5.0 from 6 votes
Basil Pesto Without Cheese
This simple plant-based basil pesto recipe without cheese packs all of the delicious pesto flavour of traditional basil pesto, but it's dairy-free and gluten-free. By using a food processor, we make light work of processing loads of basil leaves for a flavourful bright green vegan pesto sauce.
Prep Time
15 mins
Total Time
15 mins
Servings: 16
Calories: 92 kcal
Course:
Condiments
Cuisine:
Italian
Ingredients
- 1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
- ½ teaspoon Salt, more to taste
- ½ cup pine nuts, lightly toasted*
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil, more to top
- 2 cups packed fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
Instructions
- Place the roughly chopped garlic clove in a mortar with half a teaspoon of salt. Grind the garlic into a paste. Then add the toasted pine nuts and bash into a creamy paste. (Or process in a food processor with half the oil until you have a creamy paste.)
- Add the chopped basil leaves to a food processor bowl and drizzle with half of the olive oil. Pulse, stopping to push down the leaves with a spatula a couple of times until you have a fragrant, emerald-green basil paste.
- Transfer the basil paste to a bowl with the remaining olive oil, and add the salty garlic and pine nut paste. Mix in the lemon juice and nutritional yeast.
- Taste and adjust the salt and acidity. Keep in mind that the flavours develop as the mixture sits. Add more olive oil for a thinner consistency.
Cup of Yum
Notes
- Toast raw pine nuts in a hot, dry pan for a few seconds – taking care not to burn them.
- When I plan to freeze basil, I don’t add lemon juice or nutritional yeast. I add it when I defrost the basil pesto for the perfect fresh basil pesto taste. You can also stir in some extra olive oil to revive it a bit.
- See the full blog post for ingredients and substitutes and step-by-step instructions for pesto without cheese.
Nutrition Information
Serving
1tablespoon
Calories
92kcal
(5%)
Carbohydrates
1g
(0%)
Protein
1g
(2%)
Fat
10g
(15%)
Saturated Fat
1g
(5%)
Polyunsaturated Fat
2g
Monounsaturated Fat
6g
Sodium
73mg
(3%)
Potassium
64mg
(2%)
Fiber
0.4g
(2%)
Sugar
0.2g
(0%)
Vitamin A
496IU
(10%)
Vitamin C
2mg
(2%)
Calcium
18mg
(2%)
Iron
1mg
(6%)
Nutrition Facts
Serving: 16Serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories 92
% Daily Value*
| Serving | 1tablespoon | |
| Calories | 92kcal | 5% |
| Carbohydrates | 1g | 0% |
| Protein | 1g | 2% |
| Fat | 10g | 15% |
| Saturated Fat | 1g | 5% |
| Polyunsaturated Fat | 2g | 12% |
| Monounsaturated Fat | 6g | 30% |
| Sodium | 73mg | 3% |
| Potassium | 64mg | 1% |
| Fiber | 0.4g | 2% |
| Sugar | 0.2g | 0% |
| Vitamin A | 496IU | 10% |
| Vitamin C | 2mg | 2% |
| Calcium | 18mg | 2% |
| Iron | 1mg | 6% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.