This is my tried and true method for making the BEST fresh basil pesto with toasted pine nuts, freshly grated Parmesan, and a few glugs of quality olive oil.
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“Made a double batch, toasted the pine nuts and added some spinach for greenness. Flavor is fabulous! Love this recipe!” -Kim, FoodieCrush reader
The Classic Pesto Recipe I’ve Been Making for Years
Adding a dollop of homemade pesto is an easy way to amp up the flavor in a variety of dishes. Most home cooks have only tastes the jarred stuff, but scratch pesto made with fresh basil and toasted pine nuts is in a league of its own.
This pesto recipe is extra easy because I make it in the food processor. But here’s the deal: The secret sauce for the best pesto is all about the proportion of ingredients. Add too much garlic or not enough olive oil and pesto can go from great to gag in a hot minute.
But I’ve got you covered. My trial and error is your shortcut to making the best homemade basil pesto sauce you’ll be loving all summer long.
Enjoy!
What is Pesto Usually Made of?
The full recipe, with amounts, can be found in the recipe card below.
- Pine nuts — These pricey little nuts are quite fatty and when blended with the basil and olive oil they emulsify and create a naturally creamy pesto.
- Grated hard Italian cheese — Such as Parmesan or pecorino cheese. The cheese gives this sauce body and a salty bite. I use finely grated or ground Parmesan from my deli counter. (Avoid the stuff in the green can at all costs!)
- Garlic — A key ingredient to pesto. Just one clove adds garlicky flavor without overwhelming the fresh basil.
- Fresh basil leaves — Genovese (Italian basil, aka the basil you’ll find at pretty much any grocery store) works best for this.
- Olive oil — Use fresh and fruity olive oil for the lightest flavor. A light extra virgin olive oil keeps this sauce tasting fresh, and when added slowly to the rest of the ingredients provides the perfect emulsion.
- A squeeze of fresh lemon juice — Acid keeps the color bright and adds just a touch of brightness to balance out the flavor.
How to Make Pesto with Fresh Basil
- Toast the pine nuts to deepen their nutty flavor. Place the pine nuts in a dry skillet or frying pan over medium-high, and cook for a few minutes or until you can smell their toasted aroma, shaking the pan or stirring as they cook. Be sure to keep a watchful eye. I’ve burned more nuts than I can count because these babies turn from lightly toasted to burned in just a few seconds. Immediately remove the nuts from the hot pan into a bowl or plate so they don’t continue to toast.
- Blend the nuts, cheese, and garlic into a paste. Add the toasted pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, and garlic to the bowl of the food processor and process until finely minced.
- For bright green pesto, add the basil AFTER processing the nuts and garlic. Similar to chopping basil with a dull knife, overworking the basil in the processor or in a blender will turn it dark where it was cut.
- Stream in the olive oil. While the processor is still running, slowly drizzle the olive oil through the chute. Season with kosher salt and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.
Ways to Use It
Of course, you can eat pasta with pesto, but why stop there? Pesto is a fab alternative to mayo, mustard, or even sour cream, and it’s delicious mixed into mashed potatoes or eggs. Here are a few ideas to sub in for a tastier, herbaceous bite.
- Toss with al dente pasta, herbs, and veggies for a refreshing pesto pasta salad
- Add it to your favorite chicken dishes, like caprese chicken and pesto chicken
- Ditch the mayo and make a pesto potato salad instead
- Add instant flavor to shrimp or chicken and serve over a bed of greens for a killer pesto arugula salad
- Add pesto to scrambled eggs
- Dollop on a baked potato instead of butter
- Use as a spread instead of mayo for a turkey sandwich
- Make it a savory addition to your morning omelet or slather it on avocado toast
- Mix with tuna for a Mediterranean-style salad on greens
- Plop into a creamy tomato soup with chunks of mozzarella cheese for a slurpy caprese soup
- Toss into white rice for an herbed version that’s way better than what comes from the box
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below, leave a comment to tell us what you think, and tag me on Instagram @foodiecrush.
