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This Homemade Basil Pesto is bright, fresh, cheesy, and ready in just 5 minutes. Made with fresh basil, toasted pine nuts, Parmesan, garlic, lemon, and olive oil, it delivers bold flavor that simply can't compete with store-bought pesto.
Few ingredients transform a meal as quickly as homemade pesto. From tortellini skewers to pesto chicken to pesto pasta to pesto pizza, it adds fresh, vibrant flavor to almost anything.
Homemade Basil Pesto at a Glance
- Time Needed: Comes together in just 5 minutes.
- Make Ahead Friendly: Keeps for up to 1 week in the refrigerator and freezes beautifully for 3 months.
- Versatile: Toss with pasta, spread on sandwiches, spoon over chicken, pizza, vegetables, eggs, or seafood.
- Easy to Customize: Naturally gluten-free with dairy-free, vegan, and nut-free options.
- Why Homemade Pesto? It delivers brighter, fresher flavor than anything store-bought while giving you while giving you complete control over the ingredients and making it easy to customize for your family's tastes and dietary needs.
Recipe Highlights
Kristen's Keys for Homemade Pesto
Pesto is one of the easiest sauces to make, but I've learned over the years that a few small details make all the difference in flavor and texture.
- Toast the pine nuts. It only takes a couple of minutes but makes the pesto dramatically richer and nuttier.
- Use fresh basil. Avoid wilted leaves or Thai basil for classic pesto flavor.
- Don't use shelf-stable Parmesan. Freshly grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano makes a noticeable difference.
- Slowly drizzle in the olive oil. This helps create a creamy, emulsified pesto instead of an oily one.
Happy Cooking! xo Kristen
Notes on Ingredients
- Basil: Use sweet basil for classic pesto flavor. Avoid Thai basil, which has a much different taste.
- Pine Nuts: Pine nuts have a mild, nutty, buttery flavor and the classic choice. I usually find them in small tubs in the produce section of my grocery store.
- Garlic: Use fresh, peeled garlic, not minced garlic and adjust as desired.
- Parmesan Cheese: Use good quality Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese, such as one you find in the deli section. Freshly grated Parmesan from a wedge works too.
- Lemon Juice: From fresh lemons, not jarred.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Look for extra virgin olive oil labeled cold press or first press, like Colavita, California Olive Ranch, Pompeian, or La Tourangelle for peppery, bold flavor.
How to Make Basil Pesto
Homemade pesto comes together in minutes, but two small steps -- toasting the pine nuts and slowly adding the oil -- make a huge difference in flavor and texture.
- Toast pine nuts. Place the nuts in a dry skillet and toast over low heat until golden and fragrant. Keep a close eye on them, they can go from golden to burnt in seconds.
- Process ingredients. Using a food processor fitted with an s-blade, process the pine nuts, basil, garlic, and Parmesan with the salt, pepper and lemon juice until broken down and well combined.
- Drizzle in oil. While the food processor is running, slowly add the olive oil in a steady small stream until the pesto is smooth.
Ways to Use for Basil Pesto
Homemade pesto can be served alone as dip, used in recipes, or added to dishes to bump up the flavor. Below are a few of my favorite suggestions:
- Add to Pasta: Make crazy easy pesto pasta, swirl into creamy cavatappi, or add to the filling of stuffed shells for bold, herbaceous flavor.
- To Boost Salads: Drizzle over a classic caprese salad or a caprese pasta salad for additional flavor.
- Chicken: Spread chicken with pesto sauce, top with cheese and serve with tomatoes to make baked pesto chicken.
- Pesto Pizza: Swap homemade pizza sauce for pesto sauce and enjoy a flavorful spin on pizza night. Go all out by starting with homemade pizza dough as well.
- As a Spread: Add flavor to a turkey sandwich, a caprese sandwich or even bruschetta by adding a smear of pesto.
- Pesto Toast: Spread on toasted sourdough and top with poached egg if desired.
- As a Dip: Serve on the side of Antipasto skewers or warm Italian bread for dipping.
- Pesto Eggs: Add a teaspoon or two of prepared pesto to scrambled eggs before cooking. So good!
- As a Marinade: Toss chicken or shrimp with a bit of pesto, marinate for 2-3 hours, and then cook or grill as desired.
Pesto Variations
- Nut-Free Pesto: Swap out the nuts for pepitas (pumpkin seeds) and toast just as you would nuts.
- Dairy-Free/Vegan: Omit the Parmesan cheese or use nutritional yeast in its place.
