La salsa queda mejor con albahaca fresca que con menta.

The sauce turns out better with fresh basil than with mint.

Breakdown of La salsa queda mejor con albahaca fresca que con menta.

• con: with
• fresco: fresh
• mejor: better
• que: than

Questions & Answers about La salsa queda mejor con albahaca fresca que con menta.

What does queda mejor mean here?

Here quedar does not mean to stay or to remain. In cooking and similar contexts, quedar often means something like:

• to turn out
• to come out
• to work
• to taste / look / suit something better, depending on context

So La salsa queda mejor con albahaca fresca means the sauce turns out better or works better with fresh basil.

---

Why is quedar used instead of ser or estar?

Because quedar focuses on the result or how something comes out.

• es mejor = it is better, more general
• está mejor = it is better now / in its current state
• queda mejor = it turns out better / ends up better / works better in the final result

With food, clothes, decoration, and combinations of ingredients, quedar is very common in Spanish.

Examples:

• Este color queda mejor con negro.
• La tortilla queda mejor con cebolla.

So in this sentence, queda mejor suggests that the sauce is better when prepared or combined with fresh basil.

---