directly on our drained, hot pasta, although Nonna Tonda recommends reheating your sauce in a frying pan with a touch of pasta water for ultimate results. Cheese comes ready grated so no grater needed!

Who would the product be most useful for?

Busy working professionals who have an interest in food but lack the time (and perhaps skills) to shop and cook, but are willing to spend more on a good dinner.

What’s your favourite thing about Nonna Tonda?

The ease! Top-quality pasta on the table in minutes is perfect for a busy week, a date night if you’re not a confident cook or a Friday night treat instead of a takeaway.

Are there any cons of Nonna Tonda?

Some people may view the lack of recipe choice as a negative, as well as not being able to cover all dietary requirements. Customisation is not possible and portion size starts at two – but if you are looking to serve one then we can confirm the pasta works brilliantly as leftovers! Or you could cook half and freeze half.

What are the subscription terms?

There is flexibility built into a Nonna Tonda subscription. You can change your preferences until midday the day before each delivery and if you are on holiday, you can skip a delivery. To cancel your subscription, you’ll need to email or call.

Overall star ratings

Ease of cooking: 5/5

Quality of the finished recipes: 5/5

Packaging: 5/5

Quality of ingredients: 5/5

Value for money: 4/5