Pesto Sauce
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Homemade pesto sauce is easy to whip up and delicious on just about everything—from pastas and pizzas to salads and sandwiches.
One of my favorite things about summer cooking is stepping out my back door to pick fresh herbs from my potted herb garden. It always amazes me how the tiny seedlings I plant in May grow into more herbs than I can possibly use up by August. When the basil is overflowing, it’s pesto time! Pesto, or pesto alla Genovese, is a vibrant, garlicky green sauce from Genoa, Italy. While the traditional method uses a mortar and pestle, these days, a food processor makes it a breeze. This versatile sauce is fantastic on everything—from pastas and pizzas to salads, vegetable soup, and sandwiches. What’s even better? It freezes like a dream, so you can enjoy a taste of summer all year long!
What You’ll Need To Make Pesto Sauce
Traditional pesto is made with garlic, nuts, salt, basil leaves, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and extra-virgin olive oil. It’s important to use top-quality ingredients, as the flavors really shine through.
For the cheese, be sure to use authentic Parmigiano-Reggiano from Italy; domestic Parmesan is not the same thing. You can always tell if the cheese is authentic by looking at the rind, which is embossed with the name over and over. If the cheese is already grated, it should be labeled “Parmigiano-Reggiano,” not “Parmesan.”
For the nuts, I use walnuts instead of the more traditional pine nuts for a few reasons. First, I always seem to have walnuts in the house (pine nuts can be very pricey). Second, in recent years an increasing number of people, including me, have fallen prey to a bizarre problem with pine nuts called Pine Mouth Syndrome, a bitter, metallic taste in the mouth that develops a day or two after eating pine nuts. It can last for weeks and make eating or drinking anything very unpleasant. (You can use pecans or almonds, too.)
Step-by-Step Instructions
To begin, combine the walnuts and garlic in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped.
Add the basil leaves, salt, and pepper.
Process until finely chopped.
Then, with the food processor running, add the olive oil through the feed tube in a steady stream.
Add the Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Process again until smooth, and that’s your pesto sauce.
How To Store & Freeze Pesto
Use the pesto immediately or store it in a tightly sealed jar or air-tight plastic container, covered with a thin layer of olive oil (this seals out the air and prevents the sauce from oxidizing, which would turn it an ugly brown color). It will keep in the refrigerator for about a week.
Pesto can also be frozen in an airtight container for up to 6 months. I suggest dividing it into the compartments of an ice cube tray and freezing. Once frozen, remove the cubes from the tray and put in a sealable plastic bag or airtight container. You can add the defrosted cubes to vegetable soup, pasta salad with pesto, zucchini noodles, pesto pizza, eggs, sandwiches, and baked potatoes.
Video Tutorial
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The Best Basic Pesto
Homemade pesto sauce is easy to whip up and delicious on just about everything—from pastas and pizzas to salads and sandwiches.
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup walnuts
- 2 large garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 2 cups packed fresh basil leaves
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ⅔ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ½ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Instructions
- Place the walnuts and garlic in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process until coarsely chopped, about 10 seconds. Add the basil leaves, salt, and pepper and process until mixture resembles a paste, about 1 minute. With the processor running, slowly pour the olive oil through the feed tube and process until the pesto is thoroughly blended. Add the Parmesan and process a minute more. Use pesto immediately or store in a tightly sealed jar or air-tight plastic container, covered with a thin layer of olive oil (this seals out the air and prevents the pesto from oxidizing, which would turn it an ugly brown color). It will keep in the refrigerator for about a week.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: Pesto can be frozen in an airtight container for up to 6 months. You can also divide your prepared pesto into the compartments of an ice cube tray and freeze. Once it’s frozen, remove the pesto cubes from the tray and put in a sealable plastic bag or airtight container. You can add the defrosted pesto cubes to soups, pasta dishes, eggs, sandwiches, and potatoes.
Nutrition Information
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- Serving size: 2 Tbsp.
- Calories: 159
- Fat: 17 g
- Saturated fat: 3 g
- Carbohydrates: 1 g
- Sugar: 0 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Sodium: 161 mg
- Cholesterol: 4 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
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contains way too much olive oil. I cut the olive oil in 1/2 and it was still extra greasy and very rich. I’ll use an other recipe next time.
Can you recommend a good substitute for the pine nuts? (I have a tree nut allergy) and miss good pesto!!
Walnuts would be a great substitute. Hope you enjoy!
Hi, Jenn! I love your pesto recipe, however, I have a ton of arugula in the fridge right now – could I do a 1:1 swap with the basil to make an arugula pesto? Would I need to add a little sugar or make any other adjustments? Thank you! Bethany
Hi Bethany, I haven’t tried it, but I think this would be great with arugula! Because arugula definitely has a sharper flavor, you may want to add a pinch of sugar (but I’d make it as is first, taste it, and then add a pinch if necessary). I’d love to hear how it turns out!
I did try it with arugula and it turned out very tasty! I did have to add about 1/4 tsp sugar to counteract the bitterness, and I used pecorino since it was what I had. I added an extra 1/4 tsp salt, as well, since the pecorino is a slightly less salty cheese.
Glad it turned out nicely — thanks for reporting back! 🙂
This pesto is the best I have ever tasted. I always have alot of basil in my garden but have never tried making pesto. I didn’t have a food processor so this time I used my blender…took a little while to get the basil blended but I was patient and it paid off. I tried to “drizzle” a little olive oil over the top for refrigerator storage…but may have got a little too much. I assume you just stir that in before using. Any suggestions on how to “drizzle” a small amount. I am heading to my garden to pick more basil to make more for my freezer. THANK YOU for sharing.
Hi Cheryl, Glad you enjoy the pesto! You might find it easier to pour some onto a spoon, and then drizzle it from the spoon. But I wouldn’t worry about it too much — you really can’t have too much olive oil (and yes, just stir it in). 🙂
Delicious! This was the first time I had ever made pesto, I had so much basil in the garden this year I thought I’d give it a try. I used walnuts (and always will after this), it was easy to make and the family loved it. Thanks for a great recipe.
Awesome recipe, thanks Jenn!!
Question: I’ve read that if you’re freezing pesto, you shouldn’t add the cheese, but instead freeze all the ingredients and then add the cheese separately, when you actually use the pesto.
True? False? Seems like a pain that would make a difference to people with a more sophisticated palate than mine. 😉 Thanks!
Hi Jane, I freeze pesto with the cheese. 🙂
Amazing! I was always told I had to use pine nuts for pesto and I don’t always have those around but I always have walnuts since my husband likes them. Made exactly as written and it was hard to stop licking the spoon! Will be using it to make your pesto pizza. Thank you.
Perfect. Made it for pesto pizza a bit later, exactly as written. Tastes the way pesto should taste.
Delicious and easy. I suggest less salt and pepper.
This recipe is awesome! I’ve had a bumper crop of basil this season and made it several times. I’ve given it away to friends and family and always received comments of “delicious”, the best” and “please share the recipe”!
I make this all the time, great recipe! I like to use it as a base for my pizza, with sliced tomatoes instead of tomato sauce. I freeze this in large quantities too, but instead of freezing in ice cube trays, I just put it in a quart size ziplock bag and lay it flat to freeze. It’s super easy just to break off what you need. I have also subbed raw cashews for the walnuts or pine nuts because that was what I had. I’ve had great luck with my basil plant this year so my freezer is stocked!