Simple Basil Pesto (Vegan, Dairy-Free)

This easy vegan pesto is packed full of fresh basil and delicious flavor. It’s much better than store-bought pesto, and you can make it in minutes!

As the weather starts to warm up, and things begin to bloom outside, I start to think about planting some herbs. The first herb that always pops into my mind is BASIL.

I love basil. I love it all year round, but during the spring and summer months I could eat it almost every day, in any dish, in any form.

One of my favorite things to do when I have an abundance of basil in my garden (or when I see a great deal on basil at the store) is to make pesto.

I make my own vegan pesto without cheese for two reasons:

1. I think homemade pesto just tastes better
2. My daughter is allergic to dairy, and almost all store bought pesto contains parmesan cheese

When I first started experimenting with making vegan pesto, I expected it to taste like something was missing. But as I continued to tweak the recipe, I discovered that I actually liked pesto better WITHOUT the parmesan cheese.

It’s just lighter and fresher (especially with the addition of fresh lemon juice), and the flavors taste brighter.

Homemade vegan pesto ingredients:

• basil
• pine nuts
• lemon juice
• garlic
• olive oil
• (plus a little salt)

Of course, you can always add cheese to this recipe if you love parmesan in your pesto; or you can do what I do…shave a little bit of fresh parmesan over the top of whatever dish you’re serving with your pesto.

Homemade pesto making tip:

Although I’ve tested this recipe multiple times and these are the proportions that worked best for me, you may need to adjust some of your ingredients after you’ve blended it together.

Depending on the age/potency of your lemon, garlic, and salt, you may find them a little too strong or a little too weak for your taste.

The nice thing about making pesto is that you can keep adding a little of this and a little of that until it comes out completely perfect.

Can you make pesto without a food processor?

Technically yes. You can chop everything by hand, but the texture will definitely be different, and it will be very time consuming.

If you are up for the challenge, this article beautifully explains how to chop pesto by hand like an Italian grandmother. :) It’s actually sort of inspiring, and I might try making it this way one of these days.

Pesto Ingredient Substitutions:

If you don’t have a certain ingredient, you don’t have enough of a certain ingredient, or you are allergic to a certain ingredient, there are many great substitutions you can use.

• Greens: Arugula, spinach, cilantro, kale, parsley
• Nuts: Walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, sunflower seeds

Favorite Ways to Use Pesto:

• Mix into warm pasta
• Use it to dress a pasta salad
• Spread on a slice of tomato when making a caprese salad
• Use in a sandwich (a turkey and pesto sandwich is a favorite of ours)
• Spread onto toasted baguette slices for an easy appetizer
• Combine with chopped tomato, chopped buffalo mozzarella, and fresh basil
• Use in place of tomato sauce on a homemade pizza
• Mix with mayo for an easy dipping sauce or sandwich spread
• Use as a topping for chicken, fish or steak
• Stir into scrambled eggs

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5 from 8 votes

Simple Vegan Pesto

This dairy free, vegan pesto recipe is bright, lemony, and full of flavor.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes

Total Time 10 minutes

Servings 6

Calories 134kcal

Author Alyssa

Ingredients

• 3 cups basil moderately packed
• juice of one small-medium lemon
• 1/3 c pine nuts
• 2 large garlic cloves peeled and roughly chopped
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 c extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

• In a food processor, combine all ingredients except the olive oil. Pulse until evenly chopped. Slowly add in the olive oil through the top of the processor. Pulse until evenly combined, but not completely smooth.

Nutrition

Calories: 134kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 291mg | Potassium: 80mg | Vitamin A: 635IU | Vitamin C: 2.5mg | Calcium: 23mg | Iron: 0.8mg

This vegan pesto recipe is delicious on pasta, slathered onto some crusty bread, as a sandwich spread (it goes great with turkey or chicken), in a caprese salad, tossed with vegetables, served with eggs…or just eaten with a spoon. One of my favorite ways to serve it is in this dish: PESTO PASTA WITH CHICKEN, ASPARAGUS, AND PEAS