Pesto is my favorite, and it’s been so hard finding a replacement that doesn’t load up on cheese. I’m definitely making it again. Our plant-based version skips the cheese, but is similarly packed with basil and full of flavor. Great idea to add a small amount of water, it was creamy and easy to stir into pasta. This looks great and i will return to pesto more often now. Hmm, if referring to toasted sesame oil, we don’t think the flavors would be complimentary. It's cozy, creamy, cheesy, and earthy. Also, I am allergic to garlic, what can I use in place of it? Oh my! Our FREE 49-Page Fan Favorites e-Book has 20 recipes we think you’ll LOVE! The tastiest sauce in my life. I’ll be returning to this recipe again – many thanks!! Turned out great! I used the pesto as a sandwich spread. I whip this up pretty much every time I have enough fresh basil grown in my garden. It turned out deöicious. I made this with your pasta recipe the other night. It’s recioes like this that motivate you to keep eating healthy and don’t make you miss all the junk food. I haven’t comfortably eaten pesto in well over a decade. Love the strong garlic and I added a little extra lemon and salt. So yummy, we loved this!!! We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Zelda! I’d add it to taste or roast before adding. I toasted my pine nuts lightly (just to make them a tad bit less bitter) and added some sun-dried tomatoes to brighten it up. We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Karla! I am not vegan but can’t have dairy so this is just perfect. Thanks for sharing, Ingvild! We are so glad you enjoyed this recipe, Shelly! Thankyou. Any chance that last photo is some sort of spiralized veggie noodle? xoxo! And it’s always a winner!! Mix the pine nuts, salt, pepper, garlic, and lemon juice in the blender and blend until smooth. Love, love, love this recipe. So good!!! Thanks for sharing, Rebecca! Forgive me I did not measure any of the ingredients out carefully but added by eye!! Loved the recipe! I made some modifications to accommodate what we had on hand. I have a sensitivity to citrus, anything you could recommend in place of the lemon to add acidity and brightness? Hope that helps! I add 3 T olive oil, 1 T lemon and 5 or 6 T water depending on how much basil I have on hand. OMG! Yum- sounds delicious! This is so good. I’m 60 and have been making traditional pesto for years, but this is my new favorite pesto. Thanks so much for the lovely review, Caley. Thanks so much for sharing, Joan! Season to taste. Will definitely recreate this soon! Any idea what the shelf life would be? Just do it. I would swap the basil for coriander 1:1. :). Maybe okay with untoasted, but we haven’t tried it and can’t guarantee results. Delicious as is. Make it too sweet? PS. Thanks so much for the lovely review and for sharing your modifications! Do you recall the quantity of white beans you used? Why? Will be making this often! Yum!! Served it over pasta with roasted broccoli and mushrooms. We certainly weren’t suggesting anyone not take a B12 supplement. I added extra lemon because I didn’t think it was worth saving the extra from a whole lemon. Hi May. I made it as is and served it over spaghetti squash with some sundried tomatoes on top. So if you want a vibrant green pesto sauce try sticking with the pine nuts or maybe pumpkin seeds instead. I used pecans instead of pine nuts. It was perfect! Thanks for sharing, Sian :) So glad you enjoy it! Hi, looking forward to trying this! Thanks! It’s super helpful for us and other readers. So glad I tried it and thank you for such an amazing and healthy recipe!!!!! I really wanted pesto for dinner but only had parsley and walnuts so modified this recipe a little. If we are meal prepping should we put the pesto on right before eating? It’s thought that it may have evolved from a 13th century garlic-based sauce called aggiadda or from the tradition of using aromatic herbs in the Middle Ages. Nutritional yeast for pesto! For that cheesy color and flavor, I rely on nutritional yeast, which is a man-made yeast that can be high in B12 (depending on the brand). Will definitely make again. Yummy! I also used a mix of walnuts and almonds and served your vegan parmesan cheese on top. This looks great! While I didn’t have any basil, I followed your recipe using 2 bunches of Italian parsley and 1 bunch of cilantro. I made it to pour onto courgetti which was delicious. Thank you for this and all the fantastic recipes you share with us, your devoted