Basil pesto is one of those summer condiments that I crave all year. It’s perfect hot or cold and is a simple delicious way to add a ton of flavor with very little effort. This version of basil pesto is vegan and paleo as I swapped nutritional yeast for parmesan cheese.
I love to toss roasted veggies, cauliflower rice, veggie noodles, pasta, rice, quinoa, salad greens, sautéed greens, or fresh julienned veggies in pesto and then pair it with a piece of grilled or broiled fish, a couple of eggs any style, or pan-seared tempeh. For variety with this recipe, try swapping in some kale or adding a pinch of red pepper flakes. Other types of pesto are equally fantastic and versatile. If you haven’t already, try my cilantro pistachio pesto. All pestos freeze well — I like to make a large batch and freeze leftovers into meal-sized portions in ice cube trays, small ball jars, or snack-sized ziplock baggies. You can pull out a frozen portion and warm it up in hot water while doing the prep for your meal and it’ll be thawed by the time you’re ready to eat.
Basil Pesto. Super easy. Super yummy. It really doesn’t need to be more complicated than that.
- 4 cups chopped fresh basil leaves
- 3 cloves peeled and chopped garlic
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ cup pine nuts
- 4 Tbl nutritional yeast
- 2 Tbl lemon juice
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- Add basil, garlic, salt, pine nuts, nutritional yeast, and lemon juice to a food processor or blender.
- Pulse the food processor until all ingredients are uniformly chopped, scraping sides of bowl as needed with a rubber spatula.
- Once ingredients are uniform, run the food processor and slowly drizzle in the olive oil.
- Scrape the sides and bottom of the food processor bowl once again and run it again for 20-30 seconds.