Vegan Pesto - just 5 minutes to make, this vegan pesto recipe couldn't be simpler or more tasty! And so verstatile - stir through pasta, liven up potato salad, swirl through a vegan cheese sauce to top a lasagne, so many possibilities! #veganpesto #pestopasta #pestorecipe #basilpesto | Recipe on thecookandhim.com

Posted in Recipes on 28.02.2019

Vegan Pesto Recipe

prep: 5 mins / cook: 0 mins / inactive: 0 mins / total: 5 mins / quantity: 1 small jam jar Print recipe?

Vegan Pesto - just 5 minutes to make, this vegan pesto recipe couldn't be simpler or more tasty! And so verstatile - stir through pasta, liven up potato salad, swirl through a vegan cheese sauce to top a lasagne, so many possibilities! #veganpesto #pestopasta #pestorecipe #basilpesto | Recipe on thecookandhim.com

Taking just 5 minutes to make, this vegan pesto recipe couldn’t be simpler, tastier or more versatile!

Ordinarily, shop bought pesto isn’t vegan because it contains Parmesan cheese.  The vegan cheese options ARE getting much much better and Violife Prosociano Wedge (a vegan parmesan alternative) is pretty darn close to the real thing.  However, it’s not readily available to everyone (yet!) so for this vegan pesto recipe I’ve used nutritional yeast.

Vegan Pesto - just 5 minutes to make, this vegan pesto recipe couldn't be simpler or more tasty! And so verstatile - stir through pasta, liven up potato salad, swirl through a vegan cheese sauce to top a lasagne, so many possibilities! #veganpesto #pestopasta #pestorecipe #basilpesto | Recipe on thecookandhim.com

If you’ve not encountered nutritional yeast (often referred to as ‘nooch’) before you might be wondering what the heck yeast is doing in pesto!  Nutrional yeast is the same yeast you normally use to make bread except it’s deactivated by cooking.  This essentially kills the yeast but leaves you with lovely flavourful yeast flakes.  It gives a wonderful cheesy/nutty kick and is a vegan favourite for adding depth of flavour to so many dishes.

Vegan Pesto - just 5 minutes to make, this vegan pesto recipe couldn't be simpler or more tasty! And so verstatile - stir through pasta, liven up potato salad, swirl through a vegan cheese sauce to top a lasagne, so many possibilities! #veganpesto #pestopasta #pestorecipe #basilpesto | Recipe on thecookandhim.com

Pesto sauce can also be a wide and varied thing – using anything from kale to broccoli to spinach and all variety of nuts.

For this pesto recipe though, I’m keeping it traditional with basil and pine nuts.

Fresh basil has to be my favourite herb for both smell and flavour.  Oh and colour!  That beautiful vibrant green is always present on my kitchen windowsill!

And I can eat pine nuts by the fist full.  I say that like I can’t eat most nuts that way.  They ARE high in fat though but this simple pesto recipe goes such a long way I tend not to worry too much!

Vegan Pesto - just 5 minutes to make, this vegan pesto recipe couldn't be simpler or more tasty! And so verstatile - stir through pasta, liven up potato salad, swirl through a vegan cheese sauce to top a lasagne, so many possibilities! #veganpesto #pestopasta #pestorecipe #basilpesto | Recipe on thecookandhim.com

Pesto is such a simple thing to make too – and packs a real punch of flavour compared to shop bought!  There’s just 7 ingredients – all of which are there for one reason only.  Flavour.

Basil – the base of any traditional pesto recipe.

Garlic – because there’s few savoury dishes that aren’t made better with garlic!

Pine Nuts – sublimely creamy little nuts with a mild but distinctive flavour as well as helping to thicken pesto sauce.

Nutritional Yeast – for an extra nutty/cheesy kick.

Lemon juice – for zing and freshness.

Oil – for balance and liquid.

Salt – to lift and bring everything together.

Vegan Pesto - just 5 minutes to make, this vegan pesto recipe couldn't be simpler or more tasty! And so verstatile - stir through pasta, liven up potato salad, swirl through a vegan cheese sauce to top a lasagne, so many possibilities! #veganpesto #pestopasta #pestorecipe #basilpesto | Recipe on thecookandhim.com

This vegan pesto recipe is SO versatile too.  In the photo above I’ve just stirred it through some cooked baby potatoes along with vegan mayonnaise, sliced spring onions and a good few grinds of black pepper.  This is THE perfect potato salad – rich, creamy and the basil pesto gives it such a lift in flavour.  Even Phil who doesn’t like mayonnaise ate this!

In the photo below I’ve done no more than stir it through some cooked rigatoni – which is just as good cold as it is warm!

Vegan Pesto - just 5 minutes to make, this vegan pesto recipe couldn't be simpler or more tasty! And so verstatile - stir through pasta, liven up potato salad, swirl through a vegan cheese sauce to top a lasagne, so many possibilities! #veganpesto #pestopasta #pestorecipe #basilpesto | Recipe on thecookandhim.com

I promise you, once you’ve made your own vegan pesto you’ll find shop bought ones lacking in real depth of flavour.  So now this pesto recipe is your new kitchen best friend, here’s a few more ways to use it:

Vegan Pesto - just 5 minutes to make, this vegan pesto recipe couldn't be simpler or more tasty! And so verstatile - stir through pasta, liven up potato salad, swirl through a vegan cheese sauce to top a lasagne, so many possibilities! #veganpesto #pestopasta #pestorecipe #basilpesto | Recipe on thecookandhim.com

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Vegan Pesto Recipe

prep: 5 mins / cook: 0 mins / inactive: 0 mins / total: 5 mins / quantity: 1 small jam jar

Ingredients

  • 2 cups (20g / 2 large handfuls) fresh basil leaves
  • 1/2 lemon – juice only
  • 1/3 cup (50g) pine nuts
  • 3-4 cloves garlic – peeled
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tblsp nutritional yeast
  • 1/4 cup (50ml) oil – I use either olive, avocado or macadamia nut oil
  • Food processor or blender – I used this Magimix

Instructions

  1. Simply put all the ingredients into your food processor bowl or blender cup and whizz until smooth and creamy!
  2. Spoon into a clean glass jar and store in the fridge (see note)

Notes

  • Pesto is something I use very regularly so it doesn't tend to last long! It should keep happily in the fridge for a couple of weeks and maybe sterilising the storage jar before using will help prolong its life!
Vegan Pesto Recipe

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We are Sam (The Cook), Phil (Him) and our little dog Nooch. What started with a plan to shed a few pounds back in 2016, soon became obvious that eating healthy doesn’t have to be bland and boring.

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