Summer is the best time to make basil pesto while fresh basil is in abundance! Whether you are harvesting basil from your own garden or getting it at the store, you will want this basil pesto recipe in your repertoire.
Need to use up the basil in your garden? Homemade Basil Pesto is the way to go.
“There are a few things money can’t buy. True love and homegrown…” basil! I think the saying ends with “tomatoes” but as far as I am concerned there is nothing like homegrown basil!
The fragrance fills a room. It smells sweet and savory all at the same time.
For all you herb gardeners out there, you know how well basil grows, and how you can quickly have an abundance of it. Right about midsummer, your beds are probably overflowing, and you have to figure out what to do with it.
Basil, like most herbs, will keep producing the more you harvest it. We have three basil plants in our garden and we are having a hard time keeping up! But recently we discovered the best way to use up homegrown basil. By making basil pesto!
Basil Pesto is a great sauce to make in bulk and keep on hand for easy dinners!
Just like having a few jars of tomato sauce on hand for an easy pasta dinner, this pesto is a great thing to have on hand! Grab a jar or a few scoops to throw in with pasta (for me it’s typically gluten-free pasta) or mix up with some cooked chicken on a bed of lettuce or even rice, and you have an easy 15 minute meal!
Making one batch can be stretched out into many meals if you are sparing with this delicious sauce. The first time I made it, one batch lasted me about 2-3 meals. If you really have an abundance of basil you can make a double or triple batch and have it on hand for a few weeks!
Meal Ideas
Here are some things I have used our basil pesto sauce with (All toddler approved, by the way).
- Gluten free noodles with cut up rotisserie chicken, peas and a few scoops of basil pesto.
- Rice with ground beef, peas and basil pesto.
- Cut up rotisserie or cooked chicken, peas, peppers, tomatoes mixed with basil pesto, on a bed of lettuce, or warmed kale.
Without further ado… here is the recipe!
Below I have a recipe for a double batch of Basil Pesto, because that is what I have been making recently. You can divide it half for a single batch and so on.
- 4 cups of fresh basil leaves
- 1 cup of pine nuts
- 1 cups avocado oil
- 2 tbsp of minced garlic.
- 1 cup of fresh shredded parmesan cheese.
- 1/2 tsp salt
Substitution Notes:
- Oil: I make mine with avocado oil because that is what we buy in bulk at Costco for my homemade mayo’s and aolis. Olive oil is traditional with pesto, however, like me, you can use whatever oil you have on hand. For the healthies oils I would stick with your olive, grapseed, or avocado oils. Coconut oil hardens very easily, and wouldn’t give your pesto a good consistency.
- Nuts: My husband has made pesto with walnuts before. I have heard you can use nuts like walnuts, almond or cashews (I bet cashews would make it really creamy), but I have only ever used pine nuts.
- Cheese: I try to stay dairy free, yet sometimes it’s just better for me to have the dairy. This is one of those recipes. However, I recently discovered a cheese from sheep milk called Manchego Cheese which I am able to tolerate much more. You can subsitute the parmesan for Manchego cheese, if you need somehting a little more tolerable. It has a similar texture to parmesan.
Instructions
- Take your fresh basil and wash it up. Pick all the leaves off of the stems and set aside.
- Measure out 4 cups of packed basil leaves. The more the better!
- Take 1 cup of pine nuts and set them aside. (Option here to roast them on the skillet first. I have made them both ways and think either way is amazing!).
- Set aside 1 cup of parmesan cheese, and 1 cup of avocado oil, and 2 tbsp of garlic
- Place all the basil and pine nuts in a food processor and pulse until it is shredded well. Be careful to not get it too mushy.
- Add the cheese and garlic to the mixture and pulse until it is well combined.
- Slowly pour in the 1 cup of oil while the food processor is running. It will start to combine and look like pesto!
- Add the salt and do a quick pulse to combine. Add more to taste.
- Enjoy!
Take this printable recipe card and enjoy some fresh basil pesto!
Homemade Basil Pesto
Ingredients
- 4 cups of fresh basil leaves
- 1 cup of pine nuts
- 1 cup avocado oil
- 2 tbsp of minced garlic.
- 1 cup of fresh shredded parmesan cheese.
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Wash up your basil
- Pick all the leaves off of the stems and set aside.
- Measure out 4 cups of packed basil leaves. The more the better!
- Take 1 cup of pine nuts and set them aside. (Option here to roast them on the skillet first. I have made them both ways and think either way is amazing!).
- Set aside 1 cup of parmesan cheese, and 1 cup of avocado oil, and 2 tbsp of garlic
- Place all the basil and pine nuts in a food processor and pulse until it is shredded well. Be careful to not get it too mushy. Add the cheese and garlic to the mixture and pulse until it is well combined.
- Slowly pour in the 1 cup of oil while the food processor is running. It will start to combine and look like pesto!
- Add the salt and do a quick pulse to combine. Add more to taste.
- Enjoy!
Notes
For other homemade from scratch recipes…
Do you like this recipe? Check out some of my other cooking from scratch creations:
Easy Homemade Restuarant Style Salsa
Strawberry Mint and Herb Salad
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This looks amazing, Alyssa! Thank you for sharing it!
Thank you, Karen!