You'll love this updated version of my Vegan Pesto. The addition of fresh lemon juice makes it bright bold and full of flavor, make it in under ten minutes, that's including prep time.
I'm a full-time vegetarian and sometimes I like to go vegan, and that's easy when the recipe is this quick and easy. I'm growing some beautiful basil and thought I would use it to make a vegan version of basil pesto because I'm trying to reduce dairy.
I'm guessing you want to know what I used to replace the Parmesan, I used nutritional yeast. Nutritional yeast has such a bold nutty flavor and it rocks this recipe.
Everything goes into the food processor and you blend until smooth.
This Vegan Pesto is a staple in my home, it's nice to have on hand, it can be used so many ways....
on sandwiches
veggies
tofu
beans
and my all-time favorite pasta!
Vegan Pesto
- Prep Time: 8 min
- Total Time: 8 minutes
- Yield: about 1 cup
Ingredients
- ½ cup pine nuts
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 4 cups lightly packed basil leaves
- ½ cup nutritional yeast
- juice from half a lemon
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Clean and spin basil leaves in a salad spinner or pat dry with paper towel.
- Place pine nuts, garlic, basil, nutritional yeast, and lemon juice in the food processor.
- Process while slowly pouring olive oil through the feed tube.
- Process until mixture is pureed, scraping down sides as needed.
- Transfer mixture to a bowl and season to taste with sea salt and pepper.
- Use right away or store in refrigerator or spoon into an ice tray and freeze for up to 3 months.
Notes
Pine nuts were used, but if you need to make a nut free version hemp seed is the perfect substitute.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Tablespoon
- Calories: 101
- Sugar: 0.3
- Sodium: 0.4
- Fat: 9.9
- Saturated Fat: 1.2
- Unsaturated Fat: 5.8
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 2.3
- Fiber: 0.8
- Protein: 2.2
- Cholesterol: 0
Beth says
I just love pesto! I have some nutritional yeast in the fridge! Going to have to make this for dinner with pasta!
Celeste says
I hope you enjoy it as much as we do in my home. I seem to be making it all the time to use on sandwiches, pizza and quick pasta dishes.
camila says
Absolutely delicious pesto, specially with the pasta!! Love it! Thanks for sharing!
Jenni LeBaron says
This looks fantastic. I love a good pesto and I appreciate that this one looks great without the cheese!
Celeste says
My daughter who isn't vegan loves it. She uses it on her grilled sandwiches and pizza.
Elizabeth says
This sounds so lovely! Nutritional yeast is such a versatile ingredient, isn't it!
Celeste says
I love nutritional yeast, I put it on popcorn, veggies, mix it in mashed potatoes, I could go on and on. You're right it's a versatile ingredient.
kim says
Love this! My husband doesn't do dairy, so I'm always looking for pesto without cheese. Can't wait to try!
Celeste says
Hopefully you and your husband will enjoy it.
Suzy says
Brilliant recipe! Love pesto
Stephanie says
So delicious! Thank you so much for linking up at Tasty Tuesday! Your recipe has been pinned to the Tasty Tuesday Pinterest board! Please join us again this week!
Small Footprints says
Mmm ... this looks wonderful! I never thought about using nutritional yeast in pesto ... but it would be so perfect (can't believe I've never thought of it). Thank you for sharing ... I can't wait to try it out! 🙂
Celeste says
Yeah, it adds a nutty flavor.
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Celeste says
Thanks, I'll do that!
Tomboy says
Love the tip on freezing the pesto in an ice cube tray!
Celeste says
Thanks, it's a real time saver.