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Vegan Pesto

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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.

Over head shot of Vegan Pesto in white bowl. this Recipe

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.

Basil-Plant

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.

Bottle of olive oil, fresh basil, pine nuts, garlic cloves, and nutritional yeast.Vegan pesto ingredients in food processor.

Everything goes into the food processor and you blend until smooth.

 

Blended vegan pesto in food processor.

Bowl of Vegan Pesto

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!

Plate of pasta tossed with Vegan Pesto with tomatoes on top.

 

Print
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Vegan Pesto

★★★★★ 5 from 4 reviews
  • Author: Celeste Meredith
  • Prep Time: 8 min
  • Total Time: 8 minutes
  • Yield: about 1 cup 1x
Print Recipe

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 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

  1. Clean and spin basil leaves in a salad spinner or pat dry with paper towel.
  2. Place pine nuts, garlic, basil, nutritional yeast, and lemon juice in the food processor.
  3. Process while slowly pouring olive oil through the feed tube.
  4. Process until mixture is pureed, scraping down sides as needed.
  5. Transfer mixture to a bowl and season to taste with sea salt and pepper.
  6. 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

Keywords: Vegan Pesto

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About Celeste

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Tomboy says

    Love the tip on freezing the pesto in an ice cube tray!

    • Celeste says

      Thanks, it's a real time saver.

  2. Sakk-Chob Kinkhongaroy says

    I noticed that you have lots of yummy recipes on your page and I would like to suggest you have a look at our Top Food Blogs section here: www(dot) mytaste.com/top-food-blogs
    If you want to add your food blog for get more visit traffic to the list and have your recipes indexed on myTaste.com, all you have to do is follow the instructions here: www(dot) mytaste.com/add-your-food-blogs (If the link is not work please, try this process entre to myTaste.com > click on the bottom on the top right hand side > click Top Food Blog > Join Top Food Blog > add your ulr and mail).

    Hopefully hearing from you soon,

    Thanks,
    Sakk Tº
    info@mytaste(dot)com

    • Celeste says

      Thanks, I'll do that!

  3. 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.

  4. 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!

  5. Suzy says

    Brilliant recipe! Love pesto

  6. 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.

  7. 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.

  8. 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.

  9. camila says

    Absolutely delicious pesto, specially with the pasta!! Love it! Thanks for sharing!

    ★★★★★

  10. 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.

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