Pine Nut-Free Pesto Recipe: You Won't Believe How Amazing It Is

Pesto is such a lifesaver in the kitchen. It goes well with many dishes, be it pasta, pizza, potatoes, or chicken. It also does wonders for your average sandwich. Most pesto includes pine nuts, which is not good if you are allergic to nuts or do not like their taste. This pesto recipe without pine nuts is here to save the day. The recipe couldn’t be easier and beginner friendly, as all you need to do is to put all the ingredients into your food processor, and in ten minutes you’ll be good to go.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Substitutes
• Variations
• Equipment
• Storage
• Tips
• Pesto Recipe Without Pine Nuts
• Comments

Ingredients

• Basil — 1 ½ cups, fresh.
• Olive oil — 1 tbsp.
• Garlic — 2 cloves, chopped.
• Parmesan cheese — ½ cup, grated.
• Salt — to taste.
• Lemon juice — 1 tbsp., optional.
• Lemon zest — ⅓ cup, optional.

Instructions

1. Blend well the garlic and cheese in the food processor.

2. Pour olive oil into the mixture without stopping the food processor.

3. Then add the fresh basil and salt.

4. Process until the pesto reaches the desired consistency.

Substitutes

• Canola oil — Canola works as a great substitute for olive oil if you are short of it. 

• Fresh parsley — Short on fresh basil? Fresh parsley, cilantro, and arugula are a few great ingredients to choose from if you’re looking for a substitute.

• Nuts — If you’d prefer having nuts in your pesto, but just not pine nuts, you can still use almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, or sunflower seeds.

Variations

• Red peppers — Although it is not a must, we strongly recommend using red peppers in this pesto recipe without nuts. Jalapenos are great too!

• Lemon juice and lemon zest — If you feel like something is lacking in this pesto recipe without nuts, we have the right answer. Try adding a bit of lemon juice and lemon zest to the processor, right next to the other ingredients without removing any. Citrus works in mysterious ways.

Equipment

• Food processor.

• Measuring spoons and cups.

• Spatula.

Storage

• You can safely store the pesto in an airtight container in your fridge for up to a week.

Tips

• Make ahead — One of the good things about this pesto recipe without nuts is that you can make it ahead of time and store it.

• Dilute it — If you found yourself going overboard with the olive oil, just dilute it by pouring some splash of water into the processor.

• Toast it — If you’d rather use a different nut in your pesto, (see the substitutions section above) we recommend toasting whatever nut you’ve decided to go with. Toasting the nut will bring out a deeper, more layered taste.