How to make Vegan Basil Pesto

This Vegan Basil Pesto is packed with flavour and is great in salads, sandwiches and pasta. Use your abundant Basil Harvest to make it.

Summertime means an abundance of fresh Basil. If you don’t grow your own yet, you should consider it. Its a great way to have basil on hand all through summer to add to your pasta, pizzas and sandwiches. You can also make your very own Pesto at home.

Fresh Basil Harvest

If you follow a plant based diet, you’ve probably noticed that most of the Pesto options in stores are just not for you. They all have Parmesan cheese in it. And if you’re in Australia, another thing that you may have noticed is, if you can find a Vegan option, it is usually way more expensive. Tell me it’s not just me that feels that way.

Well the good news is, you can make your own Basil Pesto at home in literally under 5 minutes. And today, I’m going to show you how.

Typically, this pesto is made with pine nuts. However, pine nuts can be expensive. So to make this recipe accessible for all, today I’m using walnuts in the recipe. You can use either. Both options are equally delicious.

This Vegan Basil Pesto has bags of flavour and is a great little condiment to have on hand. I use it in sandwiches, salads and in Pasta recipes too.

If you’re making your own batch of Pesto at home, you should try my easy Homemade Vegan Parmesan recipe too. It’s another great little condiment to have on hand.

Vegan Basil Pesto

Recipe by Trisha VazDifficulty: Easy
Prep time

10

minutes

This Vegan Basil Pesto is packed with flavour and is great in salads, sandwiches and pasta. Use your abundant Basil Harvest to make it.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups fresh basil leaves, tightly packed

  • 2 cloves of garlic

  • 1/4 cup Nutritional Yeast

  • 1/4 cup Walnuts

  • Juice of 1/4 lime, or to taste

  • Salt, to taste

  • Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Directions

  • Place all the ingredients except the oil in the jar of your food processor and blitz.
  • With the food processor running, drizzle in the olive oil.
  • Scrape down the sides of the jar at the halfway mark and blitz again, till you’re left with a coarse paste.
  • Check for seasoning and adjust if needed.
  • Store in a clean, dry, airtight bottle in the fridge and use as needed.

Recipe Video

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