It’s no secret that I have a thing for pesto. Yet I didn’t have a recipe for my go-to version on the blog…until now.
The remedy is here! Presenting my 5-Minute Easy Vegan Pesto perfect for sauces, soups, salads, pasta, pizza, and more!
Origin of Pesto
Pesto is a sauce that is believed to have originated in the Liguria region of northwestern Italy. It’s thought that it may have evolved from a 13th century garlic-based sauce called aggiadda or from the tradition of using aromatic herbs in the Middle Ages.
The first written recipe for pesto was from Giovanni Battista Ratto in his 19th century work The Genoese cuisine. This recipe was a mix of garlic, basil, and cheese (source).
Our plant-based version skips the cheese, but is similarly packed with basil and full of flavor.
How to Make Vegan Pesto
This recipe requires just 5 minutes, 1 bowl, and 7 ingredients to make.
The base is fresh basil, pine nuts, and garlic with a splash of lemon juice for acidity and brightness.
For that cheesy color and flavor, I rely on nutritional yeast, which is a man-made yeast that can be high in B12 (depending on the brand).
Now, we have a paste, but to make it a sauce, I rely on a mix of extra virgin olive oil and water. If you’re trying to avoid oil, feel free to sub the EVOO for vegetable broth or water!
I hope you all love this pesto! It’s:
Creamy
Zesty
Cheesy
Garlicky
Healthy
& SO easy to make
I love adding pesto to things like white pasta sauce, breadsticks, salad dressings, sauces, and more! This recipe yields about 1 cup, and I’m always surprised how quickly I use it up throughout the week. It also freezes well in ice cube trays, so you can thaw and use a small amount whenever a recipe calls for pesto.
For my favorite pesto recipes, check out our Pesto Avocado Toast, Penne Pasta Salad, Smashed Potatoes with Garlic Pesto, Pea Pesto Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Pasta, and Spaghetti Squash Pasta with Basil Pesto.
If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo @minimalistbaker on Instagram. Cheers, friends!
Easy Vegan Pesto (5 minutes!)
Ingredients
- 2 cups packed fresh basil (large stems removed)
- 3 Tbsp pine nuts or walnuts (if nut-free, try sunflower seeds!)
- 3 large cloves garlic (peeled)
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 3-4 Tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1/4 tsp sea salt (plus more to taste)
- 2-3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil*
- 3-6 Tbsp water (plus more as needed)
Instructions
- To a food processor or small blender, add the basil, nuts, garlic, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, and sea salt and blend/mix on high until a loose paste forms.
- Add olive oil a little at a time (streaming in while the machine is on if possible) and scrape down sides as needed. Then add 1 Tbsp (15 ml) water at a time until the desired consistency is reached – a thick but pourable sauce. (If avoiding oil altogether, sub the oil with vegetable broth or just use all water.)
- Taste and adjust flavor as needed, adding more nutritional yeast for cheesy flavor, salt for overall flavor, nuts for nuttiness, garlic for bite / zing, or lemon juice for acidity.
- Perfect for adding to sauces, dressings, breads, and more! My favorite recently has been adding it straight to zucchini or carrot noodles (see photo) for a beautiful, healthy side dish.
- Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator up to 1 week. After that, pour into ice cube molds, freeze, and store up to 1 month or more.
Video
Notes
*Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated with lesser amount of nutritional yeast.
*Recipe adapted from my Smashed Potatoes with Garlic Pesto.
*Recipe as originally written makes ~1 cup pesto.
Pauline White says
Ok I just finished making this with fresh basil from the garden. I added a little more garlic, some green onion and skipped the oil. I used aquafaba( the water from a can of chickpeas) instead of water and oil. I also cut the salt in half. I think it turned out well. I ended up with more than one cup because of my extra additions. Seriously, it took less than five minutes and longer to clean up than to process this wonderful pesto. Thanks for the recipe
Amazing! Thank you for sharing, Pauline! xo
Pauline T. White says
I love this recipe and will avoid the oil to keep it within the whole foods plant-based lifestyle. I am going to make it today. I wonder how it would taste if I used some aquafaba instead of water or veggie broth?
We’re so glad you enjoy the recipe, Pauline. We think aquafaba could work. Let us know if you try it!
Caitlin says
so amazingly fresh. i didnt add water initially as the consistency seemed fine, and i was adding it to pasta immediately anyways with reserved pasta water which supplemented the original water. simple, delicious, did take longer than 5 minutes but I blame my small food processor
Thank you for sharing your experience, Caitlin! xoxo
Yay! Thank you for your kind words and lovely review, Lynne! xo
Harmony Houdyshell says
I made this recipe with my vegan boyfriend and we loved it! Except we replaced the basil with spinach and added vegan Parmesan to the mix, serving in top of gnocchi! Thank you for making this recipe!! <3
Yum! Thank you for sharing, Harmony! xo
Carol says
Fabulously easy and tastes so good. Thank you for sharing.
