You are going to love this fresh, simple, and flavorful 6 ingredient recipe! Serve it with pasta, chicken, or on pizza for a delicious dinner.
Recipe Origins
Pesto was first invented in Genoa, Italy in the 19th century. The first time it can be found written in a cookbook was in 1863 in La Cuciniera Genovese by Giovanni Battista Ratto.
Going even further back, the Ancient Romans enjoyed a similar sauce that is thought to be what today’s pesto was based off of. The Ancient Romans ate moretum, which included pine nuts, garlic, salt, cheese, olive oil, and vinegar.
These days, pesto is a common sauce, often being found on restaurant menus or jarred in grocery stores. This recipe is different, though. It is creamy and dreamy! You’ll never want the store bought kind again.
Why Make this Recipe
- Simple: The only thing you need to do to make this recipe is put the ingredients in a blender and blend it up! Add it to pasta, chicken, or pizza and suddenly you have top tier flavor with little effort
- Fresh: Making pesto from scratch.. Fresh herbs… citrusy lemon… toasted pine nuts… It all just leads to a level of freshness you can’t get from a jar! Trust me, you want to make this one from scratch.
What Do I Need to Make this Recipe
Tools
- Blender/Food Processor
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
Ingredients
- Basil: Use fresh basil leaves for this recipe.
- Parmesan Cheese: Use fresh, high quality grated parmesan cheese. The cheese should be grated so finely that it looks like snow.
- Lemon Juice: I like using a freshly juiced lemon.
- Pine Nuts: Use unroasted, unsalted pine nuts for this recipe. If you want to skip the roasting step in the instructions, you can buy them roasted, but still make sure they are unsalted.
How to Make this Recipe
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Step 1: Toast the Pine Nuts
Toast the pine nuts in a small, ungreased pan on the stove (over medium heat) until they begin to get some brown color.
Step 2: Blend the Pesto
Add all ingredients (including pine nuts) into a blender and blend. Add more olive oil incrementally if the pesto needs to be thinner.
Expert Tips
- You can also add some lemon zest if you like a really lemon-y pesto
- If you don’t like pine nuts, you can also use walnuts, pistachios, or any other kind of nut that sounds good. You may need to adjust the amount of oil for taste if you do that.
- If you want smaller portions of frozen pesto, you can freeze the pesto in ice cube trays and then transfer the cubes to a plastic bag. This is great to pull out when you are making eggs or need a single serving of pesto for pasta.
- During the time of its invention, Giovanni Battista Ratto suggested that when basil wasn’t available, it was possible to make Basil Pesto Sauce WITHOUT basil! He suggests using a mixture of marjoram and parsley. I have never tried this method, but if you do, D’d love to hear what you think!
- Traditionally pesto is prepared with a mortar and pestle, but I find the blender to be much simpler.
Recipe FAQs
How to Store Homemade Pesto
You can keep your homemade pesto in a mason jar in the fridge for 3-5 days from the time you make it. Simply pour it on hot pasta to serve. You can also microwave it if you desire.
How to Freeze Homemade Pesto
You can freeze the entire mason jar filled with this Easy Pesto Recipe. Simply put the mason jar in the freezer. It can stay there for 9 months to a year.
What Can I Make with Fresh Pesto?
There are so many great options to choose from after making your homemade pesto! It’s great over noodles, with chicken, or even on a pizza.
These are some of my favorite recipes you can make using your Basil Pesto Sauce:
- Creamy Pesto Pasta
- Basil Pesto Chicken in the Instant Pot
- Pesto Meatballs
- Shrimp and Ricotta Pasta Bake
Did you like this Easy Pesto Recipe? If so, make sure to check out these other recipes I picked out just for you:
- Easy Pasta Sauce Recipe
- The Best Vodka Sauce Recipe
- Instant Pot Pasta with Palomino Sauce
- Homemade Ricotta Cheese
- Instant Pot Polenta
Easy Pesto Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh basil, densely packed
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- Juice of ½ lemon
- 1 tsp Garlic
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ½ cup Pine nuts
Instructions
- Toast the pine nuts in a small, ungreased pan on the stove until they begin to get some brown color.
- Add all ingredients (including pine nuts) into a blender and blend. Add more olive oil incrementally if the pesto needs to be thinner.
Notes
- Basil: Use fresh basil leaves for this recipe.
- Parmesan Cheese: Use fresh, high quality grated parmesan cheese. The cheese should be grated so finely that it looks like snow.
- Lemon Juice: I like using a freshly juiced lemon.
- Pine Nuts: Use unroasted, unsalted pine nuts for this recipe. If you want to skip the roasting step in the instructions, you can buy them roasted, but still make sure they are unsalted.
- If you want smaller portions of frozen pesto, you can freeze the pesto in ice cube trays and then transfer the cubes to a plastic bag. This is great to pull out when you are making eggs or need a single serving of pesto for pasta.
- During the time of its invention, Giovanni Battista Ratto suggested that when basil wasn’t available, it was possible to make Basil Pesto Sauce WITHOUT basil! He suggests using a mixture of marjoram and parsley. I have never tried this method, but if you do, D’d love to hear what you think!
- Traditionally pesto is prepared with a mortar and pestle, but I find the blender to be much simpler.
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