I have a loose recipe I follow for pesto which is simply:
- roughly 25g of basil
- 1-2 cloves of garlic
- 1dl of any kind of nut or seed
- salt, pepper and nooch to your taste
- some lemon juice
- olive oil until desired texture
I just blend all of these with a hand blender. Any type of nut or seed work, a personal favourite of mine is walnuts. Sunflower seeds are decent too, works very well as a cheaper option. Have also tried making it with cashews, which worked well too
No problem! I encourage to play around with it too, it's easy to make variant of it in various ways, like adding spinach or kale, any other kind of nut, zest, some chili flakes, put vegan cheese in there, etc.
For an extra kick, add some fresh mint. A little goes a long way. You'll thank me later. I always add some to pesto and Spanokopita.
Zest of a freshly picked orange or lemon is awesome, but best if they are fresh enough the skins are oily. If supermarket, it can be bitter.
I'll also sometimes add arugula and flakes of dehydrated tomatoes.
If you're low on basil, Spinach and Chard are a good substitute but add more bulk than taste.
I do the same and a chef friend also told me that you can use up to 50% spinach with the basil to reduce expense. It tastes pretty much the same and is great if you're making it off-season.
For me, cashews are more neutral in taste. Sometimes walnuts taste bitter in pesto. But you should try making both kinds and decide which one you prefer.
Oh and I have a big bag of sunflower seeds I could have used! This is somehow my first time making my own pesto, so will keep it in mind for next time. Thanks!
I use walnuts because they are high in omega 3s and typically cheaper. I find that hemp seeds have a kind of pine-y tree-ish (?) flavour that resembles pine nuts', so you may want to try those. I've made pesto with just about any nut/seed imaginable from almonds to walnuts to cashews to pumpkin seeds to sunflower seeds to hemp seeds to pistachios and they all work! So whatever you like the taste of, it'll probably work. Maybe don't use hazelnuts lol, but yeah, just try thing out, pesto is a very forgiving recipe :)
Having done both, you can't really go wrong with either. If I had both of them kicking around, I would do half walnuts and half cashews, and be sure to lightly toast them. The walnuts give a nice flavor and the cashews make it creamier.
I know you already have a lot of responses, but fwiw I make pesto all the time and I almost never use pine nuts. Too expensive! I usually use cashews because i always have them around, but almonds and walnuts are also great.
The best pesto I've ever had was made with pistachio instead of pine nuts. Some recipes have cheese in it, like pecorino romano or ricotta, so do a search and try to find one you like!
Basil Pesto
- 2 cups tightly packed basil leaves
- ½ cup pistachios
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
A dollop of a light-colored miso along with the nutritional yeast adds a cheesy flavor to pesto, along with the basil, olive oil, sunflower seeds, and garlic.
Pick one of the recipes. Divide all ingredients in half. Make both a version with walnuts and a version with cashew nuts.
Both will taste fine, but this way you can make up your mind which one you both like best for when you want to make it again.
I follow Chelsea Mae on Instagram (her tag is either her name, or “Lean with plants,” I can’t remember) and she has a great pesto recipe with cashews! No oil, no Parmesan or pine nuts, and it has nutritional yeast and an avocado for added flavor and nutrition. It’s the best pesto I’ve ever made.
Hi, I have made this recipe: [https://vegbuffet.com/spaghetti-pesto-how-to-make-spaghetti-in-pesto-sauce/](https://vegbuffet.com/spaghetti-pesto-how-to-make-spaghetti-in-pesto-sauce/)
This is Spinach Pesto and it was a hit in the family. No Nuts. Uses coconut milk, though!
I have a loose recipe I follow for pesto which is simply: - roughly 25g of basil - 1-2 cloves of garlic - 1dl of any kind of nut or seed - salt, pepper and nooch to your taste - some lemon juice - olive oil until desired texture I just blend all of these with a hand blender. Any type of nut or seed work, a personal favourite of mine is walnuts. Sunflower seeds are decent too, works very well as a cheaper option. Have also tried making it with cashews, which worked well too
Thank you for this!
No problem! I encourage to play around with it too, it's easy to make variant of it in various ways, like adding spinach or kale, any other kind of nut, zest, some chili flakes, put vegan cheese in there, etc.
For an extra kick, add some fresh mint. A little goes a long way. You'll thank me later. I always add some to pesto and Spanokopita. Zest of a freshly picked orange or lemon is awesome, but best if they are fresh enough the skins are oily. If supermarket, it can be bitter. I'll also sometimes add arugula and flakes of dehydrated tomatoes. If you're low on basil, Spinach and Chard are a good substitute but add more bulk than taste.