- Oil-Free Pesto: Classic Pesto is made with a lot of oil. However, I have had success using 2 tablespoons of vegetable broth paired with 1 ripe avocado for a creamy, smooth, rich pesto. I have also used ¼ cup of aquafaba (the liquid from a can of chickpeas) with success as well.
- Vary the Nuts: Instead of pine nuts, use cashews, walnuts, or pistachios.
- Swap Herbs: For a completely different flavor profile, use parsley, cilantro, or even arugula in place of basil. (Try out my unique cilantro-lime peanut pesto in my recipe for Grilled Chicken Kabobs.)
- Add Flavor: Customize the flavor with roasted red peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, extra garlic, or a pinch of red pepper flakes.
How to Store Pesto
- Refrigerate: Store pesto in an airtight jar with a thin layer of olive oil over the surface to help preserve its vibrant green color. Refrigerate for up to 7 days.
- Freeze: Spoon the pesto into the compartments of an ice cube tray and freeze until solid. Once frozen, pop the cubes out and transfer them to an airtight freezer bag and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw and use as desired.
More Homemade Sauces
- Homemade Pizza Sauce
- Homemade Tzatziki Sauce
- Copycat Bang Bang Sauce
- Homemade Thick and Tangy BBQ Sauce
Did you make this recipe?
If you enjoyed this recipe, please leave a comment with a 5-star review at the bottom of the post. Thank you!
Basil Pesto
Homemade Basil Pesto comes together in minutes using just 6 simple ingredients. Use it as a spread, condiment, sauce or marinade.
Video
Ingredients
- ½ cup pine nuts
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, about 1 large lemon
- 1 clove garlic, peeled
- 2 cups basil leaves
- ⅓ cup grated parmesan cheese
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, + up to 1-2 tablespoons more more for a smoother pesto
Instructions
- Place ½ cup pine nuts in a dry skillet. Toast them over medium-low heat, tossing frequently, just until the nuts begin to toast and you smell them. This will only take 3-5 minutes. Remove the nuts from the heat and let cool slightly.
- Place the cooled nuts into a food processor, fitted with an s-blade. Add in the 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, 1 clove garlic, 2 cups basil leaves, ⅓ cup grated parmesan cheese, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, and a pinch of freshly ground black pepper and pulse until everything is evenly combined and the broken down. Open the food processor, scrape the sides down and return the lid to the food processor.
- With the food processor running, drizzle in the ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil and pulse until combined. For a smoother pesto, add additional olive oil, ½ tablespoon at a time. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed. Serve as desired.
- To store pesto, transfer the pesto to a small glass jar and drizzle with a small amount of olive oil to cover the top of the pesto (this will keep the pesto a vibrant green), cover, and store in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.
Equipment
Notes
Garlic: Increase up to 3 cloves or decrease as desired.
In Place of Pine Nuts: Use cashews, walnuts, pistachios, or pepitas and toast as you would the pine nuts.
Parmesan: Use fresh grated (refrigerated or grated yourself) rather than one sold in a green canister.
Olive Oil: Use cold-press or single origin extra-virgin olive oil for quality flavor.
Dairy-Free/Vegan: Replace parmesan cheese with nutritional yeast or omit from the recipe.
How to Freeze: Spoon the prepared pesto into ice cube trays. Place the ice cube trays into the freezer for 3-4 hours or until frozen solid. Remove the frozen basil pesto cubes from the trays and place them in a plastic freezer bag. Store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Each cube is equivalent to about 1 tablespoon of pesto.
Nutrition
Calories: 60kcalCarbohydrates: 1gProtein: 1gFat: 6gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gSodium: 37mgPotassium: 37mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 160IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 7mgIron: 1mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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It was good made with pepitas. Served it over air fried fish.
What a great idea to use pepitas and serve over fish! Thanks for sharing.
This was such a quick and easy recipe that does not disappoint! Easy, fresh and flavorful; definitely, a new favorite recipe!
So happy to hear you enjoyed the homemade pesto!
I can't get enough of this pesto!! It is so flavorful, the perfect consistency, & great on so many things. I love that I can freeze it, too!
I just made a fresh batch to freeze with extra basil. It is such a great condiment to always keep on hand! So happy to hear you agree!
Absolutely loved how this pesto turned out. Such great color too.
I am so happy to hear you enjoyed and thanks for sharing 🙂
What can be used instead of a food processor? I don’t have one!
A blender will work as well. If you don't have a blender, you can chop everything really finely and whisk well.
Easy and delicious! Thank you!