Categories: Drafts

How to Make Vegan Pesto: Traditional and Oil/Nut Free

Ever wonder what to do with those gorgeous green tops that came with your root vegetables, like carrots or beets? Or if you’re just craving a basil infusion, pesto is the way to go.

It helps eliminate food waste by letting you blend up your greens with some delicious garlic and salty nutritional yeast and then freezing for later use. Mine never makes it until later…

Use pesto as a pasta sauce with vegan ricotta, spread for toast or sandwiches, even a dip.

This is like a green smoothie for your pasta.

Below is a recipe for vegan pesto, two ways: you can either make it the traditional way, with nuts and oil, or you can substitute delicious tahini for both the nuts and the oil. This is the preferred version in our house!

Buon appetito!

Vegan Basil Pesto

Delicious, fresh and bright garlic basil sauce.

  • 2 cups basil (and/or other greens such as kale, carrot tops, etc.*)
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
  • 2 tbsp walnuts (or sub walnuts and oil with 1/3 cup tahini)
  • 2 tbsp olive oil (omit if using tahini)
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup water (plus more to thin)
  • salt and pepper to taste (about 1/4 tsp each)

To Make the Pesto

  1. Add all ingredients in a food processor** except water and blend until combined. Scrape down sides of bowl and drizzle water in slowly to loosen if needed.

  2. Serve over pasta, or as a sandwich spread.

  3. Traditional pesto (not with tahini) can be frozen for later use.

*Traditionally, pesto is made with all basil, but I enjoy a mixture of basil and carrot tops, kale, spinach, etc. The pesto pictured is half carrot tops and half basil.

**Using a food processor yields the best results, but a blender will work, too, using a pulse.

Rachael Workman

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Rachael Workman

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