following! Smart! I’ll be eating it with pasta tomorrow for lunch. Xo. It’s soooo good! Here’s a simple vegan pesto recipe. Hi! Hahha. This is a must try! I’ve tried various brands. I make this with a tweak I picked up from Dana’s Super Green Vegan Kale Pesto and put in an extra cup of fresh parsely. Can I sub pecans in place of pine nuts? I’ll be making this again. Really added some oomph to a pasta dinner. Thanks you so much for your AWESOME recepies, the convertion to metric is the best, I am a Norwegian and not used to all the cups and stuff Great recipe! Check out this tutorial! What about using pumpkin seeds rather than pine nuts? Do I use two small packs of basil leaves or large? Thanks so much for sharing! We are so glad you and your husband enjoyed it! I tweaked it slightly by leaving out the raw garlic and the water; used walnuts instead of pine nuts; and added a very generous bunch of parsley to the mix…scrumptious! We don’t give medical advice on this site. omg i think i ate it in 1 minute!! I love this vegan pesto recipe! That is just pasta in the last photo, but if you’re looking for a good spiralizer, look no further! Love your recipe – don’t even miss the parmesan! It was hard to not eat the leftovers with a spoon! Using Bragg right now. Subbed for walnuts and the flavor was unreal. So easy to make and makes me happy after picking the basil from my garden! I will try it and let you know. Great color! FABULOUS! So I made the mistake of promising my 3-year-old something and for those in the know, you can’t go back on a promise to a 3-year-old without them scorching the earth… She loves pesto and I had promised to make her some for her lunch at daycare, forgetting that it is a nut-free facility. STEP 2. Bill Bradley @ MediterraneanLiving.com Thank you. We’re so glad everyone enjoyed it, Samantha! Lovely! Thanks for the great recipe! The nutritional yeast adds creaminess and a great taste, plus it’s Vitamin B12 Highly recommend. Thanks for sharing! We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Marj! For future reference, you can find the weight measurements for our recipes by clicking “metric” beneath the ingredient header. do you use yeast flakes? Will definitely make again. I roasted the pine nuts before using, soo good! It’s super helpful for us and other readers. Classic basil pesto (or pesto alla genovese) is made in a mortar and pestle and typically contains: basil, pine nuts, olive oil, parmesan, garlic, and salt. Yay!! Can’t wait to use as a sauce on my butternut squash pizza (if I don’t eat it all first). This is a great recipe. Thank you! We are so glad you enjoyed it! I believe it grows naturally on beets, but don’t quote me on that. Never would I have imagined this could taste this great without any oil. So good! Hm, we’ve never tried aquafaba in pesto, but maybe? I used walnuts, omitted the oil and used 5 tbsp of water instead. This is delicious! I will definitely be making it again. Can I make this without the nutritional Yeast? We will definitely be turning this recipe into a weekly thing. Hi! I will definitely make it again. And a huge thank you for adding the weight measurements in grams! I like the cayenne suggestion someone made. I can’t believe this is my first time making this! Make a vegan pesto to add to pasta, pizzas, salads and sandwiches. We don’t like it! Now that I have all the ingredients on hand, this will be so easy to make when I want it in the future again. You could try garlic-infused olive oil if that is tolerated. I did as the directions said except I only used 2T water and 1T olive oil. To get started, you’ll want to combine these ingredients in a food processor or … Thanks for the inspiration! I love this pesto, I tried half walnuts and half tahini and is reaaly amazing! I’ve been using it similarly to your chimichurri portobello recipe and it’s divine! Putting this on everything I can and will be growing some basil plants as well! I halved the recipe, for 2 people and served it with wholemeal spaghetti, the mix itself has a great balance of acidity! After that, pour into ice cube molds, freeze, and store up to 1 month or more. I am always grateful for a meal that my entire family eats and uses the ingredients already in my fridge. If you try this recipe, let us know! I just made this and it is absolutely amazing! There are not substitutions that really mimic the flavor of nutritional yeast, so just omit it! No extra dishes to wash, just screw on a lid and put in the fridge. We recommend freezing in this ice cube