Easy Pesto Sauce is incredibly fresh and bursting with vibrant flavors, making it an easy way to elevate your pasta, sandwiches, and more. Just a spoonful adds a delicious, herbaceous boost that transforms everyday dishes into something extraordinary.
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🌿 The Ingredients
With just a handful of simple ingredients, pesto sauce comes together to create a deeply flavorful and aromatic addition to any dish.
👩🏼🍳 How To Make Easy Pesto Sauce
- Step 1: In the bowl of your food processor, add the basil, garlic, Parmesan cheese, and toasted pine nuts.
- Step 2: Process until uniformly chopped.
- Step 3: With the motor on LOW, slowly add the EVOO through the tube of the food processor.
- Step 4: Transfer to a jar with a tight-fitting lid. Keep in the fridge for up to 1 week.
🍽️ How To Serve
- This sauce is very versatile. It’s best served at room temperature.
- Remove the sauce from the fridge for 1 to 2 hours before serving.
- This is wonderful when tossed with pasta for a great, simple pasta salad.
- It makes a wonderful sauce for pizza. We use it in our BLT Pizza.
- The sauce makes a wonderful condiment for most sandwiches. We use it on our Italian-Style Panini. Amazing!
Expert Tip
If you want to serve pesto with pasta, such as our Spaghetti with Pasta, we recommend blanching the basil first by simmering the fresh leaves for about 1 minute in boiling water, then transferring them to an ice bath. The blanching gives the pesto a milder basil flavor, which we feel works best for the dish.
🙋🏽♂️ Frequently Asked Questions
You’ll get much better consistency with a food processor. We don’t recommend using a blender.
To keep pesto bright green, store it in an airtight container and drizzle a thin layer of olive oil on top before refrigerating.
Absolutely! Pesto freezes well—portion it into ice cube trays or small containers for easy use later without losing flavor.
😋 Other Easy Delicious Sauces
Ready to make the freshest, tastiest pesto sauce in town? Go for it!
And when you do, be sure to take a photo of it, post it on Instagram, and tag @HowToFeedaLoon and hashtag #HowToFeedaLoon
Easy Pesto Sauce
Video
Equipment
- Food processor
Ingredients
- 5 teaspoon pine nuts toasted
- 2 cups fresh basil
- 3 cloves garlic roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice from one medium lemon
- ⅓ cup Parmesan cheese grated
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Toast the pine nuts. Keep an eye on them, they burn easily! Set aside until ready to make the pesto.5 teaspoon pine nuts
- In a food processor, add the basil, pine nuts, garlic, lemon juice, Parmesan cheese, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Process until thoroughly chopped. Remove the lid and scrape the sides of the mixture back down into the base of the processor, or blender.2 cups fresh basil, 3 cloves garlic, 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, ⅓ cup Parmesan cheese, Kosher salt and black pepper
- Place the lid back on, and with the motor running, slowly add the olive oil through the feed tube. Process until smooth, about 1 minute. Turn off the motor.⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- Keep in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 1 week, or freeze for up to 3 months.
Laura Casey says
Just finished making pesto with your recipe….Just delish! Made enough for fall and winter!
I freeze in half cup amounts, in small freezer bags, they lay flat to freeze and take up little room in my freezer.
Stay cool and keep cook’s!
Kris Longwell says
Hi Laura! You are on fire! LOVE that you made a big batch of the fresh pesto! This chilly winter, you will be soooo happy you have it! Thanks for sharing and thanks again for the GREAT review! That means everything to us! xoxo
Mary McKiernan says
Thank you. I pin so many of your recipes! They are all so easy to follow and so delicious.
After visiting Italy last year (before Covid) , I’m looking forward to making the potato, string bean, pesto recipe now that I will have fresh basil coming up in garden.
I need the wonderful memories of Italy paired with a comfort dish I so remembered.
Thank you, love you guys.
Best,
—Mary McK
Kris Longwell says
Hi Mary!!! Sorry for the delayed response! That is so wonderful to hear! Ah…memories of Italy…that is something we could all use during these difficult times. We think you’ll enjoy the potato, string bean, and pesto salad. It’s so summery and so good! Thank you so much and we send lots and lots of love back to you!! xoxoxo Kris & Wesley
Marilyn says
Perfect Kris & Wesley! My fav! Sometimes I’ll add a little butter and mascarpone for a creamy sauce.
krislongwell says
Thanks, Marilyn!!! A little butter and mascarpone!! YES!! Now you are talking’!!!! Miss you guys but looks like everything is going GREAT!!!! xoxox