Easy Vegan Pesto Recipe

Name: Easy Vegan Pesto Recipe
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Ingredients: 2 cups packed basil leaves (large stems removed and discarded); ½ cup toasted pine nuts ((Or substitute walnuts. For a nut-free version, substitute hemp seeds.)); ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil; 1 clove garlic (roughly chopped); 2 Tablespoons lemon juice; 1 Tablespoon nutritional yeast; salt (to taste); up to ¼ cup cold water (as needed )

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Special diet: gluten-free, nut-free option, soy-free, vegan

A fresh and flavorful adaptation of traditional Italian basil sauce, vegan pesto is easy to make in minutes with only 7 ingredients and a food processor. This vibrant green sauce is herby, nutty, and zesty. It's the perfect condiment for everything from pasta to sandwiches to roasted vegetables.

Spoon in a jar of vegan pesto sauce surrounded by fresh basil leaves, pine nuts, and a cut lemon.

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While traditional basil pesto contains parmesan cheese, it's easy to make a mouthwatering vegan pesto without it with only minor adjustments. Plus instead of using a mortar and pestle to blend the ingredients, we'll take a less labor-intensive route and use a food processor.

This no-cook sauce is ready to enjoy in 5 minutes on your favorite plant-based pasta dishes, in soups like pesto white bean orzo soup, on salads like pesto chickpea salad, and even with breakfasts like pesto scrambled tofu.

And if you find yourself with extra fresh basil leaves you need to use up, you can even make a batch of vegan pesto and freeze it for later.

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Why you'll love this recipe
Ingredients
Substitutions and variations
Instructions
Amy's tip
Serving suggestions
Storing and freezing
Recipe FAQs
More vegan recipes with basil
📋 Recipe
💬 Comments

Why you'll love this recipe

It's an aromatic fresh no-cook sauce you can whip up in 5 minutes.
It only requires 7 ingredients.
It adds incredible flavor to your favorite dishes including rice and grains, vegetables and beans, soups and stews, and of course, pasta.

Ingredients

Fresh basil, a lemon, head of garlic, bag of pine nuts, salt shaker, bottle of olive oil, and bag of nutritional yeast.

Nutritional yeast: This deactivated yeast has a cheesy and nutty flavor that works well in vegan recipes as a savory seasoning. Look for the yellow flakes in the spice aisle, in bulk bins, or purchase it online. Also known as nooch, I recommend the nutritional yeast sold by Trader Joe's, Frontier Co-op, and Anthony's.

Pine nuts: I like to purchase dry toasted pine nuts. But if you have raw pine nuts, you can toast them in the oven or on the stove to bring out their nutty flavor before preparing this vegan pesto sauce.

Substitutions and variations

If you're short on fresh basil, you can use half basil and half parsley, spinach, or even kale. Be sure to remove any tough ribs and stems.
If you don't care for nutritional yeast, simply leave it out, or use vegan parmesan cheese or miso paste instead. (And if you love it, you can add extra for additional cheesy flavor.)
If pine nuts aren't available, walnuts are a great substitute. You can also use other nuts such as cashews or pistachios.
For a nut-free version, substitute hemp seeds or pumpkin seeds (pepitas) for the pine nuts.
Not a fan of raw garlic? Leave it out!

For the complete list of ingredients with measurements plus recipe instructions, please see the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

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Instructions

Pesto ingredients in a food processor and the finished sauce.

Place the basil leaves, pine nuts, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, and salt in the bowl of a food processor.
Process, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, until a paste is formed. You should still be able to see bits of basil in the sauce.

Amy's tip

If the pesto sauce is too thick, add up to ¼ cup cold water and pulse to combine.

Serving suggestions

Plate of spaghetti tossed with pesto with a bowl of sauce in the background.

As mentioned earlier, this verdant vegan Mediterranean diet herb sauce isn't just for pasta. Although you can't go wrong with tossing some with your favorite cooked pasta for a quick and flavorful meal. I especially like using it to make red and green vegan Christmas pasta and vegan pesto pasta salad.

Tip: Reserve some of the starchy cooking water and use it to help combine the sauce with the noodles.

Vegan pesto is also delicious on a variety of foods. You can make pesto roasted potatoes and pesto baked tofu. Or add a dollop to baked potatoes, chickpea rice pilaf, or vegan buddha bowls.

Or drizzle it over vegetables like air fried carrots and roasted Brussels sprouts and butternut squash.

It's also fantastic spooned over vegan mac and cheese with potato carrot sauce, dairy-free copycat Panera tomato soup and sourdough avocado and tomato toast. The possibilities are endless!

Looking for more ideas? Check out my article about what you can make with pesto besides pasta.

Storing and freezing

Leftover vegan pesto sauce can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

To store in the freezer, freeze the pesto in an ice cube tray. Once the cubes are frozen, pop them out and transfer them to freezer bags or jars for up to 3 months for best flavor.

Recipe FAQs

Is pesto always vegan?

Traditional Italian pesto contains parmesan cheese, making it not suitable for vegans. But you can make vegan pesto by leaving out the dairy and using other ingredients like nutritional yeast for a cheesy flavor.

Does vegan pesto taste different?

While it may not taste exactly the same as traditional pesto, the flavors and textures are very close and arguably just as delicious.

What can you substitute for pine nuts in pesto sauce?

Other nuts like walnuts make a great substitute for the pine nuts in pesto sauce. Or make it nut-free by using hemp seeds.