You’re welcome! We’re so glad you enjoy it. Thank you for the lovely review, Carol! xo
Mamta Rana says
I just made this pesto and substituted 2/3 of the basil leaves with garlic scapes that I just harvested from my garden. I used pinenuts and didn’t need any garlic at all the depth the flavour the nutritional yeast gives this recipe is far better than just Parmesan cheese alone, I will definitely be making this recipe again. Thank you for sharing your work so generously.
We’re so glad you enjoyed the pesto, Mamta! Your garlic scape substitution is so creative. Thank you for your kind words and lovely review! xo
Victoria says
Great recipe! I add a little bit of mellow white miso paste for some extra funk. 💛
Amazing! Thank you for sharing, Victoria! xo
Moira Nelligan says
Great recipe! And so simple! I used fresh parsley and walnuts and it was divine! And it got 2 thumbs up from my omnivore sister :)
Woohoo! We’re so glad you both enjoyed it, Moira. Thank you for the lovely review and for sharing your modifications! xo
Anna says
Do you think I could sub pecans for walnuts? Cheers!
That should work! Or if you have cashews or sunflower seeds, those would be great too :)
Dana Chalamet says
I love pesto! And I make a VERY similar recipe (spinach, basil, walnut pesto) that’s my GO-TO for any time I want a pesto. It’s about about the same amount of walnuts, 1 clove garlic, 2 Tsp nutritional yeast, 3/4 tsp Himalayan salt (sea salt, Celtic salt), about 1- 1 1/2 c fresh basil leaves (I always add more thank 1 cup!), 1 1/2 cups packed fresh spinach, 1 tsp lemon juice, 2 Tbs olive oil, and water if necessary to thin out if need be (I never use it).
This is delicious over spiralized zucchini, in/on scrambled eggs, potatoes and lightly sautéed broccoli if eating eggs (coming from humanely raised and handled, non-gmo chickens), on pizza (but I don’t cook it ON the pizza, I apply it as soon as it comes out. I found this to be the best flavor), and of course it’s perfect for making YOUR wonderful Pesto Veggie Burgers with Balsamic Aioli (a new staple in our house). :)
Whoop! We always love hearing what you’re enjoying and your servings ideas will definitely be helpful to other readers :) Thanks so much for sharing, Dana! xo
Dana Chalamet says
You guys are always SO sweet, SO pleasant! Thank you! But now noticing I should have proofread for typos.🙄 Should have been 2 Tbs nutritional yeast and obviously there was the stupid double “about” and should have been “I always use more THAN one cup!” (basil). Eesh.
But again, thank YOU and thank YOU for ALL you do! With much gratitude! Dana ☺️
😘😘
Annette Dawson says
I made this & added extra garlic, just delicious, thank you I will make again
Lovely! We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Annette. Thank you for sharing! xo
niki says
I made this with pistachio nuts and the low end (3T) of nutritional yeast. We loved it in my household! Best Pesto Ever — this will be in rotation during our long basil season. Thank you!
Yay! We’re so glad you enjoyed the recipe and will be making it all season. Thank you for sharing, Niki! xo
Alyssa says
Followed the recipe exactly using homegrown basil from a friend and it turned out incredible! I only needed to use 1 T. water for it to reach my desired consistency. I froze the rest in ice cube trays. Thanks for the recipe and the tips! Will definitely make again :)
We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Alyssa! Thank you for sharing your experience! xo
Dina says
Pleasantly surprised by how delicious this came out to be. Made two adjustments though: one garlic clove and only one tablespoon of lemon. Great update to classic pesto and a good way to eliminate any source of cholesterol by removing parmesan altogether.
We’re so glad you enjoyed it with those modifications, Dina. Thank you for sharing! xo
Jilly says
Just a simple fab recipe – thank you. I sautéd off some asparagus, courgette and shallots, added the pesto and a little vegan cream. Served with pasta and a sprinkling of pine nuts 👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼
Yum, that sounds amazing! Thank you for sharing! xo
Lorraine says
I made this, and found that the 2 tbsp of lemon juice is just way too much. The sauce had a nasty, sour taste as a result. The lemon juice over-powered all of the beautiful basil and pine nuts that went into this. Additionally, I have a standard sized food processor that made it difficult to process such a small amount of pesto. It never really came together and was chunky as a result. If I were to make this again, I would used only 0.5 tbsp of lemon juice AT THE MOST, and triple the recipe to give my food processor enough volume to work with.
Hi Lorraine, sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy it! Did you pack the basil into the cup? It sounds like it needs more basil! That will help it blend and also balance the lemon.
Rosario says
Too much garlic. I wish I had compared this against other recipes. It ruined the pesto. You just need one clove.
We’re sorry you didn’t enjoy it, Rosario. We do like it garlicky. Adding more basil should help!
