An easy homemade pesto recipe made with fresh basil, parmesan cheese, pine nuts, and a squeeze of lemon juice. A pantry staple!
Easy Homemade Pesto
Happy Sunday! I’m interrupting our usual weekend programming of doing absolutely nothing, because I just couldn’t wait until the week to share this easy homemade pesto recipe. Zesty, nutty, cheesy, and packed full of fresh basil flavor, this homemade pesto has quickly become a staple in our household. And hopefully will in yours soon 🙂
We mentioned this earlier, but we planted an herb garden on our back deck this year, and it’s easily one of the best decisions we’ve made all year. So so SO many fresh herbs to make allll the things like falafel spiced tomato flatbread, chimichurri, and fattoush salads.
But something I’ve been making constantly to keep up with our basil plant (which I truly think is on steroids), is this homemade pesto!
I love pesto, but have never been one to buy it at the store because it can be pretty pricey and we don’t use it allll the much. But now that our plants are generating roughly 1000000000 cups of basil leaves every week, I am obsessed.
What is in Pesto?
Pesto is traditionally made with olive oil, nuts, parmesan cheese, and a lot of basil.
How to Make Homemade Pesto
This pesto recipe is about as easy it gets. Simply place all your ingredients in a food processor and pulse to your desired consistency! And that is it! I know, I know, it seems too good to be true, but it’s seriously that simple.
Ways to Use Pesto
As much as I absolutely love pesto, I always seem to have a half eaten jar in the fridge that I end up having to toss because we just don’t go through it quickly enough. You can only have pesto pasta so many times before you get sick of it. Lately we’ve been smashing it on potatoes, using it in salads, making this to die for pesto caprese panzanella salad, and spreading it on toast with some scrambled eggs for breakfast!
Still pesto-d out? You can freeze your pesto for up to 3 months! Score!
Combine the basil leaves, pine nuts, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and parmesan cheeee in a food processor and pulse until combined, about 3 minutes. Blend to your desired consistency. If the pesto is too dry, drizzle more olive oil in slowly.
Store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 weeks, or freeze for up to 3 months. Enjoy!
Keywords: pesto sauce, basil pesto, what is pesto, easy pesto recipe
Does anyone know how many grams or ounces one cup of basil leaves should weigh? I’ve even Googled it and cannot find an answer. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks
Add fresh garlic, toast the pine nuts to bring out flavour, and it would be perfect. Drizzle more olive oil (the good stuff only EVOO) on top of the pesto and top with 2 or 3 pine nuts and it’s perfect.
You must have been spying through my kitchen windows. I spent all yesterday afternoon making pesto (for the freezer). Our basil crop is healthy and plentiful this summer, and we’ll be able to enjoy it for months. 🙂
One thing I do is make freezer-cube pesto. To keep longer in the freezer, omit the cheese and decrease the amount of oil. You goal is make if like wet sand. Then pack into ice-cube trays and freeze until firm. When firm: pack into freezer bags. These cubes are perfect for one or two servings of pasta (add your cheese and additional oil to taste – or lemon juice if you are calorie counting), add it to soups for extra flavor, or use it as pizza sauce base. Decreasing the oil content before freezing saves space. I find my cubes last about a year in the freezer!
Ways to Use Pesto
Leave a comment and rate this recipe!
Hi,
Is there a substitute for the pine nuts in this recipe? Thank you
I’ve made this before with pistachios and it’s just as tasty!
Does anyone know how many grams or ounces one cup of basil leaves should weigh? I’ve even Googled it and cannot find an answer. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks
Hey Steven! I’m so sorry I have no idea! I would say it’s probably three large handfuls of fresh basil!
Add fresh garlic, toast the pine nuts to bring out flavour, and it would be perfect. Drizzle more olive oil (the good stuff only EVOO) on top of the pesto and top with 2 or 3 pine nuts and it’s perfect.
You must have been spying through my kitchen windows. I spent all yesterday afternoon making pesto (for the freezer). Our basil crop is healthy and plentiful this summer, and we’ll be able to enjoy it for months. 🙂
One thing I do is make freezer-cube pesto. To keep longer in the freezer, omit the cheese and decrease the amount of oil. You goal is make if like wet sand. Then pack into ice-cube trays and freeze until firm. When firm: pack into freezer bags. These cubes are perfect for one or two servings of pasta (add your cheese and additional oil to taste – or lemon juice if you are calorie counting), add it to soups for extra flavor, or use it as pizza sauce base. Decreasing the oil content before freezing saves space. I find my cubes last about a year in the freezer!
What a great idea! We’re new to the pesto game so this is so helpful! Thanks for the info 🙂