Basil Pesto Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup pine nuts , toasted
- ½ cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese plus more for garnish
- 1 garlic clove , roughly chopped
- 2 cups fresh basil leaves , washed and stemmed and finely packed
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ lemon , juiced
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Add roughly chopped garlic, toasted pine nuts, and finely grated parmesan cheese to the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth. Add the fresh basil leaves and pulse until chopped.
- While the processor is running, drizzle the olive oil through the shoot until the mixture is emulsified and smooth. Add the lemon juice, salt, and pepper, and whiz again.
- Taste for seasoning and adjust to your liking.
Notes
Nutrition
FAQs
I prefer using the food processor over a blender because the large bladed processor quickly minces the ingredients with just a smidge of cleanup afterward.
Absolutely do if you’re up for the arm workout. But for me, I go the lazy way and just hit the ON button instead.
I’ve read tips for blanching the basil before adding it to the mixing process to preserve the vibrant green hue. I tried it but discovered it didn’t matter much in the color department and the basil lost some of its flavor. So I don’t bother with that step.
While pine nuts are my favorite nut to use in pesto, they’re definitely more expensive than other varieties.
Other types of nuts to use in pesto instead of pine nuts include walnuts, almonds (I like Marcona almonds), cashews, pepitas, pistachios, sunflower seeds, and hemp seeds (safe for nut allergies).
No matter what kind of nut you use, be sure to toast them! Toasting maximizes the flavor of the nut and adds a great depth of flavor to the pesto.
While basil is the most traditional pesto ingredient, switching up what is in season or different flavor profiles can be fun to experiment with.
You can also use parsley, arugula, spinach, mint, kale, dill, carrot tops, and beet greens.
Finely grated Parmesan cheese gives pesto its distinctive salty nutty bite, but it also acts as a thickener too. Use these cheeses in place of Parmesan if you want: asiago, pecorino romano, and grana padano.
More Homemade Pesto Recipes
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Yusuf
Simple but properly balanced. This was served with gnocchi and roasted vegetables, and I must add that there were none left over for tomorrow’s lunch.
Hayley
Thank you Yusuf, we’re so happy you enjoyed it and that sounds like such a yummy way to serve it!
Carla @ Foodie Digital
Simple and so perfectly balanced. I served this over gnocchi and roasted veggies and let me say that there were no leftovers for lunch tomorrow.
So glad you liked the balance of ingredients. Thanks for sharing!
Sanjay
It came out amazing. Thanks so much for the pesto sauce recipe. But I added 1.5 -2 tsp of finely ground pepper instead of 1/2 tsp. Felt the flavor was better.
Kim Tornberg
Made a double batch, toasted the pine nuts and added some spinach for greenness. Flavor is fabulous! Love this recipe!
Ashley @ Foodie Crush
Sounds amazing!
Wilma
I love basil and love this recipe. I just made it and it is all I can to do to not eat it by the spoonfuls right now. Thanks for posting!
gail petchenik
Is it alright to can pesto? Every article i have read says to freeze. But i would like to can it?
Gail Easters
I made it and it is awesome . Thank you for posting the recipe. I have gobs of basil in my garden and plan to make more pesto to freeze and a few jars to share.
Sabrina S.B.
beautiful pesto, beautiful photos, love pesto and thank you for the recipe, tweaks and serving suggestions!
Laura | Tutti Dolci
My basil plants are out of control right now so I’m definitely making a big batch of pesto this afternoon!
Megan Davis
Thanks Heidi for making sure “my pesto is the besto and better than the resto”. :) Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Diana Lopes
I’ve never made basil pesto myself, but it must be one of the most delicious things ever. Thank you for sharing the recipe!
Janet
Great article, great recipe. I usually use walnuts in my pesto, mostly for reasons of costs, and like to toast them and rub off at least some of the bitter skin–don’t I wish I could find high quality and affordable pine nuts on a regular basis. I also have issues with that “1 clove” of garlic thing which doesn’t take into consideration the widely varying size of a clove, or the fact that the intensity of garlic can vary a lot. I’m not kidding about the size in which a single clove can be larger than 4-5 others. My family likes garlic–about 1 tsp of finely minced mild summer garlic, 1/2 -2/4 tsp of stronger end of winter garlic.