Easy Vegan Pesto (5 minutes!)

FABULOUS! My measurements were a little different because I needed to use up my fresh basil. I probably had about 3 cups fresh basil a rounded 1/4 cup of each pine nuts and nutritional yeast, juice of 1 lemon, 4 cloves garlic since this was more than the recipe and rounded portions of everything else to hopefully adjust so it was close to the original flavor profile. I subbed water for the oil with red flags raiding in my mind that no way could this be as delicious as regular homemade pesto with freshly grated cheese and olive oil. Despite my preconceived notions, I found it flavorful and fabulous! No one would EVER know it was vegan or oil free. So glad I tried it and thank you for such an amazing and healthy recipe!!!!!

I made this with all spinach and love the flavor. While not vegan, I am dairy and soy free. I had not tried pesto before making this so I can’t compare it to that made with parm. I make it in a wide mouth quart jar and my immersion blender. No extra dishes to wash, just screw on a lid and put in the fridge. I love it on toast in the morning too.

Soooo good!! I added sundried tomatoes, and skipped the lemon as I never used to use it when making classic non-vegan pesto. I can’t really explain how happy it makes me that pesto can still be on a vegan’s menu!! ?

This recipe is easy, fast and absolutely delicious. I added extra lemon because I didn’t think it was worth saving the extra from a whole lemon. I ate it over zucchini noodles. I love that it can be frozen!

I just made this pesto and I‘m amazed how insanely delicious it turned out! I used walnuts, omitted the oil and used 5 tbsp of water instead. Never would I have imagined this could taste this great without any oil. Thanks a lot for the recipe MB – 5 stars!!

I have made this multiple times and love it! Sometimes I do no oil and all water, other times I add a couple TBSP of EVOO. I use pumpkin seeds instead of pine nuts. I did try sunflower seeds but I think the pumpkin seeds give it the flavor I’m looking for. Thank you for such a wonderful quick recipe! It’s a hit with everyone who has tasted it!

I wanted to make an awesome and impressive vegan dish for my carnivorous friends. They had superb compliments although I left out the oil. I would certainly make my oil free version of this vegan pesto again and again.

It’s okay, I personally found it much too tart for my taste and couldn’t get the fatty mouthfeel that pesto usually has. I followed the recipe at first, then added extra salt, oil, and nutritional yeast. It’s still meh for me. I don’t think I’ll make it again but if I did I would roast the garlic, and use toasted salted nuts.

Simple and super easy. I made the pesto tonight with cashew nuts instead because that’s what I had in the pantry. It was so delicious with my red and white quinoa macaroni. My husband and I really enjoyed it. I will definitely make it again. Thank you so much for such a great recipe!

This literally takes only 5 minutes to make!

I used 3 Tbsp of nutritional yeast.
I used 3 Tbsp of EVOO.
I didn’t use any water.

I served this pesto over 1 pound of Banza bow tie pasta and added fresh san marzano tomatoes.

It was very, very good.

I just wish I made more pesto or didn’t use a whole box of pasta when mixing it together.

Excellent recipe. I used one large clove of garlic and a little more lemon juice and it was nice and zesty. Love. Love. Love. Thank you!

Hi! Can I sub pecans in place of pine nuts? Also, I am allergic to garlic, what can I use in place of it? Onion possibly or onion powder even? Also, what happens if I add more olive oil instead of water?Thank you, your recipes are a life saver for someone like me with TONS of food allergies and intolerance. I’ ve found that your recipes are straight forward, healthy and easy to adjust if needed.

This was so good! Tossed it with pasta and steamed broccoli for dinner. Will definitely make again.

Just made this for dinner tonight, soooo good and so easy! Will be making this often!

Thank you very much for this recipe, it was quick, it was delicious (made it with walnuts) and I´ll definately do it again! :)

This was quick and easy and very delicious. I put it on Modern Table Elbows, pasta made with lentils, rice, and peas. For the pesto, I only needed to add 1 Tbsp of olive oil and 1 Tbsp of water. I used the pine nuts. Yummy recipe!

