Basil Walnut Pesto Recipe (Vegan)
This vegan basil walnut pesto recipe is fresh, flavorful and rich in healthy monounsaturated fats. It is incredibly easy and fast to make, and can be used to flavour a variety of dishes.
Equipment
- Blender or food processor
- Spatula
- Measuring cups and spoons
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh basil leaves
- 3/4 cup garlic infused olive oil (or extra virgin olive oil + 1 garlic clove)
- 3/4 cup walnuts
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Remove the stems from your fresh basil and once you’ve got roughly 2 cups worth, put it into your food processor or blender.
- Pour in ¾ cup of olive oil. Add your walnuts, nutritional yeast and salt on top. Using a spatula, push everything down as far as you can into the bottom of your blender or food processor.
- Plug your blender or food processor in and blend until everything breaks down into a pesto sauce consistency.
- Serve immediately! Store your leftover pesto in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Video
Notes
If you are using a blender, sometimes your pesto won’t break down as well as with a food processor. If this is the case, you can either add an additional ¼ cup of olive oil (1 cup in total) and keep blending OR turn off your blender and use your spatula to scrape everything back down to the bottom of the blender. Then go between pulsing and scraping until you’ve sufficiently broken down the pesto into your desired consistency. Make sure that you don’t ever put your spatula into the blender while it is blending, and ideally unplug it from the wall when you do for maximum safety.
Nutrition
Calories: 181kcalCarbohydrates: 1.3gProtein: 1.7gFat: 19.3gSaturated Fat: 2.2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1.7gMonounsaturated Fat: 11.8gTrans Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 109mgPotassium: 51.6mgFiber: 0.7gSugar: 0g
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