Bright, herby, and easy to customize, this simple Vegan Pesto recipe is the best weeknight dinner staple. Swirl it with cooked pasta, dollop it on pizza, or use it as a savory bread dip. It freezes like a dream, too!
I love pesto and use it in all kinds of recipes, like this Creamy Pesto Gnocchi, this Pesto Pasta Salad, and this Asparagus Puff Pastry with Pesto.
If there’s one sauce I can’t live without, it’s this easy Vegan Pesto. Simple to make with fresh summer basil, it’s vibrant, herbaceous, and the #1 sauce I reach for when I want to amp up our pasta dinners and vegan pizza nights.
Traditionally, Italian basil pesto (pesto Genovese) is a no-cook sauce made with expensive pine nuts and Parmesan cheese. My vegan version uses buttery cashews and nutritional yeast for a rich, “cheesy” flavor. Plus, you can even lighten up the taste with water, blend in spinach or arugula, or swap the nuts for seeds. There are so many ways to customize it!
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“This is my go to pesto recipe. I made it all summer long, and then made a lot that I froze for winter with basil from my garden. I just take it out of the freezer the day before I plan to make pasta with it and it makes cooking that night so easy!” – Cassan
Why you’ll love this homemade vegan pesto
- Hands down the best sauce – I can’t think of a better way to use fresh basil than in homemade vegan pesto. I seriously can’t get enough of this herbaceous, savory, cheesy sauce!
- So versatile! Toss it with pasta, spread it on sandwiches and wraps, swirl it into grain bowls, drizzle it over roasted veggies, or dip fresh bread into it.
- Easy to make your own – I already swapped the expensive pine nuts for cashews, but you can easily adapt my recipe to be nut-free and oil-free, load it with extra leafy greens, omit the nutritional yeast, and more.
How to make vegan pesto
Find the complete recipe with measurements in the recipe card below.
Add the cashews, garlic, fresh basil, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, and salt to a food processor. Process until the mixture is crumbly.
Process the basil leaves last
According to Bon Appetit, this will help maintain the herbs’ green color and aromatic, herbal flavor.
With the motor running, slowly pour in the olive oil. Process until the pesto is emulsified.
Serve it right away or store it in the fridge/freezer for later.
Getting the right consistency
The pesto should be pretty thick by the time it’s done blending. If it’s not quite there yet, you can blend in more nuts or basil leaves. Or, if you want to thin it out, either add more olive oil or ¼ cup water.
Frequently asked questions
Just like in my Spinach Pesto recipe, you can replace all or some of the basil with fresh baby spinach leaves. Kale and arugula work, too. The pesto won’t taste quite as herby, but it’ll still be delicious.
Pine nuts, pistachios, walnuts, pepitas, or sunflower seeds are all great substitutes.
Yes, but carefully. Blenders tend to turn pesto into a completely smooth puree instead of a textured sauce. For the best results, pulse on low speed and stop to scrape down the sides as often as needed.
Transfer it to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 6 days.
To freeze, pour the pesto into an ice cube tray, freeze until solid, then transfer the cubes to a freezer-safe container for up to 6 months. Thaw as many cubes as you need before serving or just drop them into the warm pot of pasta, soup, stew, etc.
Once it’s in the container, press a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the pesto, pour a thin layer of olive oil on top, or add a light drizzle of lemon juice before sealing.
Vegan Pesto
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup raw cashews
- 2 cloves garlic peeled
- 3 cups fresh basil loosely packed
- 4 tablespoons nutritional yeast or omit if you don’t enjoy it
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup water or more olive oil
Instructions
- To a food processor, add the cashews, garlic, fresh basil, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, and salt. Process until a thick, crumbly mixture forms.
- With the motor running on the food processor, add the olive oil in a steady stream. Process until fairly smooth, scraping the sides a few times as needed. The pesto will be very thick at this point. If you want to thin it out more, add either more olive oil, or ¼ cup water. Process until smooth and creamy.
- Store in the refrigerator for 5-6 days in a covered container. It can also be frozen for up to 6 months. I freeze pesto in an ice cube tray, then pop the cubes out and place in a freezer-safe container.
Video
Notes
- Oil-Free Pesto: For oil-free pesto, substitute water for the olive oil, starting with 1/4 cup of water and adding a little more as needed. It won’t be quite the same but it’s pretty good if you need to omit oil!
- Nut/Seed Options: I love using buttery cashews in pesto, and they are less expensive than pine nuts. You may also use pine nuts, pistachios, walnuts, pepitas, or sunflower seeds.
- Instead of Basil: Switch up your pesto by using kale, spinach, or arugula instead of basil.
- This vegan pesto goes great with any kind of pasta, on pizza, as a dip with vegetables or pita chips, as a salad dressing (thinned out with water), or spread on a sandwich.
- The pesto will thicken up in the refrigerator. Simply thin it out with water or olive oil each time you use it, as needed.
Nutrition
Wow yummy! And so easy. Thanks.
You’re welcome!
Soooo good! I used half the amount of cashew called for and it was still out of this world. Ate over pasta with chopped end of summer tomato.
delicious! easy to make. Curious to know “serving size” so I can enter into MyFitnessPal
Thank you! I don’t know the exact serving size, but if you divided the entire recipe by 6, that would be one serving. Probably about 1/3 cup.