I made this and it was really yummy! I used fresh basil from my garden and only made a few changes. I only added a splash of lemon juice since I’m not a huge fan of too much lemon. Then I used only olive oil vs olive oil and water. I just slowly added it till it got to the consistency I liked. I haven’t made pesto since I went dairy free so I was really missing it and was worried about not being able to add parmesan like I was used to. This was still super good without the parmesan and I’ll be making it again for sure. :D

Followed the recipe to a t and it came out delicious!!!!

Followed this recipe, substituting the pine nuts for cashews with sea salt because that’s what I had on hand. My dairy-allergic son absolutely loves pesto, but the vegan variety that we usually get at the grocery store has been out of stock, so we tried this instead. Absolutely delicious! Thank you for an easy and excellent recipe!

Sauce came out better than I expected. Added this to some vegan tortellini from kite hill and it was absolutely delicious. I did substitute half of the nutritional yeast for vio-life Parmesan and added pasta water instead of regular water. Also, roasted garlic instead of raw and added fresh pepper. Overall, this is a keeper!

I just made this to replace the regular basil pesto I love from the store. WOW! I actually used my mortar and pestle to make it … delicious!! I am so happy! Thank you!

Oh my gosh this was such a hit with my family and the our dairy free company! Sunday lunch was a resounding success with the gluten free noodles with pesto, green onions and peas— and some of us indulged in the sun dried tomatoes! I loved the yeast flakes idea as it did really make it cheesy! Thank you! This recipe will become a staple. Bless you!

This recipe was gorgeous-so easy and so quick and all the family loved it, including the young children. I may never buy pesto again! Thank you.

I didn’t have enough basil, maybe like 3/4 cup. I used all of the ingredients listed except water–I didn’t need it. I simply tweeked the amount of ingredients to make them proportionate to my basil amount. Very delicious taste and I will add this recipe to my list of Staples. Thanks.

I made it without oil or broth and it was great! The nutritional yeast and lemon juice are inspired. I like the cayenne suggestion someone made. I’ll try that next time.

I have a baby with a dairy allergy and another who has a nut-free school. I make this with sunflower seeds, toss it on whole wheat rigatoni, and they both devour it at lunch. Thank you!

This is now a regular staple in our rotation. So easy to make. Sometimes I skip the garlic and use extra nutritional yeast and lemon. So good on pasta and in stuffed portobellos mushroom caps.

This is a great recipe. It tasted really yummy. I used cashew nuts instead of pine nuts and lime instead of lemon.
Great idea to add a small amount of water, it was creamy and easy to stir into pasta.

Didn’t even know I liked pesto but made this for a pasta party with friends and everyone loved it!!!

This is such a great recipe. When I have extra time I like to roast the garlic and lightly toast the pine nuts for even more flavor.

Super simple recipe; I used fennel tops to make up for about 1/4 cup of the basil.

This is my go to pesto recipe! I sometimes use cashews or just use the vegan parm instead of nuts and yeast. I put it on roasted spiralized zucchini! And it’s always a winner!!

Love this recipe, did cut the nutritional yeast a to 2-3 TBLS and subbed in Cashew nuts (what I had on hand) Turned out perfect and just goes to show how versatile this wonderful recipe is. Thanks so much for sharing

I can’t believe this is my first time making this! I might not be 100% vegan but I am trying to get there. I enjoy this MORE than regular versions. According to the nutrition facts, it does have lots of salt (nooch?). Overall a staple!

What’s to say but……Perfectly delicious!!!

I had never made pesto before, so I loved this simple recipe. I made it pretty much exactly to the recipe, but added a little extra oil as my blender was too big. I have eaten this as a dip with chips and can’t wait to stir it through some pasta later for dinner. Thanks for the lovely recipe.

Delicious pesto! Thanks for sharing Dana….❤️ #govegan ?

So good! I spread it on avocado toast

I decreased to 2 TBL nutritional yeast, 4 TBL pine nuts and only did 1 tbl of water. Love that it says lemon measurement instead of just “half a lemon.” Best pesto if my life and it’s VEGAN! Trust me I’ve made a lot! Thanks again minimalist baker!

