This pesto is fresh, nutrient dense, and delicious. Plus it goes well on seriously everything. I mean, pesto pasta is the classic, but how about tacos? Seitan? Pizza? Put it on the pizzaaaaaa. Anyone? Okay, I’ll assume that’s a little too much of a deep dive for many folks and I’ll just give ya the recipe you came here for. (But if you wanna do some internet sleuthing it’s Mary Kate and Ashley pizza party – and you’re welcome for that one.)
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vegan
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gluten free
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fast
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great for leftovers/meal prepping (see some suggestions below)
For this recipe, you will need the following:
lots and lots of kale (or any leafy green you enjoy)
garlic powder or roasted garlic cloves
basil, fresh or dried will do
cashews or pine nuts
nutritional yeast or vegan Parmesan cheese
olive oil
salt and pepper
a blender or food processor
So how do i make pesto?
Pesto is one of those things that I did not grow up eating. I think my mom was scared of green things, so it didn’t come up a lot in our diet (flash forward to now where she has absolutely no understanding of how she wound up with a vegan daughter). I think I started eating it at restaurants a while back and was blown away by how flavorful it was. I figured it was probably one of those things that Italian grandmothers labored lovingly over all day.
WRONG. It takes two minutes in my food processor and that’s all she wrote.
I’ve got basil up the wazoo in my garden right now, and for the past few years, it’s been such a pleasure to just run outside and grab a hefty handful and pop it into a quick sauce. And now you can too!
Here’s the long process to make this amazingly flavorful vegan sauce: toss it all together and blend, baby. Yep that’s it.
Step 1: So I used kale for this one, but I keep it seasonal and use whatever greens I have on hand at the time. Spinach, carrot tops, etc. all work really well in homemade pesto sauce recipes. If you’re using kale, remove the big stalks and compost them or feed ‘em to your pet bunny.
Step 2: Gather your garlic. For this one, I was short on time and just used a scoop of garlic powder, but of course the fresh kind is always better.
Step 3: Add in basil, cashews, and nutritional yeast. You can sub other nuts and cheeses, see below. Add in salt and pep and a bit of olive oil.
Step 4: Blend that bad boy and eat up. Check out my recipe ideas below if you’re looking for some creative and yummm ways to use this pesto. I promise, you won’t be disappointed. This makes enough for a family size meal’s worth with enough for leftovers, so go ahead and get creative with it.
Substitutions:You can use fresh or dried garlic. You can roast garlic with whatever other veggies you have lying around for a big sheet pan meal, and pop the roasted garlic into the blender with the rest of your ingredients here. Simply remove the peel, place on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper (optional), and bake at 400° for about 15 minutes until it’s golden brown. I often make a tonnnnnn of extra roasted garlic and keep it in the freezer to have handy for just such occasions as this. But I digress. You can use raw garlic for the pesto if you plan to cook it. I sometimes throw 6-7 cloves of raw garlic in my food processor if I know I will be heating the sauce up in a pan. If you don’t cook it, that raw garlic is quite pungent. Think like a bunch of pureed raw onions. It’ll burn ya. I use cashews because they’re cheaper and more abundant than pine nuts, but if you want to go for the classic, certainly feel free to swap in some traditional pine nuts here. I use nutritional yeast because it’s got tons of B vitamins and health properties, plus it’s au naturale. Lots of companies make vegan parm though, so if you’ve got it, go ahead and toss that in instead. Greens don’t have to be kale. Like I mentioned earlier, you can use carrot tops, beet greens, spinach, even cabbage. They all taste great and are loaded with vitamins. Recipe ideas
Okay this is the good part. I wasn’t kidding when I say I put pesto on everything. Roast a spaghetti squash and mix this pesto in instead of marinara. The one I made here tasted delicious with sautéed mushrooms and some late season tomatoes from the garden.
Take a tablespoon or so of this thick pesto and add to a blender with a little olive oil and lemon juice for a quick and flavorful salad dressing. Mmmm.
Buy a simple storebought pizza crust, spread pesto thinly on it, and top with all your favorites. I used roasted crooked neck squash, and sauteed onions, mushrooms, and brussels sprouts for a fall pizza vibe that was unparalleled.
Use a julienne peeler to make noodles out of zucchini, squash, carrots, etc. and cook with this pesto like a pasta sauce. I used a butternut squash here, and simply cooked in a large cast iron pan with this pesto and a cup of water until everything was fork tender.
Put it on oven roasted potatoes. Yes you heard that right. In this Buddha bowl, I air fried some tofu, and served with pesto potatoes and veggies for a rounded vegan meal.
Storage:
Fresh pesto stays good in the fridge for about a week. You can also separate into tinier glass containers and freeze for later use. Right before the frost kills my giant basil plants, I go on a mad pesto making spree and make tons of it to feed the freezer. She thanks me. Then throughout the winter, I just swap a container into the fridge to thaw and cook with the next day.
FOR MORE INSPIRATION:
If you are a new vegan or are curious about plant based lifestyle: Please join our Facebook Group: New Vegan Recipes and Advice Community to ask questions about vegan recipes, lifestyle, personal products, restaurants in your area etc. It’s a forum and support group full of other plant-based food bloggers and seasoned vegans who would love to help you o your journey!
Also follow along on Instagram and Pinterest if you are looking for more inspiration!
Vegan Kale Pesto
Ingredients
- 4 cups kale
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1/4 cup dried basil (10-12 basil leaves)
- 2/3 cup cashews
- 2/3 cup nutritional yeast
- 1/4 cup olive oil
Instructions
- Remove stems from kale.
- Add all ingredients to blender or food processor and blend.
FOR OTHER LATE SUMMER, EARLY FALL IDEAS, YOU MIGHT LIKE:
Bourbon Sage Cocktail – three ingredients, I mean, come on.Easy Cranberry Walnut Bread – this can be done in a cast iron pan or bread tin, and it takes no effort. Maple Vanilla Oat Cookies – need I say more? Kale and Apple Quinoa Salad – keep that meal prep game going strong.
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