Easy Vegan Pesto
For anybody looking for a simple meal idea, this easy vegan pesto is for you. Granted, you need some fresh basil. My aunt very kindly gave me some from her thriving plant because I have no luck with growing the stuff. But you can find some in most grocery stores. You can even get the whole plant and attempt to keep it alive. Do that at your own risk.
Pesto is super versatile, you can have it on pasta, salad, gnocchi, bread, anything you want really. It’s easy to just make a big batch of it and be set for a variety of meals throughout the week. I like to freeze it in an ice cube tray so that it doesn’t go bad and just take out what I need. But it can also last a few weeks in the fridge if you plan on using it often.
How to make this easy vegan pesto
You can get as technical as you want with this pesto. Obviously, you can simply dump all the ingredients together in your food processor or small blender, pulse until it’s smooth and you’ve got delicious pesto. But if you have time and motivation, you can make it in a mortar and pestle to get the creamiest pesto you’ll ever have, as shown in this extensive Serious Eats post. It takes a lot of elbow grease, but the difference is pretty remarkable. This method brings out the fragrant flavour of the basil as opposed to a food processor or blender. But for an in-between, which is what I tend to do, simply blend all the ingredients except the oil, and as the food processor or blender is running, drizzle it in to create a creamy emulsion.
Besides the technique, you can also play around with the ingredients. You can change the herb or replace half of it with kale, parsley, coriander, etc. Or if you want an even creamier pesto, switch out the almonds for cashews. Pine nuts are traditional, but let’s be honest, with that price tag they’re just for special occasions. But if you can, go for that. And if you’re allergic to nuts, you can use pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds.
As for the oil, I like a milder tasting extra virgin olive oil for this because I prefer the flavour of the basil to be prominent. But you can shell out the big bucks for some fancy olive oil if that’s your cup of tea. It depends on the taste you’re looking for.
The nutritional yeast gives this pesto that cheesy flavour that parmesan normally has. I also use white pepper instead of black because I find it has that strange barn smell and taste that I associate with strong cheeses. But that might just be me. If you don’t have it, black pepper works just as well. And lastly, the lemon juice adds that slight tang that parmesan has.
If you make this recipe please let me know in the comments! All feedback is very much appreciated and I would love to hear from you! You can also tag me on instagram @the.quaint.kitchen or use the hashtag #thequaintkitchen to share your creations!
Easy Vegan Pesto
Ingredients
- 75 g fresh basil leaves
- 70 g extra virgin olive oil
- 25 g almonds
- 1 ½ tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/4 + 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp white pepper
Instructions
In a food processor or small blender
- Give the basil a rinse and lightly pat dry with a towel.
- To a food processor or small blender, add the basil, oil, almonds, nutritional yeast, garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper.Alternatively, the oil can be drizzled in for a creamier pesto.
- Pulse until the pesto is your desired texture.
In a mortar and pestle
- Start by crushing the garlic and nuts until they form a smooth paste.
- Add the basil and salt in batches, waiting until the last batch is well broken down before adding the next.
- Add the nutritional yeast, lemon juice and pepper and mix all together.
- Pour in the oil little by little, mixing well between each addition until you get a creamy emulsified pesto.
Notes
- I strongly suggest making recipes by weight, if you make them by cups I can’t guarantee that you’ll get the same results.
- You can replace the almonds with any nuts you prefer. If you want a nut-free pesto, simply replace them with pumpkin or sunflower seeds.
- If you don’t have or don’t want white pepper, just replace it with black pepper.
- You can store the pesto in a sealed container in the fridge for a few weeks or portion it out in an ice cube tray in the freezer. Once the cubes are frozen, store them in a tightly sealed bag.