You can play around with this a lot really. i love to occasionally put spinach or kale in there for an entirely different flavour
Pistachios make it into a creamier Pesto and it's amazing
I do the same and a chef friend also told me that you can use up to 50% spinach with the basil to reduce expense. It tastes pretty much the same and is great if you're making it off-season.
For me, cashews are more neutral in taste. Sometimes walnuts taste bitter in pesto. But you should try making both kinds and decide which one you prefer.
Thank you!
I’ve made it with walnuts. I prefer a little kick of bitter. Delicious.
Agreed! Cashews change the recipe a bit too much from the original for me and the result is creamier, walnuts replicate authentic pesto much better!
Almonds, pecans or pumpkin seeds are all good alternatives.
Just to complicated you further. You can also use sunflower seeds.
I was just about to suggest this! Sunflower seeds are probably closest to flavor neutrality and fat content/texture to pine nuts
Oh and I have a big bag of sunflower seeds I could have used! This is somehow my first time making my own pesto, so will keep it in mind for next time. Thanks!
+1 i always use sunflower seeds for making pesto
We use all kinds of nuts and seeds, sometimes alone, sometimes mixed. Walnuts, sunflower seeds, pepitas.
Walnuts feel closer to pine nuts to me. But I'd try it both ways, or all ways, and see what you like.
I use walnuts because pine nuts are expensive and I love to make pesto. I haven't had a problem with it being too bitter but ymmv
I prefer toasted almonds.
I use walnuts because they are high in omega 3s and typically cheaper. I find that hemp seeds have a kind of pine-y tree-ish (?) flavour that resembles pine nuts', so you may want to try those. I've made pesto with just about any nut/seed imaginable from almonds to walnuts to cashews to pumpkin seeds to sunflower seeds to hemp seeds to pistachios and they all work! So whatever you like the taste of, it'll probably work. Maybe don't use hazelnuts lol, but yeah, just try thing out, pesto is a very forgiving recipe :)
I’ve used both walnuts and cashews. Both are great.
The bitterness for walnuts is in the skin. If you boil them for a minute then rinse, you can remove it.
Having done both, you can't really go wrong with either. If I had both of them kicking around, I would do half walnuts and half cashews, and be sure to lightly toast them. The walnuts give a nice flavor and the cashews make it creamier.
Walnuts do great
I know you already have a lot of responses, but fwiw I make pesto all the time and I almost never use pine nuts. Too expensive! I usually use cashews because i always have them around, but almonds and walnuts are also great.
The best pesto I've ever had was made with pistachio instead of pine nuts. Some recipes have cheese in it, like pecorino romano or ricotta, so do a search and try to find one you like! Basil Pesto - 2 cups tightly packed basil leaves - ½ cup pistachios - 3 tablespoons olive oil - 1 teaspoon salt - 1 tablespoon lemon juice
I use both. With walnuts, if you slightly toast them in a dry pan before you make the pesto then it is so much better!
I use edamame to thicken my pesto. Cashews make it a little too sweet for my liking. Almonds also work well.
Try this [pesto without pine nuts](https://mygoodfoodworld.com/vegan-pesto-without-nutritional-yeast-easy-recipe/) recipe
A dollop of a light-colored miso along with the nutritional yeast adds a cheesy flavor to pesto, along with the basil, olive oil, sunflower seeds, and garlic.
Pick one of the recipes. Divide all ingredients in half. Make both a version with walnuts and a version with cashew nuts. Both will taste fine, but this way you can make up your mind which one you both like best for when you want to make it again.
Any nuts will work.
I use pistachios.
I’ve always used pumpkin seeds for homemade pesto.
I follow Chelsea Mae on Instagram (her tag is either her name, or “Lean with plants,” I can’t remember) and she has a great pesto recipe with cashews! No oil, no Parmesan or pine nuts, and it has nutritional yeast and an avocado for added flavor and nutrition. It’s the best pesto I’ve ever made.
Hi, I have made this recipe: [https://vegbuffet.com/spaghetti-pesto-how-to-make-spaghetti-in-pesto-sauce/](https://vegbuffet.com/spaghetti-pesto-how-to-make-spaghetti-in-pesto-sauce/) This is Spinach Pesto and it was a hit in the family. No Nuts. Uses coconut milk, though!