Fresh basil pesto is one of the best things you can make with homegrown basil. It’s incredibly simple with a few basic ingredients and the payoff is brightly flavored condiment you can use in a variety of ways! Pesto is also freezer-friendly, making it a great option to stock away in the summer months to use throughout the year. My family loves fresh pesto on pasta, spread on sandwiches, drizzled over chicken or fish, or as a dip for a crusty loaf of bread. Use my recipe as a basic model and feel free to adapt to your preferences.
Ingredient and Equipment Notes
- Basil – fresh basil is non negotiable here. You’ll pinch off just leaves, not the stems. Note that if you’re growing your own basil at home, you want to avoid letting your plants start flowering. If the flowering process is already in full swing, basil has a tendency to start turning bitter at that point.
- Pine Nuts – buttery pine nuts are the classic pesto ingredient, but you are welcome to substitute other nuts. Walnuts and almonds are popular choices.
- Parmesan Cheese – you’ll want to use fresh parmesan cheese, not the crumbly kind in the green bottle. I like to buy a wedge of parmesan and grate myself. Look for the best deal on parm wedges in the cheese aisle, as opposed to the deli.
- Garlic – use fresh garlic, garlic powder won’t be as good in this recipe.
- Olive Oil – I recommend extra virgin olive oil. You could use a “light” olive oil if you’d prefer a lighter olive oil flavor.
- Food Processor – a food processor is the go-too piece of equipment for pesto, but if you don’t have one, you could use a high-powered blender or finely chop by hand.
Instructions
Watch just how easy it is to whip up your own fresh pesto at home!
1. Combine basil, pine nuts, and garlic in a food processor until finely chopped.
2. Add in olive oil.
3. Add parmesan cheese and salt and pulse a few times to combine.
That’s it!
Can I make this Dairy-Free or Nut-Free?
Yes, you can easily make dairy-free or nut-free pesto! One of the great things about homemade fresh pesto is that it’s so flexible and easy to adapt. To make dairy-free pesto, simply substitute a dairy-free parmesan cheese product. You could also omit the cheese and add a few extra nuts instead. To make nut-free pesto, simply omit the nuts. They add a buttery crunch, but the pesto is super delicious without nuts!
Serving Suggestions
Pesto is great to have on hand because it’s a great meal-time shortcut that adds a lot of flavor, quickly! Toss pesto with hot pasta (we love it added to alfredo sauce!), drizzle over roasted veggies, use as a base sauce for homemade pizza, spread on a hot sandwich, or use as a dip for crusty bread. Here’s some recipes you might love to pair with pesto!
Easy Overnight Artisan Bread
Classic Alfredo Sauce
Neapolitan Pizza Crust
Roasted Cauliflower Steaks with Pesto and Mozzarella
Pesto Yogurt Dip
How to Store Homemade Pesto
Homemade pesto will store in the fridge in an airtight container for a week or more. It freezes beautifully. Place in a silicone ice cube tray for nice small portions. Pop out frozen cubes and store in a freezer-safe container or bag. Freeze larger portions in vacuum-sealed or ziptop bags. Pressing the pesto into a nice flat later (like a sheet of paper) before freezing gives you a portion that will thaw quickly!
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Fresh Basil Pesto
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: Generous 1 cup
Description
Easy recipe for fresh pesto. Great on pasta, pizza, chicken, sandwiches, and more! Recipe is entirely flexible – adjust as desired.
Ingredients
- 3 cup basil leaves, loosely packed. A little over 1 oz
- 1 large garlic clove, minced
- 1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted if desired
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2– 3/4 cup shredded fresh Parmesan cheese
- optional: squeeze of fresh lemon juice (couple teaspoons) plus a little of the grated zest.
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- a few cracks pepper
Instructions
- Place basil, garlic, and pine nuts in a food processor. Process until finely chopped.
- With processor running on low, add in olive oil.
- Scrape down sides of processor and add cheese and salt. (Also add lemon here, if using). Process just for a minute until cheese is combined and broken into small pieces, but not pulverized.
- Sample pesto and add more salt to taste.
Notes
Tip for vibrant green pesto:
For extra bright green pesto, bring a medium pot of water to a boil. After measuring your basil, submerge it in the boiling water for 5 seconds, no longer than 10, and immediately dunk in super cold water and then onto a paper towel. Pat dry and use immediately in recipe.
Freezer Instructions:
- One of the great things about pesto is that it freezes well, so you can make it in the peak of summer when your basil is going bonkers and then have it all winter long. Just put it in an ice cube tray and after it’s frozen pop all of those cute little cubes in a zip-lock bag or freezer container. Pull them out any time you need a burst of fresh flavor. You can also put the whole batch of pesto in a freezer container, freezer bag, or foodsaver bag.
- Prep Time: 10
Questions & Reviews
Also–are pine nuts vital to the flavor? Is it worth doing with almonds or pecans, or are pine nuts so much better to wait till I can go get some?
I prefer pine nuts, but you can certainly experiment with another type if you want!
OOOHHH. Can’t wait to eat this in so many ways. Is there a magic way to make the links work? All of the –try it in this blue words– bring up a “cannot be found.” Thanks sooo much for making such fabulous food, and for teaching the rest of us to make it too!!!!!
We’re working out a kink that has inactivated all of our links. But if you google the recipe title with “our best bites” it will show up 🙂
I just tried the basil pesto pasta recipe and posted a review on it. Thanks so much for sharing! It was so yummy!
KH
How much does this make? I’m making pesto chicken quesadillas for 8. Will this be enough?
Just depends on how much you want to put on. But I’d say there’s enough
So I happen to have no basil but a friend said to try out with all the kale I have on hand would that work do you think? I’m also dreaming of it on a grilled cheese sandwich….
Trina, the main flavor component in pesto is basil. I personally wouldn’t make it with kale, I think it’s worth a trip to the store for the basil!
I just made this and spread a little on some bread! YUM YUM! Is all I have to say. Thank you! Love your blog!
Oh my goodness! I made the pasta for dinner tonight and added some chopped rotisserie chicken breast to it and just used jarred pesto since I had it on hand and it was SOOO delicious! My whole family LOVED it! I am going to have to make some fresh pesto to keep on hand because I’m sure it will take this dish from delicious to divine! Thanks again for another wonderful dinner inspiration! I’m already anticipating eating the leftovers for lunch tomorrow!
Is this in your book, I sure hope so! Are you coming to D.C area by any chance?
It is in the book! No plans yet to come to DC, but we would love to!
My favorite is to toss basil-pesto with some cooked gnocchi, I usually have it with a baby lettuce with rasberry vinaigrette, some grilled marinated steak, and toasted italian bread with olive oil and vinegrette to dip in….that is one of my favorite meals to cook for guests.