Pesto Without Pine Nuts (Easy 5-Minute Recipe!)

homemade pesto without pine nuts recipe in a glass jar with basil leaves and a gold spoon on top.

Pesto Without Pine Nuts (Easy 5-Minute Recipe!)

Using walnuts instead of pine nuts, this easy homemade pesto without pine nuts recipe comes together in under 5 minutes. Add it to your favorite dish to instantly take it from boring to delicious!

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Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Keyword: easy, healthy, quick

Prep Time: 5

Total Time: 5

Servings:

Calories: 239kcal

Ingredients

2 cup fresh basil leaves de-stemmed & packed
⅓ cup walnuts chopped
½ cup Parmigiano Reggiano cheese grated; or sub parmesan cheese
1 tbsp lemon juice
3 garlic cloves
¼ tsp salt or more to taste
¼ tsp black pepper
½ cup olive oil extra virgin

Instructions

Add all ingredients except for olive oil to the bowl of a food processor or high speed blender. Blend on high for a few seconds until they're well-combined but still have some texture to them.
Turn the speed down to low and slowly pour the olive oil through the feed tube into the food processor. If you're using a blender, you can simply remove the cover and slowly drizzle the olive oil on top of the pesto mixture.
Blend on low speed until the pesto is combined and relatively smooth. The finished pesto will have a little bit of texture to it but it shouldn't have big chunks of ingredients left in it.
Taste the pesto mixture and add more salt if desired. Enjoy immediately or store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Notes

If you can't find Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, you can easily substitute pecorino romano or parmesan cheese.

Substitute pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds in place of the walnuts to make this a nut-free recipe.

See the blog post above for more substitutions and variations, including dairy-free variations.

Freeze leftover pesto using these silicone ice cube trays! Simply scoop pesto into each ice cube compartment and place in the freezer. After about 30-60 min, pop the pesto out of the individual ice cube molds and store them in freezer bags in the freezer for up to 6 months. This makes it super easy to pull out a few “ice cubes” of delicious pesto whenever you need them!

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