Vegan Basil Pesto {Gluten-Free}

A fresh, flavorful and fragrant vegan basil pesto recipe with pine nuts, garlic and lemon juice. Gluten-Free and Vegan.

I am seriously in love with pesto.

Hands down, absolutely incredible can’t stop myself from craving and always wanting more pesto.

Can you tell from the blog title?

It’s just so good with pretty much everything; on eggs, as a salad dressing, on sandwiches, with pasta, with fish, with quinoa, with vegetables, with just about anything savory. And this dairy free vegan basil pesto is simply perfect with a creamy chicken pesto pasta dish.

For years I always went with the store bought variety but when I finally got my very own food processor I started making my own. You simply cannot go back to the store bought after time.

The smell of freshly made pesto is nothing short of intoxicating.

With an high quality strong smelling olive oil, and the fragrance of freshly picked basil you cannot go wrong.

I might even consider using this as a perfume – I love the scent so much. Ok that might be taking it to far, but I don’t know, I’m tempted.

And then when I have my freshly made vegan basil pesto I can pretty much happily eat it by the spoonful. Garlicky and lightly lemony while nutty it’s simply the best.

You do not even need the cheese. Yep I said it, you’ll love this pesto in it’s full vegan glory. There are so many directions you could take this too – add a bit of spinach and different nuts for a vegan basil spinach pesto, or swap half the pesto for sun-dried tomatoes for a vegan sun-dried tomato pesto recipe.

I highly urge you rush into the kitchen right now  and whip up a batch of this vegan basil pesto recipe. All you need is some basil, olive oil, garlic, lemons and pine nuts (or walnuts if you prefer).

I personally love to make this with pine nuts which I find have a richer and deeper flavor than walnuts, but I know pine nuts are significantly more expensive than walnuts, and not everyone is interesting in investing their savings into nuts, so no judgement here if you go with walnuts. I have made pesto dozens of times with both, depending on what I had on hand and it works both ways.

You simply cannot go wrong with vegan basil pesto.

I wish I had a jar of it right now so I could just eat with a whole bag of crackers. If I’m around, pesto can never go bad or sit in the fridge for long. I must eat it in big batches – I simply cannot control myself and I bet you won’t be able to either.

SO skip the store bought and make your own vegan basil pesto at home. I promise you won’t miss the cheese and you’ll be a pesto convert immediately if you’re not one already.

Let me know what you think of this vegan basil pesto in the comments below. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

5 from 2 votes

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Vegan Basil Pesto {Gluten-Free}

Prep Time

10 mins

Total Time

10 mins

 

A fresh, flavorful and fragrant vegan basil pesto recipe with pine nuts, garlic and lemon juice. Gluten-Free and Vegan.

Course: Dips and Spreads

Cuisine: American, Healthy, Vegan

Servings: 12

Calories: 142 kcal

Author: Vicky Berman

Ingredients

• 5 ounces basil
• 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons pine nuts
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon Himalayan salt
• 3/4 cup olive oil +2 tablespoons - optional

Instructions

1. In a food processor combine all of the ingredients except the olive oil
2. Process on high, while slowly drizzling the olive oil through the feed chute.
3. Add more olive oil as needed until the desired consistency is reached.

Nutrition Facts

Vegan Basil Pesto {Gluten-Free}

Amount Per Serving

Calories 142 Calories from Fat 135

% Daily Value*

Fat 15g23%

Saturated Fat 2g13%

Sodium 97mg4%

Potassium 54mg2%

Vitamin A 625IU13%

Vitamin C 2.6mg3%

Calcium 22mg2%

Iron 0.6mg3%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.