Oh my goodness!! This was amazing!!! I had lots of fresh basil from my garden and wanted to try pesto…so, so glad I used this recipe for my first try at pesto. My husband, who is not always a fan of vegan food, scarfed it down and gave it a two thumbs up!! I added corn and grape tomatoes to the pasta, and it was hard to stop eating it. Shared the recipe with my daughters.
I will be making this all the time now. Definitely agree with Kiera, it is the best vegan pesto I’ve tried! Thank you
best vegan pesto I’ve tried!! big win so thank you nora!!
You’re so welcome!!
Just made this. Substituted mushroom broth for the water. And used 3 cloves of garlic. :-). Fantastic and I loved it! Thanks so much!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, thank you!
I made this dish with what I had on hand. I used walnuts in replace of cashews. I used limes instead of lemons. In addition to the basil, I added a handful of fresh spinach leaves. Otherwise I followed the recipe as written. It turned out great. Will definitely make again.
Thank you! Walnuts sounds like a good substitution, I’ll have to try it.
I was so happy to finally find a pesto recipe that doesn’t use oil! This had so much flavor, I stuck it into the fridge after making it and before serving it in order to thicken it up. When I make this again I will probably add more basil to give it a greener color, other than that it was amazing!!
Awesome recipe! I made a traditional pesto first with lots of oil and cheese and although I don’t eat cheese I tasted it for seasoning. This vegan version is so much better! Light and just as flavorful. Thanks for sharing 🙂
You’re so welcome!! Thanks for the comment!
Made this today for a small get together and it was delicious!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
AMAZING!!!! This is so easy and delicious! This will be my staple vegan pesto recipe from now on! I did make a tiny change since basil is not in season yet (plus I wanted to experiment): I used 1 cup basil and 1 cup baby spinach. Wow. So. Good. Thank you!
You’re so welcome!
Hi! You’re recipes are great. This sounds yummy. I’m not vegan- I was wondering why “raw” cashews or nuts are to be used. If I use regular cashews is there a big taste difference. I’m just unaware, thanks!
Raw cashews are better because they are sort of buttery tasting, and mimic cheese and cream really well. Roasted cashews will work here, but you might detect more of a nutty taste.
Made it tonite and it was so amazing and flavorful. Used real lemons and we added lemon zest and it really punched up the flavor. The family was so sad when it was finished! Can’t wait to make it again!
That’s so great! Thanks for the comment!
This is so delicious and I’m so happy it is dairy and oil free! Amazing how much flavor there is, I’m a fan for life! Adding this with some spaghetti squash and roasted harvest tomatoes for dinner tonight. I’m sure it will be phenomenal! Thank you! ?
You’re welcome!
Tried it. Not enough basil for me, I kept adding more lol. Then more water to compensate, but it still was a little dry for my liking. Not sure what everyone’s deal is with oil… a quality olive oil with minimal heat is healthy, so I think I’ll add it next time to give a better consistency. That being said, I love the use of cashews! Using just pine nuts is too bitter for me. The cashews gave a more mellow flavor, but I think an in-between would taste great, like 2/3 cashews and 1/3 pine nuts. So thanks for that great idea! The nutritional yeast was also a nice touch! 🙂
Made it and really like it. Good to add to lots of different foods. You say it makes 6 servings. What is the serving size?
I have never measured it exactly, you could divide it by 6 to know for sure, but I think about 1/4 cup is one serving.
Great recipe, tasty and easy to prepare
Taste so good!
Glad you liked it!
I’ve been experimenting a lot with vegan recipes and recently trying to cut oils out of my diet. I came across this recipe and thought why not try it. I will say I make amazing traditional pesto regularly, like at least 4/5 times a year so I do have high standards. Expecting this to be you know second rate okay pesto compared to my original. I was so pleasantly surprised as to how good this is. Like I’d say very comparable to the regular stuff that’s full of oil and parm. So to see how much less fat I can use and still make an extremely tasty pesto was really exciting. I love it, highly recommend this recipe
Thanks for the recipe–its definitely a keeper. I’ve made it twice now and am playing with the quantities of basil, doubling it the second time around. I also made it in my Vitamix because I wanted a creamier sauce. That is a little harder to do than the blender because it requires liberal use of the tamper, but it did work and the texture of sauce was more to my liking.
I’m so glad you are enjoying the pesto recipe! Thanks for the tips about the blender.
This was really good. Do you know how long ot keeps in the fridge?
I would say 3-4 days. Thank you, glad you enjoyed it!
Where do you get your basil? We have a basil plant (that is small) and 2 cups FRESH BASIL is a lot… But we love pesto! So I’m trying to figure out how I can get my hands on that much fresh basil. Whenever I’ve bought it at the store fresh it’s always like 2 small sprigs…
Trader Joe’s usually has large amounts of basil, but I’ve gotten it at regular grocery stores as well. Of course it’s easier to find in the summer for sure, and usually I grow my own and have plenty. It’s also 2 cups loosely packed basil if that helps!
So easy and not oily like traditional
Pesto. Very flavorful. Thanks for another great recipe!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this pesto! I know what you mean, I don’t like the extreme oiliness and olive oil taste of most pesto. Thanks so much!
Thank you for this delicious recipe. It’s amazing!
Thanks so much!
So easy, delicious, and affordable!! Thank you. Just what I needed in my life. ?