Pesto is a delicious and versatile condiment that you can serve on eggs, chicken, fish, lamb, salad, vegetables or serve as a dip or a fancy addition on top of soup. Pesto gives flavour and freshness to any dish and is a great way to add nutrients to savoury dishes.
Did you know most store-bought pesto contains dairy from parmesan cheese making it unsuitable for those with dairy sensitivity? Most also contain a low-grade oil such as canola oil and some even contain preservatives.
Making your own fresh basil pesto is super simple, delicious and a healthy alternative to store-bought or pre-packaged versions.
Read my blog post here on why you should include more olive oil in your diet.
Nutrition 101:
- Not only is this basil pesto dairy free but this recipe uses high quality healthy ingredients such as olive oil and fresh basil adding nutritional value to any savoury dish.
- Basil possess anti-bacterial properties and is a great digestive aid and also has anti-inflammatory effects helping inflammatory conditions such as arthritis or inflammatory bowel disorders.
- Rich in anti-oxidants, basil also possesses properties that are anti-ageing and promote vitality.
- Olive oil is a great source of healthy fat especially good for healthy skin, hair and hormone health.
Dietary Notes:
This recipe is gluten free, dairy free, egg free and soy free
To make this recipe low FODMAP and nut free see recipe notes below.
Basil Pesto (dairy free)
Ingredients
- 3 cups (packed) Fresh Basil leaves
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon Lemon juice
- 1/4 cup Raw Cashews, Pine Nuts or Macadamia Nuts
- 1 Fresh Garlic Clove, peeled and crushed
- sea salt
Instructions
- In a small blender or stab mixer with attachment, blend basil with half the amount of olive oil until finely chopped.
- Add lemon juice, cashews, pine nuts or macadamia nuts, garlic, salt and remainder of oil. Blend until smooth. Add a little more oil or a splash of water if needed. Adjust seasoning to liking.
- Use pesto immediately or store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.
Notes
- Serve as a dip with raw vegetable sticks, Gluten Free, Grain Free Crackers or dollop over chicken, fish, meat or eggs.
- Add a tablespoon of pesto to cooked vegetables and toss through.
- Add 1 fresh, de-seeded chilli or 1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes to ingredients before blending.
- Choose your favourite nuts such as cashews, pine nuts or macadamia nuts to make this pesto creamy and nutritious.
- Blending basil with a little olive oil before adding the remaining ingredients help to create a smooth and well-blended pesto.
- Purchasing fresh herbs from farmer’s markets is usually much more affordable than store bought. You often can get much larger bunches that are extremely fresh and vibrant.
- To keep your basil fresh, wrap in kitchen paper towel and store in an airtight bag in the crisper section of your refrigerator or alternatively stand bunch of basil in a glass of water.
- After each use top pesto with extra olive oil to keep fresh. You can also freeze pesto in ice cube trays and pop out individual serves and defrost as needed or store frozen pesto cubes in an airtight freezer bag in freezer.
- Omit Nuts from pesto. Alternatively you can substitute nuts for seeds such as sunflower seed kernels or pumpkin seeds.
- Try our Nut Free Pesto recipe.
- Omit fresh garlic and use garlic infused olive oil for added garlic flavour.
Hi 🙂 This recipe sounds delicious and i will have a go at making it with my surplus basil.
Am I able to freeze or store in pantry ( can it?)
Many thanks
You can freeze pesto in an ice tray. Once frozen, pop out the frozen pesto ice cubes and store in a sealed bag/ freezer-proof container in freezer. Take out portions as you need. It does need to be kept refrigerated so I would store in fridge or freezer. Hope this helps!