This homemade basil pesto recipe is one of my favorite sauces! It’s quick to make, incredibly flavorful, and screams summer!
This easy pesto tastes so much better than store-bought jars, and thanks to fresh basil, it screams summer! With our recipe, you’ll have a batch of the greenest, most delicious pesto in minutes.
We use pesto a lot in our kitchen, and I bet you will, too, once you know how to make it! It’s incredible tossed with pasta (especially homemade pasta), stirred into mashed potatoes, tossed with roasted veggies, and spread onto bread for sandwiches.
Key Ingredients
- Basil: For the best results, use bright green and fragrant fresh basil leaves. For the most authentic pesto, use Genovese basil. When prepping the basil for pesto, pull the leaves away from the stems. Then discard the stems, or save them to flavor homemade tomato sauces and tomato soup (add them as you would a bay leaf, then remove when the dish is ready to serve). If you don’t have basil, consider variations using other greens like kale, spinach, or arugula. The process stays the same. I also have this recipe for kale pesto if you are interested.
- Garlic: You don’t need a lot of garlic to make pesto (too much, and it will overpower the basil flavor). I typically use 1 clove of garlic.
- Pine Nuts: These are traditional, and I love how buttery they taste, but you can substitute other nuts in pesto if you’d like. I’ve used blanched almonds, walnuts, pistachios, and sunflower seeds before with success. Keep in mind that the flavor will change slightly with different nuts/seeds. You can also make pesto without nuts. The texture will be different, but the sauce still tastes fresh and delicious.
- Olive Oil: Choose a good-quality olive oil that you love. You’ll add a generous amount of oil to make the pesto, so make sure that you enjoy the flavor.
- Cheese: I love Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino Romano cheese for pesto, and if I’m feeling feisty, I’ll combine them. To make pesto without cheese, leave it out or substitute with 2 to 3 tablespoons of nutritional yeast. Nutritional yeast is nutty and cheesy.
Find the full recipe with measurements below.
My Tips for Making the Best Homemade Pesto
Tip 1: Blanch your basil! I know this sounds a little ridiculous, but trust me. Blanching basil makes the greenest pesto. Have you ever noticed that pesto browns over time in the fridge? Or even when you add it to hot pasta? Blanching the basil prevents this. It locks in the bright green color of the leaves. Here’s how I do it:
- Dunk the basil leaves into boiling water for 5 to 10 seconds.
- Transfer them to an ice water bath.
- Pat the leaves dry, and use them to make our recipe below.
Tip 2: Stir the cheese in by hand. Traditional pesto in Italy is made with a mortar and pestle, which does a fantastic job of keeping some texture in the sauce. We use a food processor (it’s quicker), but to keep some of that handmade texture, we stir the cheese in at the end instead of processing it until completely smooth in the processor.
Tip 3: Store pesto with a layer of olive oil! Pesto browns over time due to oxidation, so adding a thin layer of olive oil to your pesto when storing it will help prevent oxidation and keep the basil fresh.
Ways to Use It
We use this pesto in so many dishes, and I bet you do too. I toss it with shrimp soba noodles for a light, flavorful summer dish. I add a pesto layer to baked ziti with spinach and this baked spaghetti (so delicious!).
It’s also perfect for drizzling over chicken, spreading onto bread for sandwiches, using as the base for homemade pizza or flatbread pizzas, and adding to dressings for salads. And, of course, it’s incredible tossed with fresh pasta and this homemade gnocchi!
Perfect Basil Pesto
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
This is my favorite pesto recipe inspired by authentic Italian recipes. The flavor and texture of homemade is so much better than store-bought pesto! As an option, you can blanch your basil to make pesto. This locks in the basil’s vibrant green color so it does not turn brown over time in the fridge or when you toss it with hot pasta water.
You Will Need
2 cups fresh basil leaves, generously packed into the cup (35g)
1 garlic clove
¼ cup pine nuts, walnuts, or pistachios, lightly toasted (35g)
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for storing (120ml)
1 ounce Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino Romano cheese, finely grated, heaped ½ cup (28g)
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
Directions
1Blanch basil for greenest pesto (optional): Prepare a small bowl of ice water. Bring a small saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add the basil leaves to the boiling water for 10 seconds or until wilted and bright green. Then, quickly transfer them to the ice water. Drain, squeeze to remove excess water, and then pat dry with a clean dish towel.
2Process the garlic and nuts: Place the garlic clove and pine nuts in the food processor bowl. Pulse a few times until the nuts are chopped into small pieces but not completely pulverized.
3Make pesto: Add the basil leaves to the bowl and secure the lid tightly. Turn on the food processor, and while it’s running, slowly drizzle the olive oil through the feed tube in the lid. Continue processing until the mixture is mostly smooth but still has some texture. Avoid over-processing, which can turn the pesto into a paste.
4To finish: Transfer the pesto to a bowl. Gently stir in the grated parmesan cheese, then season with salt and pepper according to taste.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Storing: Transfer homemade pesto to an airtight container and cover with a thin layer of olive oil. Refrigerate for up to 5 days. As it sits, it might lose some of its vibrant green color (not as much if you blanch the basil).
- Freezing: You can freeze pesto in airtight containers for a few months (some say up to 6 months). When I plan to freeze basil, I leave the cheese out (the texture can change a bit). Another tip is to divide your pesto between ice cube trays and add a thin layer of olive oil. Freeze until solid, then pop the pesto cubes out and transfer them to an airtight container or freezer bag.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
The recipe is easy , quick and bursting with flavours !! I used parmesan cheese but will try with the other cheese next time .Thanks Joanne , have tried ur hummus recipe too …I think I’m going wrong with it somewhere as it’s very dense and thick …not creamy like it should be .
