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Vegan Pesto

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Vegan pesto is such an easy healthy swap. This recipe is dairy free and nut free but still packed with cheesy flavor!

vegan-pesto

I’m a pesto lover and I’ve got to tell you, cheese is my thing. But so many of my friends and kiddos friends can’t eat dairy or nuts anymore. This is problematic to say the least when pesto is made with copious amounts of pine nuts and parmesan cheese.  So I set out to make a delicious pesto without nuts or dairy. And we did it!

Tons of fresh basil is an absolute must in our house every summer and this recipe is a big part of that need. I grow at least 2 huge basil plants every summer just to keep us stocked for pesto, chimichurri sauce and my baked caprese chicken.

squeezing-lemon-pesto

Lemon juice brightens the whole pesto beautifully. And then the secret star….nutritional yeast! This was the first time I’ve worked with nutritional yeast having used it’s cousin brewers yeast quite a bit in our smoothies. I am in LOVE with it! It adds the most delicious cheesy flavor to this recipe.

Toss everything in your food processor (I love my Cuisinart food processor) and blend until it’s smooth. Scrape it down a few times to really get it blended up.

vegan-pesto-food-processor
vegan-pesto-spoon

Beautiful. It is perfect smeared on sandwiches, tossed with pasta or as a main component of our spiralized sweet potato salad.

Happy blending!

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Vegan Pesto Recipe

Vegan pesto is such an easy healthy swap. This recipe is dairy free and nut free but still packed with cheesy flavor!

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes
Servings 1 /4 cup
Print Pin Recipe

Ingredients

  • 2 cups packed fresh basil leaves
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast you can add more if even more “cheesy” flavor is desired
  • Juice of ½ large lemon to taste
  • 2 tablespoons pine nutes optional
  • Pinch of salt and pepper
  • water to thin out if needed

Instructions

  • 1. Blend all ingredients together. Enjoy!

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 478kcal | Carbohydrates: 47g | Protein: 14g | Fat: 29g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 24g | Sodium: 248mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 30g
Author: Dani Meyer
Course : *Vegetarian
Cuisine : American
easy recipe, sauce, vegan, pesto recipe, vegan pesto recipe, dairy free, nut free

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About Dani Meyer

Hi, I’m Dani! I’m most importantly mama to 3 wild little dudes. I spend my days cooking, photographing and exploring the Pacific Northwest. I'm a full time food blogger and online business coach.

I’m the author of Stress Free Camping, a 120+ page guide on making epic food in the woods. I’m also the founder of Food Blogger Entrepreneurs, the leading online academy and private community for food bloggers. → More About Dani

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