The best vegan pesto is cheesy, garlicky and loaded with freshness and flavor. Perfect with pasta or pizza and ready in 10 minutes.
If there’s one thing it’s important to have in your vegan recipe repertoire it’s a good vegan pesto.
Regular pesto is usually made with dairy parmesan and pecorino cheeses. Vegan pesto of course doesn’t use dairy cheese so we create the cheesy flavors with nutritional yeast, lemon juice, crushed garlic and other spices.
It’s super easy to throw together without notice and you can serve it with pasta for a 10-minute meal that will literally wow absolutely everyone.
It’s gourmet as heck while being ridiculously simple.
If you love pesto then also check out our vegan pesto pasta and our sun dried tomato pesto.
How To Make Vegan Pesto
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Add pine nuts, walnuts, olive oil, crushed garlic, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, basil, parsley, water and salt and pepper to the food processor.
- Process until smooth.
- Your pesto is ready to serve!
Ingredient Notes
Fresh basil and fresh parsley. We used a mix of fresh basil and parsley in this pesto as the parsley provides a lovely balance to the flavor.
Pine nuts and walnuts. We used a mix of pine nuts and walnuts for the same reason – the walnuts provide some balance to the stronger flavor of the pine nuts. So the overall recipe has a lovely flavor balance between strong flavors and mild so that no particular flavor is overpowering.
Olive oil and water. We added ¼ cup water along with ¼ cup olive oil. The water helps to create the perfect texture to the pesto without adding too much heaviness from more oil.
Nutritional yeast and other spices. The cheesy flavor comes from some nutritional yeast, lemon juice, crushed garlic and of course sea salt and black pepper to round off the flavors beautifully.
Serving Suggestions
While this pesto is awesome with some pasta it’s not the only place for it! It’s also divine spread on some crusty bread or on top of a delicious vegan pizza.
You can also have it along with your salad as a salad dressing or on top of your veggies.
Try this pesto on a delicious vegan pasta salad or spread it on some homemade vegan dinner rolls or vegan focaccia.
Storing Instructions
Store leftovers in the fridge where it will stay fresh for 5-7 days. It’s also freezer friendly for up to 6 months.
More Delicious Vegan Italian-Inspired Recipes
- Vegan Alfredo
- Lentil Ragu
- Vegan Spaghetti Sauce
- Vegan Vodka Sauce
- Vegan Eggplant Parmesan
- Vegan Baked Ziti
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Pesto
Ingredients
- ½ cup Pine Nuts (68g)
- ½ cup Walnuts (50g)
- ¼ cup Olive Oil (60ml)
- 1 teaspoon Crushed Garlic
- 2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
- ⅓ cup Nutritional Yeast Flakes (20g)
- 1 cup Fresh Basil Leaves Packed
- ½ cup Fresh Parsley Packed
- ¼ cup Water (60ml)
- ½ teaspoon Sea Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
Instructions
- Add pine nuts, walnuts, olive oil, crushed garlic, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, basil, parsley, water and salt and pepper to the food processor.
- Process until smooth.
- Serve with pasta or on top of pizza or spread on delicious crusty bread. Also makes a great topping for salads or vegetables.
Video
Notes
- Storing. It lasts at least 5 days (and up to a week) in the fridge.
- Freezing. It’s freezer friendly for up to 6 months.
Just made this – very delicious! Thank you.
Absolutely delicious!! I had to change a few things as I was missing a couple ingredients but turned out so good, I could literally eat it by the spoonful lol!!
Hahaha, same! Thanks for the great review Rebekah!
Simple and super tasty!
Thanks Jenny!
Best pesto I’ve ever made. Thank you for this gift.
Awesome Patricia! Thank you so much!
Oh man, fantastic!!
Thank you Alison for such excellent recipe, once again…. doing it since you published it but didn’t take the time to quote it! My “almost-but-not-yet-totally-vegan” teens and husband don’t want the non-vegan traditional pesto anymore. Yours has been elected the best of all! Thumbs up for your recipes!
That is so wonderful Isabelle, thanks so much for posting! 🙂
Delicious,I made it with just basil, as I didn’t have parsley. I used 1/2 the olive oil, and used cashews as I didn’t have pine nuts and still it turned out fantastic, thanks Alison
So happy to hear that! Thanks Hazel!
AMAZING!!!!!!! This is the BEST PESTO I have ever made and will be the only one I make in the future. I served it in on a toasted sundried jalapeno sourdough with fresh tomatoes and lettuce- truly mouthwatering!!! Cant wait to try eat on so many other dishes
Awesome! Thanks so much Cheryl!
This is the absolute best pesto I have ever had! I can’t say enough about it. It’s very easy to make and it’s crazy delicious. Thank you so much for the recipe, this one is definitely going to be a staple in my kitchen from now on!
So happy to hear that Amanda! Thanks for the amazing review. 🙂
I’ve made this twice now, both times have been a huge success. I had to use cashews instead because that is all I had but it still works perfectly- the ratios specified are perfect. I can’t rate this highly enough! Thank you!
So happy to hear that Anna! Thanks for the amazing review! 🙂
I made this tonight and it turned out sooooo delicious. Didn’t have walnuts so used cashews instead and it was perfect! Will be making again 🙂
Awesome! So glad it was a success. Thanks Anne! 🙂
I hereby name this ‘Perfect Pesto’ because it’s a perfect combination of flavours ????
Thank you ????????
Yay! Thanks Rachelle! 🙂
Hi Alison, I would have to agree this is the best pesto I have tasted. I made mine the old fashioned way in a mortar & pestle and it turned out great. We had it with GF Penne pasta, roast capsicum and pumpkin it was wonderful. Thanks for another great recipe, you really are making it easy to go Vegan,
Thanks so much Julie! 🙂
I’ve made this so many times, it really is the best pesto!
Thanks so much Tanja! 🙂
Very creamy, cheeses and keeps well. Amazing flavour! Love it!