tray. It will keep in the fridge for up to a week. You could also just omit and add water or vegetable, if needed. I was literally licking the bowl. Does this freeze well? We made pan fried gnocchi with this pesto and it was delish. Easy to make and great for pasta, pizza, or to use as a condiment. Hi Wendy! I used Aquafaba to replace the oil. What would you recommend if so? I used to buy vegan pesto from the store but I’m now fully converted. So easy to make. So if you have both, choose a high speed blender! I used it as a kind of guide and then kinda changed it slightly. I gave it at 5-10 minutes of chopping in my ninja food processor to get the fine texture I wanted. & Subbed the lemon juice for apple cider vinegar and the nuts for hemp seeds. It sits in a nice little pot in the fridge and lasts me about a week. I made this with no high expectations on the taste, but OMG!!! I normally absolutely love all of Minalmist Baker’s recipes but this one is a no for me. We’re so glad everyone enjoyed it! It’s super helpful for us and other readers. . Im trying to omit yeast from my diet. My daughter is vegan, and I am rapidly following in her footsteps due to her influence. I can’t say enough good things about it. I served it over pasta tossed with veggie sausage, broccoli rabe, and sundries tomatoes. Thank you! After seeing and trying the sunflower version as well as fulfilling my promise, I will NEVER go back to pine nuts. xo. This is an awesome pesto to pair with meatballs as well as grilled veggies and vegan pasta. Can this recipe be canned? Another really easy mom hack is freezing pureed garlic in batches and then just using a chunk instead of peeling garlic for recipes individually. Hmm, perhaps a small bundle? Love this recipe! And that pizza sounds incredible! xo This recipe is easy, fast and absolutely delicious. We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Christine! Overall a staple! Presenting my 5-Minute Easy Vegan Pesto perfect for sauces, soups, salads, pasta, pizza, and more! For my favorite pesto recipes, check out our Spicy Red Pasta with Lentils, Penne Pasta Salad, Smashed Potatoes with Garlic Pesto, Pea Pesto Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Pasta, and Spaghetti Squash Pasta with Basil Pesto. The actual recipe preparation took no more than 8 minutes. So good with pasta and cherry tomatoes =) Thanks so much for sharing! So glad you enjoyed it, Shochet! It’s awesome! Next time, would you mind leaving a rating with your review? Yay! I just made this pesto and I‘m amazed how insanely delicious it turned out! Easily the best pesto I’ve ever tasted. Sure! Overall, this is a keeper! So easy and delicious! Just made it and I’m impressed with this beautiful flavor! I loved the yeast flakes idea as it did really make it cheesy! xo. It was delicious!! Pledging to grow truckloads of basil next season! Yay! I used tahini in place of the nuts due to allergies. Also, roasted garlic instead of raw and added fresh pepper. Mmm, delicious! This is fast, easy and out of this world!!!! Loved this recipe! I feel silly because I never thought of using nooch!! Thanks so much! Didn’t even know I liked pesto but made this for a pasta party with friends and everyone loved it!!! We used it on zucchini noodles and had garlic toast on the side. Season to taste. Hi Mayen, we’re so glad you find our recipes helpful! Thanks so much for the lovely review! Full of flavor and super simple. I just made this tonight and it was delicious!! It will have a different flavor profile, but sure! Use ctrl+f or ⌘+f on your computer or the "find on page" function on your phone browser to search existing comments! This recipe will become a staple. As a non-dairy gal it is super tricky to get my traditional cheese loving parents to admit anything other than the real deal is even edible. For a Did not have fresh Basil so used a variety of organic greens together and added 1 tsp dried basil. But maybe avocado oil? :). It also freezes well in ice cube trays, so you can thaw and use a small amount whenever a recipe calls for pesto. Thanks. We have allergies in our family, so I looked for a dairy free recipe. xo. Everyone LOVED it!!! Your peanut butter cookies are next!? I can’t really explain how happy it makes me that pesto can still be on a vegan’s menu!! Sometimes I do no oil and all water, other times I add a couple TBSP of EVOO. Thanks Dana! Delicious recipe thanks for sharing. You can leave it out, but it’ll taste less like pesto! Used some cashews and almonds as