I used 1/2 massaged kale and basil with sunflower seeds! It was delish!

Fabulous recipe – so easy to make and so tasty. I made it to pour onto courgetti which was delicious.

Nutritional yeast for pesto! Glad I saw your page!

I’ve been making pesto off & on. I recently began using fresh parsley instead of basil. Try it, you might not go back to basil ($$, if you don’t have it in your garden!).

Walnuts or almonds also do really well in place of pine nuts ($$$)
I always made my pesto with a processor, but now just use a knife and cutting board. Try it. A very palpable texture treat awaits!
Garlic, garlic, garlic! Yes!

My whole family really enjoyed this recipe. I actually didn’t have the full two cups of basil so I used baby spinach to make up the difference and I was pleasantly surprised with the results!

This is delicious. I just made a batch without being too picky on the measuring because I wanted to use all the basil I picked today. I found myself eating it with a spoon so I’m going to steam some green beans to put this on. I washed my garden basil and it was still damp so I did not end up adding water. I used cashew nuts because they are my favorite in basil and add a creamy texture. I also love using toasted pumpkin seeds in pesto. I gave it at 5-10 minutes of chopping in my ninja food processor to get the fine texture I wanted. No one will miss the cheese!

Delicious and light vegan pesto. I used to buy vegan pesto from the store but I’m now fully converted. So good tossed with tenderstem broccoli, petit pois or other green vegetables, cherry tomatoes and pasta. Yum!

This was so good I am licking the bowl

I love pesto and this was something missing ever since I went plant based…
I feel silly because I never thought of using nooch!! I mean, I already use it as a parm replacement on everything else so why the connection of using it in pesto NEVER occurred to me. So thank you! It’s awesome!
So

My boyfriend recently went vegan and I’ve been experimenting with new recipes for our favorite dishes. I have to say- this pesto is the best I‘ve ever made and the consistency was the best I’ve ever been able to get it- way better than with dairy. We made pan fried gnocchi with this pesto and it was delish. I never knew about nutritional yeast but now I’m looking for other recipes I could use it in. So good! Make this!

This pesto is amazing ! I mixed it in some pasta and spread some on top of broiled tofu. So amazing

I’ve been vegan for 10+ years and also gluten free for past 5…This recipe is my GO TO for pesto- it is SO delicious and easy. I grow my own basil, and like it spicy so I also add 1 tsp of cayenne to the mix before food processing. Thank you for this simple, reliable and tasty plant based pesto!

I made this to put on a GF pasta primavera and it was awesome. I can’t say enough good things about it. The only hint I would add is that it has to food process for a long time (about 5 minutes) to get to a good consistency, but that’s just a head’s up. I have already shared it with 2 of my GF DF friends and can’t believe that my days of missing pesto are over! I, too, used the larger amount of nutrish yeast. I also used a little extra lemon and the pine nuts. Very forgiving and great recipe. Thanks!

This was very good. I decreased the garlic a bit and increased pine nuts for my personal taste. Just commenting because my food processor died halfway through and I did the other half in the blender; the blender batch was remarkably much better. So if you have both, choose a high speed blender!

FREAKING WOW… This was probably the best pesto I’ve ever tasted. I did make a couple alterations to the recipe:
– I did 2 TBS pine nuts and 2 TBS walnuts
– I also added a couple small handfuls of frozen greens (kale, arugula & spinach)

But seriously, what a fabulous recipe!!!

My only issue with this pesto is that I stand at the counter eating it with a spoon (to “test” it), and the next thing you know half of it is gone. It is absolutely fabulous! Also, if you are a little low on basil, which I was the last time I made it, you can add in some supplemental spinach and it still tastes divine.

So delicious! Definitely amped up the nutritional yeast levels and lemon for extra kick.

I made this for the first time yesterday just to eat over gluten free pasta and it is SO GOOD! Now that I have all the ingredients on hand, this will be so easy to make when I want it in the future again. It tastes cheesy and sooo good! I did 3 tbsp of the nutritional yeasts and it wasn’t more than enough cheesy flavor.