Mag says
I have a question. I found this recipe while trying to figure out how to make a carrot-green pesto recipe vegan. I’ve never made pesto before. Where would I sub in the carrot greens?
Hi Mag, we have a carrot top pesto recipe here. Hope that helps!
Mag says
Amazing! Thank you very much.
heather says
Is there something we can sub for lemon/lime juice? or just leave it out?
Hi Heather, we’d say it’s key in this one for flavor balance!
heather says
Followed the recipe but I actually ended up using a splash of apple cider vinegar in place of the lemon juice and it still came out fabulous!
Lovely! Thank you for sharing, Heather! xo
Mag says
I often use Amchur Powder for acid balance. Add a pinch at a time.
Jennifer says
Fabulous recipe! I have made this pesto several times. Most recently, I used fresh parsley instead of basil, and it was awesome! I have also used carrot tops as the greens. Thanks for sharing!
Amazing! We’re so glad you’ve enjoyed all three variations. Thank you for sharing, Jennifer! xo
Niwashi Kun says
Pine nuts are not nuts, they are seeds.
If it’s an allergy concern, one can be allergic to pine nuts but one can also be allergic to sunflower seeds.
(There are also people who are allergic to garlic and citrus.)
Pine nuts and sunflower seeds also have a similar caloric content.
Mary says
Super delicious and so easy! I threw everything in at once in the food processor by mistake, but it came out beautifully!
Amazing! Thank you for sharing, Mary! xo
Rhonda says
This was absolutely delicious! I added more lemon juice and less water. I will be making this often.
We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Rhonda. Thank you for sharing! xo
LisaH says
This is a wonderful pesto! Our guests loved it over gnocchi and all wanted the recipe. I used your 5-ingredient vegan cheese. Absolutely fantastic.
Amazing! We’re so glad you and your guests enjoyed it, Lisa. Love that serving idea! Thank you for sharing! xo
Aisha says
Love this recipe! Made it multiple times now and it’s worlds better than store bought pesto. I like to add just 2-3 tbsp of water sometimes a little extra lemon.
Whoop! We’re so glad you love this recipe, Aisha. Thank you for sharing! xo
Katrina says
This has been our go to pesto recipe for many months now. It is super simple and oh so delicious. I make it with 1/4 cup of raw cashews. The recipe is light and bright and full of basil flavor without the weight of too much oil.
We’re so glad you enjoy this recipe, Katrina! Thank you for the lovely review! xo
Carol says
Want to make this, but can it be frozen and how would I go about this?
Thank you in advance
Hi Carol, yes, it can! We like to freeze it in an ice cube tray, then transfer to a sealed bag.
Wendy says
My two year old LOVES this sauce. She’s been eating it with a spoon. It’s happened twice now so it’s not a fluke. I’ve also offered her other (high-quality jarred) non-vegan pesto and she’s completely uninterested, but this stuff is her favorite. We’ve been eating it on top of flounder baked with tomatoes and onions, and its superb.
Aw, too cute! We’re so glad you’ve both been enjoying it. Thank you for sharing, Wendy! xo
Char says
The garlic goes from 3 cloves to 9 cloves when you toggle to metric! Yikes!
I’m guessing 3 is intended.
Hi Char, the metric measurement is 9 grams, not 9 cloves. 3 cloves equal ~9 grams. Hope that helps!
Kristin says
This was so delicious and so simple! I had an abundance of basil this year and loved that I could easily make this pesto and freeze it to get me through until next summer. Also, loved the flexibility on using walnuts instead of pine nuts.
Love that! So glad you found the recipe and enjoyed it, Kristin. Thanks for sharing! xo
Barbara says
I’ve made this recipe for a year now and we love it. We eat more fish and vegetables because they both taste better with this vegan pesto. And because we keep kosher we can serve this with both meat and dairy meals. Sometimes I add more garlic, sometimes more lemon juice, rarely the greater amount of water. Excellent, thank you!
We’re so glad you enjoy the recipe, Barbara! Thank you for sharing! xo
Halcyon Morrison says
I made this delicious pesto. I substituted raw cashews for pine nuts. I did not add salt.
Lovely! Thank you for sharing, Halcyon! xo
Julie says
Hello.
For me in France, the cup system is not at all usual. 2 cups of basil corresponds to approximately how many grams? Thank you
Hi Julie, you can find the metric measurements by clicking “metric” beneath the ingredients header. Hope that helps!
Anna Reid says
I made this with the Cuisinart food processor you recommend and it turned out perfect! My kids love it, too, which is a huge bonus. Thank you for providing nutritious, simple recipes for all seasons.
Yay! We’re so happy it was a winner with the whole family! Thank you for letting us know, Anna! xo
Patricia Frothingham says
Have made this often, both following the recipe to the letter (using walnuts), and sometimes substituting collards for 1/2 of the basil. Either way, divine. Thanks!
Love that! Thank you for sharing, Patricia! xo