they were the only nuts/seeds I had to hand, subbed 1.5 cups for wild garlic leaves, and put in 2 small garlic cloves. Thanks for sharing your changes, Rocio! The only hint I would add is that it has to food process for a long time (about 5 minutes) to get to a good consistency, but that’s just a head’s up. Thanks for all the cooking inspiration! Loved the freshness that the real lemon brought to it. Excellent! Other alternatives that might work better would be sunflower seeds or walnuts. Can’t wait to make this! Next time I will back off a little on the lemon juice. Thank so much for sharing! Thanks for the feedback, Maddie! It’s the only vegan pesto I’ve ever tried and I’m not willing to try others. Just made this for dinner tonight, soooo good and so easy! Perhaps check out this recipe as a guide. We’re so glad to hear it! In my family we range from pre-diabetic, post-heart attack kosher, to your basic fussy child, to coeliac vegetarian, as well as seafood allergy and even vegetarian with a dairy and cashew intolerance! Have fun playing around with your pesto! I just made a batch without being too picky on the measuring because I wanted to use all the basil I picked today. Using a mortar and pestle or a blender, grind together the nuts, garlic and basil leaves to a paste then stir in the oil. xo, I’m not vegan and I prefer this pesto to most others! It totally did! Thanks MB! In the absence of artisan products like vegan cheese in local shops, am going to experiment with a recipe for courgette cheese. I have never had a more beautiful pesto before! xo, I made this and it was really yummy! Way cheaper and so much tastier! Aw, thanks Maureen! This is a brilliant recipe that really tastes as good as it looks. This is the most amazing pesto recipe I’ve ever tried!!! This Pasta with Creamy Chestnut Pesto is one of the best pastas you will ever have. I also doubled the garlic cause garlic is life. Such fun! Thank you so much for the recipe It is so tasty and easy to make. I found you via a link from this site https://runningonrealfood.com/27-easy-vegan-desserts-6-ingredients-less/. Thanks so much for the lovely review, Diana. I spiralized some zucchini, steams, and tossed in the pesto and also made a pesto rice – makes me wish fresh basil season was all year! Next time, would you mind leaving a rating with your review? We wouldn’t recommend that in this recipe. I used cashew nuts instead of pine nuts and lime instead of lemon. Next time, would you mind leaving a rating with your review? This recipe was a mix of garlic, basil, and cheese (source). (I add exactly what you indicate for the Nutritional Yeast. We had it with spaghetti squash and roasted chickpeas. I tried a few other recopies of yours and they are amazing! This is a great recipe. It tastes the EXACT same or it does to me and my 3-year-old. We encourage our clients to always use “food” as an accessory. Thank you! This is delicious. Are the nuts supposed to be raw or roasted? It turned out a bit liquid for my taste so I added a few pieces of avocado and it was a delicious & creamy addition! Thanks x. Soooooooo delicious. Just made this vegan pesto.. It is the best! A great way to freeze vegan pesto is using ice cube trays. I didn’t have a lemon so I used vinegar instead. I made this today, and I don’t want to overstate things, but it changed my life. I made this pesto last night using the leaves from two Basil plants. Excellent recipe. We served it over protein pasta but will try with our soybean and lentil pastas next. I’m thrilled — I love pesto and figured a vegan version could never measure up. I always use Go Raw sprouted sunflower seeds. Absolutely delicious! xo. Incredibly luscious on raw zucchini pasta. After that, pour into ice cube molds, freeze, and store up to 1 month or more. I also love using toasted pumpkin seeds in pesto. xo. Yay! I subbed water for the oil with red flags raiding in my mind that no way could this be as delicious as regular homemade pesto with freshly grated cheese and olive oil. Xo. Cheers, friends! My 2 and 4 year olds scarfed it down on some whole wheat fettuccine. My family loved it and couldn’t believe that there wasn’t actually cheese in it since it had such a creamy texture! Thanks for sharing! This was delicious, thank you for the recipe!! xo. Licked the spatula I didn’t have full two cups of packed basil fresh, so I added some dried basil and it was amazing! My number 1 goal for this recipe was to "veganize" it. 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