This fresh homemade Pesto Sauce is one of the best recipes you can add to your arsenal. In a matter of minutes, with just five fresh ingredients you have countless meals, delicious appetizers and so many tasty snacks up your sleeve, ready to go.
It is incredible how many meals can be created with fresh pesto sauce. Served on top of your favorite grilled dishes, in pasta, or served with warm bread, it does not get any better than this.
If looking for other easy appetizers or quick snack recipes you must also check out our Mexican Street Corn Dip, Pico de Gallo, and Buffalo Chicken Dip.
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🥫 Ingredients
It is incredible that with only a small handful of fresh ingredients you can easily have BIG BOLD flavors to build your meal around. Basil, minced garlic, freshly grated parmesan, toasted pine nuts and a good quality olive oil can go such a long way.
- Basil Leaves
- Parmesan
- Olive Oil
- Pine Nuts
- Garlic
- Salt and Pepper
With only five ingredients and two steps it is so simple. So easy. So delicious. You are going to want to have this fresh homemade Pesto Sauce on hand for all the recipes.
🥣 Step by Step Instructions
Firstly, it doesn't get much easier than this. Take all your ingredients and dump them into a food processor or blender and allow to blend until everything is well combined. And viola! You are done, easy peasy!
If you do have extra time on your hands though, a quick and way to elevate the flavor of your fresh homemade Pesto Sauce is to toast your pine nuts before blending.
A simple toasting gives an additional depth of flavor that cannot be achieved in any other way. Just trust me, it's worth the extra five minutes.
Now, when it comes to toasting Pine Nuts there are three methods you can use. Toast your nuts using the microwave, stove top, or oven methods found here.
💬 Top Tips
All the more reason to love this recipe is that it is freezer friendly. Make a big batch of fresh homemade Pesto Sauce and freeze the leftovers. Then you are always ready to pull it out whenever you have a recipe that calls for pesto.
There are several ways to freeze pesto and other fresh herbs, but the easiest and my personal go to, is in ice cube trays. Scoop any remaining pesto into each compartment. Then using plastic wrap tightly press the wrap against the pesto, removing any and all air.
Place the trays in the freezer for several hours and allow to freeze entirely. Once frozen, pop the individual portions of pesto out of the tray and store in a gallon size storage bag, being careful to remove all air.
🍽 How to Serve
Served with pasta or on top of grilled chicken, as a marinade are two of our favorite ways to enjoy fresh homemade pesto. Or you could try it in place of tomato sauce on your next pizza or as a spread on your next sandwich. We also love using pesto as a dip or served with bruschetta on toasted bread.
This fresh basil pesto recipe is truly a game changer. This recipe can take you a long, long way in your weekly meal planning. Make up a batch of fresh pesto and you will have many a delicious meal in the weeks ahead. One favorite you definitely need to give a try is our Pesto and Zucchini Lasagna.
👩🏻🍳 Make it Your Own
Now that you have the basics of a pesto under your belt you can play around changing up the recipe by substituting with some of your favorite herbs, seeds, oils or cheeses. Because like we say, one of the best advantages to being the head chef in your own kitchen, is that you get to call the shots.
There are countless varieties of sauces to be made. When experimenting use the same portions as in the original recipe. Here are a few suggestions of flavors you can play with to create your own custom sauce:
- Herbs: basil, parsley, thyme, oregano, cilantro, tarragon
- Leafy greens: spinach, micro-greens, arugula, kale
- Nuts and seeds: pine nuts, cashews, pecans, walnuts, almonds, pumpkin or sunflower seeds
- Oils: olive oil, avocado oil, cashew oil, coconut oil, almond oil
- Cheeses: Parmesan, Romano, Asiago, White Cheddar, Gruyere
📖 Recipe
Fresh Homemade Pesto Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 cups basil leaves packed tightly
- ½ cup freshly grated parmesan
- ½ cup olive oil
- ⅓ cup pine nuts
- 3 garlic cloves
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to blender.
- Blend till ingredients are chopped well, but not pureed.
Video
Notes
- For extra flavor toast your pine nuts before blending.
- Freeze any remaining pesto in an ice cube tray and save in the freezer for quick meals later.
- Substitute ingredients with your favorite herbs, seeds, oils or cheeses for your own custom sauce. Suggestions are in the post if looking for inspiration.