I made this for a group without garlic and it was delicious. I then made it for home but with only 1 clove of garlic and it was also delicious. I use the higher amount of nutritional yeast for the flavor. Thank you so much for this recipe! Pesto is just the best.

Amazing pesto. I make this with a tweak I picked up from Dana’s Super Green Vegan Kale Pesto and put in an extra cup of fresh parsely. I add an extra tablespoon of pine nuts and sub out the nooch for the vegan parmesan recipe she has. Would go good with some percorino romano for non-vegans as well. Putting this on everything I can and will be growing some basil plants as well!

I’m so impressed by this recipe! I was looking for dairy and nut free pesto recipes and I am so glad I found this one; I was able to make everything in my magic bullet in less than 10 minutes. I’ll definitely be making this again!

It was fantastic even tho I didn’t have any basil. Used cilantro and spinach instead. Very tasty.

Hi Dana,
I made this with your pasta recipe the other night. It was absolutely delicious!! I will definitely be making it again. I am looking for excuses to use the leftover in other dishes or for my packed lunch (maybe paninis or salad?).
Great recipe! Really added some oomph to a pasta dinner

I whip this up pretty much every time I have enough fresh basil grown in my garden. Super quick and easy and makes Ana amazing pasta sauce. A little goes a long way!

I skipped the water, and used cashews as thats what I had on hand. It was absolutely delicious, will be my go to pesto recipe.

I can’t get enough of this pesto- I even have it on toast as a snack! Just used the last of my basil with walnuts instead of pine nuts and it is just as delicious. Pledging to grow truckloads of basil next season!

I didn’t get around to adding any oil because the consistency was perfect without it! Used 2T nutritional yeast, 2T lemon juice, and sunflower seeds, which are options suggested in the recipe. Bright in flavor, bright green in color. Love it!

Used some cashews and almonds as they were the only nuts/seeds I had to hand, subbed 1.5 cups for wild garlic leaves, and put in 2 small garlic cloves. Really tasty! Had it with mushrooms, broccoli and tagliatelle for an easy dinner, and plenty left over for a second meal later in the week too :) Thanks!

I absolutely love this recipe! I became extremely dairy sensitive over one year ago and missed pesto a lot. The only substitution I made was using 2/3 arugula and 1/3 basil in lieu of only basil.

Best Pesto ever! I roasted the pine nuts before using, soo good! Thank you!

This is so good. I have made this numerous times. I always use Go Raw sprouted sunflower seeds. I add 3 T olive oil, 1 T lemon and 5 or 6 T water depending on how much basil I have on hand. I stick to the recipe for the rest. I am not vegan but can’t have dairy so this is just perfect. I use it when making homemade pizza or on top of noodles. It is the best!

Pesto is a solid 5!!!!

FABULOUS! My husband says, best pesto ever!
Thank you for this and all the fantastic recipes you share with us, your devoted following!
Laura

I LOVE your recipes! I just made this, omitting any oil and adding more lemon juice, and also spinach. Yummy!

I made this pesto last night using the leaves from two Basil plants. It is absolutely delicious! I licked the food processor, after storing the Pesto, as if I was having icing. Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe!

I just made this and it is absolutely amazing!

It came out really well. After turning vegan I hadn’t eaten pesto for a long time because I always bought it in the store and vegan pesto was quite expensive to buy from a local shop. Thanks for the recipe!

This is my favorite pesto recipe and I make it frequently.

This is a consistently great recipe–just made a second batch. I agree with many of the commenters–sunflower seeds are WAY better than pine nuts. The lemon makes it so bright–perfect for an early winter night. Thanks!

I enjoyed the creamyness of the pesto but it tasted slightly too grassy for me.
& Subbed the lemon juice for apple cider vinegar and the nuts for hemp seeds.

I made it……. it’s fabulous! Thank you so much. My son & his girlfriend also LOVE it :D

So nice to have Vegan alternative!

Made this tonight for my partner and I, it was easily the best pesto both of us have ever had, and it took no time at all! We will definitely be turning this recipe into a weekly thing. Thanks minimalist baker for never letting us down with your recipes!

Super easy to make and super delicious! I used the walnuts and loved how it turned out!