How to Make Homemade Pesto

What better way to use your abundant basil harvest than to make homemade pesto? This delicious recipe is made of basil, garlic, walnuts, seasoning and olive oil. Whip it up in less than 10 minutes and enjoy!

What is Pesto Made of?

Traditionally, pesto is created by combining thinly chopped basil, pine nuts, parmesan cheese, and garlic into olive oil and seasoning. One of the best things about homemade pesto is that it’s so easy to customize! You can use different greens, alternative nuts, various cheeses, and adjust the seasonings to your taste. In this recipe, we’ll be using basil, parmesan, and walnuts. Pesto is a difficult recipe to mess up which makes it great for those who are new to making homemade sauces and condiments.

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Homemade Pesto Ingredients

• 2 cups basil leaves
• 1/4 cup walnuts
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/3 cup parmesan cheese
• Salt, pepper, onion powder to taste
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Instructions

Step 1: Add basil and nuts to a food processor or blender and pulse until finely chopped. Alternatively, you can chop the basil and nuts by hand into extremely small pieces. You could also crush the nuts using a mortar and pestle.

Step 2: Add the garlic, cheese, lemon juice, and seasoning to the mixture. Pulse until well combined.

Step 3: Add the olive oil. If using a food processor, slowly pour the oil while the machine is running. If using a blender, add a small amount of oil, blend, and continue adding more oil until the pesto has reached your desired consistency.

Step 4: Taste your homemade pesto and adjust the ingredients as necessary. Add more olive oil to thin it out, salt and pepper to enhance the flavor, or more parmesan for a creamier tasting sauce.

Step 5: Scrape the pesto into a jar with a lid. Store it in the fridge for up to 1 week and enjoy!

Notes

NUT ALLERGIES
Cashews are a hypoallergenic nut that many people with nut allergies are able to tolerate. Pine nuts are another alternative since they’re actually seeds; HOWEVER- those with nut allergies are sometimes allergic to pine nuts as well. If you’re not sure about your tolerance to either one of these ingredients, don’t risk it!

TOASTING NUTS
Toasting the nuts before blending add delicious flavor to the homemade pesto! Toast them on a skillet over medium heat for about 3 minutes or until fragrant. Stir frequently so they don’t burn.

DAIRY FREE
Nutritional yeast is a great alternative to cheesy dairy products! It has a nice nutty taste that’ll go well with the ingredients in this recipe.

OLIVE OIL
Be sure to use a high quality, cold pressed, extra-virgin olive oil here. You’ll thank me for the rich taste later!

How to Use Homemade Pesto

• Create a sauce for pasta dishes
• Add a scoop into soups
• Enhance the flavor of roasted veggies
• Stuffed chicken breast
• Topping for eggs
• Alternative sauce for pizza
• Sandwich spread

Yield: 1 jar

Homemade Pesto Recipe | How to Make Pesto

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This delicious recipe is made of basil, garlic, walnuts, seasoning and olive oil. Whip it up in less than 10 minutes and enjoy!

Prep Time 10 minutes

Total Time 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 cups basil leaves
• 1/4 cup walnuts
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/3 cup parmesan cheese
• Salt, pepper, onion powder to taste
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Instructions

1. Add basil and nuts to a food processor or blender, and pulse until finely chopped. Alternatively, you can chop the basil and nuts by hand into extremely small pieces. You could also crush the nuts by hand using a mortar and pestle.
2. Add the garlic, cheese, lemon juice, and seasonings to the mixture. Pulse until well combined.
3. Add the olive oil. If using a food processor, slowly pour the oil while the machine is running. If using a blender, add a small amount of oil, blend, and continue adding more until the pesto has reached your desired consistency.
4. Taste your homemade pesto and adjust the ingredients as necessary. Add more olive oil to thin it out, salt and pepper to enhance the flavor, or more parmesan for a creamier tasting sauce.
5. Scrape the pesto into a jar with a lid. Store it in the fridge for up to 1 week and enjoy!

If you’ve made your homemade pesto and still have a bounty of basil in your garden, learn how to preserve it in this post: How to Preserve Fresh Basil.

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