If your pesto is too thick, you can add a bit more olive oil to thin.
We had an abundance of basil that we grew this year. I’m ready to make pesto with some of it and would like to freeze some as well. I read your suggestion about leaving out the cheese. Do you add cheese later after thawing? Thanks!
Yep, you’ve got it! Thaw and then add the cheese.
Great recipe, and so easy! Froze some in ice cube trays as you suggested and then bagged up. So Handy. Thank you.
Can I just say you guys are awesome. Thank you for sharing and inspiring me to cook
So glad you enjoy our recipes!
Delicious recipe! The garlic tip was fabulous. I didn’t have pine nuts or walnuts, so I used unsalted pepita seeds & it was delicious. Definitely keeping this around!
Pesto recipe is genius and the best I’ve ever tasted!
Wow this was so easy. Thanks for all the tips it turned out great!! Used mine on top of chicken. Used pine nuts this time but will try with walnuts next time to see if it’s as good. Thanks for the recipe.
IMHO. Nothing even compares to pine nuts, lightly toasted. They are outrageously expensive, but if you can buy a small amount, they freeze quite well and then you can use as needed
Thank you for a great recipe. I made exactly as written first time. Second time i have abundance of basil. Insead of blanching I added 2 teaspoon of fruit fresh.yes it work@ retaining color.added to brighten flavor. 1 tbs lemon juice. I need freeze with cheese and cane out fine.thank you for sharing. The joy of cooking everyone adds their twist & we pick up tips from others.
I blanched then ice water then squeezed water out. Now I only have 2 T of basil for the pesto. The volume is gone. Similiar to cooking spinach. Will this still work?
Yes, you should be fine. When you blanch the basil, it does wilt down like spinach.
Blanching works beautifully. I would only add that I prefer to get the blanched leaves as dry as possible before putting them in the blender with the other ingredients. I find that the extra moisture waters down the flavor a bit, and makes the pesto a bit creamier than I like.
To dry the leaves, I open up each large leaf on a towel, pat the leaves dry, and then let them air dry completely. A little time-consuming to be sure, but we’re all looking for the pesto we already know and love.
We like it with untoasted pine nuts, only the best EVOO and double the garlic!
Just made this tonight. Works GREAT! Stayed green from start to finish. Thank you!
Besides blanching the basil, I add a vitamin C tablet into the blender. Saw a TV chef do this, not real sure if it helps, but the blanching sure does?
It doesn’t take very much… I use a 1/4 tablet Vitamin C… As an antioxidant, Vitamin C also slows / stops color degradation of a pesto!
Could the basil leaves be frozen after they are blanched? Would they then be suitable for making pesto a month or so later? I had never heard of this technique, but I will certainly try it. My DH could just eat pesto with a spoon, he loves it that much. I do add a squirt of lemon juice to my pesto. It brightens the flavor a little. I use walnuts or pecans instead of pine nuts, which I think taste stale in the pesto. Maybe toasting the pine nuts would make a difference.
Joy
I use the blanching method and it definitely works. I make batches during the summer months and freeze for later. If I’m going to freeze, I mix the pesto, nuts (I use walnuts), garlic, a very small amount of oil, and a touch of lemon juice, but I omit the cheese. I freeze the mixture in small Ball canning jars. Don’t fill the jars all the way to the top – leave room for the pesto to expand when it freezes. I also place a small piece of Saran Wrap on top of the pesto prior to placing it in the freezer. You can also place the mixture in ice cube trays, cover with Saran Wrap and then freeze it. After 24-48 hours, take the pesto cubes out and place in a Ziploc freezer bag, and return to the freezer for individual servings. When I thaw the pesto, I then add additional olive oil and the Parmesan cheese. The cheese just doesn’t freeze well with the other ingredients. My family and I enjoy pesto all winter long!! Enjoy.
If you plan on freezing, we suggest making the pesto first then covering it with a thin layer of oil. That will help prevent discoloration when you freeze.
I have tested many pesto recipes this season while I harvest a good amount of basil. This is by far the best. Toasted the pine nuts and used roasted garlic.
This will be my go to recipe for sure.
So excited to try this. I have made pesto for 20 years now but have noticed it seeming really dry and bitter…I will let you know.
Your recipe is the best way to make pesto. However, I use extra virgin oil rather than regular
olive oil. Also, I prefer to brown pine nuts in an oven.
Recently I used a recipe which called for lemon juice. My instincts told me the end product would not taste as good. It was awful! Perhaps I used too much lemon juice. However, I
believe it would not be good even with a lesser amount of lemon juice.
The recipe was poorly written. It called for 1/8 cup of lemon juice or 1 lemon. A recipe should
always be precise. There small lemons, medium, large and extra large, etc. Take a guess.
Glad you found us them 🙂 Extra virgin olive oil is a great option for pesto. Lemon juice could work, but we’d probably just spritz a little on whatever we were adding the pesto to. Thanks for sharing!
I am making this for work tomorrow. I want to make it a day in advance should I mix with the pasta and then fridge it til tomorrow or keep pasta and pesto separate until tomorrow?
We’d keep the pasta and pesto separate then mix just before serving.
Thanks for your recipe. All the tips and information is exactly what I was looking for.
My first time making fresh pesto. Followed the directions exactly and it came out delicious!
Oh it’s gorgeously green…it should be called Emerald City Pesto!
Thank you so much for the recipe!
You are so right – this worked like a charm. Just did it with the batch I made tonight and the difference between that and the pesto I made a few days ago is remarkable. Great tip!
Thanks Lisa! So glad it worked out for you 🙂
This is genius! I will absolutely be using this recipe and technique next time I make pesto. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Kelly 🙂