Easy homemade 15 minute Vegan Basil Pesto Sauce Recipe made without pine nuts. Make delicious pasta, pizza or salads of your choice using fresh basil pesto.
Pesto Sauce or Pesto Alla Genovese is an Italian condiment, traditionally made with pine nuts, garlic, basil leaves and hard cheese like Parmesan or Pecorino. It is blended together with olive oil.
This easy to make condiment is used for making pasta, as salad dressing or roasting / marinating vegetables. It can also be used for wraps, sandwiches and making pizza (instead of tomato sauce).
We love Pesto at home and use it all year round. If you grow fresh basil leaves in your backyard or have a bounty harvest during summers, you can make and freeze the pesto sauce and use it during cold winter months.
Technically Basil Pesto is ground in a mortar and pestle. The ingredients are coarsely ground and emulsified with extra virgin olive oil. It is one of the best ways to make pesto even though it is time consuming.
The processor does the job in just couple of minutes but if you love and appreciate traditional ways of cooking, do give the mortar and pestle a try, will you?
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Ingredients
Basil Leaves – Use fresh basil leaves and No Stalks or Stem. Dry Basil will not work for this recipe.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil – Pesto sauce is made entirely with olive oil. No water is used for this recipe so using good quality olive oil is the key.
Garlic – Italian cuisine and garlic go hand in hand. Use fresh garlic cloves instead of store bought garlic paste or powder.
Cashew Nuts – I have used cashews instead of traditional pine nuts. I have made pesto using walnuts and almonds too and they turn out amazing.
Cheese – Since this is a Vegan Pesto Sauce recipe, I have NOT USED ANY CHEESE. You can add parmesan or pecorino as required. Alternatively, you can experiment with nutritional yeast for the cheese flavor.
Vegan Pesto Recipe without Pine Nuts
This Vegan Pesto Sauce recipe doesn’t include cheese and I have also replaced pine nuts with cashews. Addition of cashews makes the sauce creamy and silky.
Another reason is that in India, cashews are far cheaper and economical as compared to pine nuts. It is locally grown and easily available.
How to Store / Freeze Pesto Sauce
I always make pesto when I find a batch of fresh basil at the supermarket. I freeze the batch immediately as I can easily use it for the next 2 – 3 months during emergencies or when I am running a busy schedule.
It is easier to freeze pesto in small batches. I use the silicon chocolate molds at home. They can also be easily frozen directly in ice trays, zip lock bags or containers.
However, I find this convenient especially when I am making herb based salad vinaigrette or simply want to toss some cooked spaghetti with pesto.
I have filled 1 tsp of pesto sauce in each cavity. Once frozen, I demold and pack them in zip lock covers. Freezing in small batches saves time and prevents you from thawing the entire batch. It increases shelf life of the sauce as well.
How to Use Pesto Sauce?
Salads – A tablespoon of pesto sauce combined with some EVOO, chilli flakes and lime juice makes a lovely herb/citrusy salad dressing for vegetables like Potato (both sweet and regular), root vegetables like roasted turnips, Beetroots etc.
Spread for Corn on the Cob – a generous coat of pesto on boiled or roasted corn with a squeeze of lime is the perfect snack for bbq summer parties.
Pasta – Use any variety of cooked pasta (elbow, macaroni, penne, fusilli, spaghetti, bow tie or farfalle), some vegetables and a generous spoon of fresh pesto. Use loads of garlic, red chili flakes especially when serving adults.
The dish can be finished with freshly grated parmesan cheese or you could completely skip it for a vegan recipe.
Bruschetta – Spread on a toasted baguette or ciabatta bread rubbed with a garlic clove, add some blistered cherry tomatoes and serve.
Grilled Sandwiches – Pesto can replace Cilantro Chutney made with fresh cilantro and mint leaves.
Pizza – Ditch the regular tomato based Pizza Sauce for pesto! Add loads of vegetables and bake it to perfection.
Dinner Rolls / Stuffed breads – If you are bored of regular and plain dinner rolls, add some pesto sauce to the flour or fill it in the centre with vegetables or cheese in case of stuffed buns or bread.
This post was originally published in July 2018. It has been re-published with fresh pictures and information.
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Easy Vegan Basil Pesto Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup Basil Leaves tightly packed bunch
- 1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 20 Cashews use plain, unsalted
- 6 Garlic Cloves
- ¼ tsp Black Pepper Powder
- ½ tsp Lemon Juice
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- In a food processor, add all the ingredients except olive oil and salt. Pulse it until it forms a coarse texture and then pour the olive oil slowly.
- Using a spatula, scrape the sides and add extra oil, if required. You can add up to ½ cup of oil for a more liquid consistency sauce. Do not add any water.
- Remove the contents onto a clean and dry airtight container and refrigerate or freeze for use later.
Notes
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We will be back again with yet another exciting recipe .. Until then, stay healthy and happy!
Vidya Narayan