This vegan almond pesto is a Superhit in my home. My son loves it so much more than the store bought stuff. Of course, I season it to suit our tastes.
If you love plant-based pesto, then this one really ticks all the flavour boxes. If you are not looking to have vegan pesto, then go ahead and add the cheese of your choice. These days you get vegetarian parmesan too.
This one is so good as a pasta sauce, in salads and in sandwiches. You will love it and so easy to do as well.
You will like guacamole, baba ganoush, Indian mint sauce, green chutney and gochujang aioli.
Ingredients
Fresh Basil Leaves: We grow a lot of basil at home, so this is just perfect for the fresh flavour of pesto.
Nutritional Yeast: A tbsp. a nutritional yeast really adds that cheesy taste to the pesto.
Almonds: I prefer almonds in my pesto because I love their taste compared to the traditional pine nuts. I roast them lightly for an even delicious flavour. Just 4 minutes at 400F in the air fryer is all it needs. Or you can roast them on a skillet.
Garlic: I use a couple of cloves. It’s so delicious.
Lemon Juice: Love its vibrant citrusy taste in the pest.
Extra virgin Olive Oil: Makes the pesto smooth and so delicious.
Salt and Pepper: I use them for seasoning the pesto.
Variations and Substitutions
You can use any nuts like walnuts, cashews and the traditional pine nuts in this recipe. There will be a slight variation in the flavour.
You can add baby spinach or arugula too here for a different taste. Sometimes I add avocado for creaminess.
Instructions
This is a fairly simple recipe and all it needs is to assemble the ingredients. I lightly toast the almonds but you can use them raw too. If toasting them, you can air fry at 200C or 400F for 4 minutes. Let them completely cool before using them.
Wash the basil leaves well and dry them. Now take basil leaves, nutritional yeast, garlic, salt, pepper and almonds in a food processor or blender.
Pulse till everything is coarsely chopped.Add in the lemon juice and pulse more. Finally add the olive oil slowly while the processor is running till your pesto has a nice sheen and is mostly smooth.
I leave the almonds slightly grainy. They taste so good and fresh. You can add more olive oil if your pesto is too dry.
Taste and adjust seasonings. Your delightful vegan almond pesto is ready to enjoy. You can store it in a bottle and refrigerate. It keeps well for a week.
Expert Tips
1. Use fresh and good quality ingredients. Fresh basil, toasted almonds and good extra virgin olive oil makes this pesto sing.
2. Balance the flavours as per taste. The citrus from the lemon juice to balance the slight bitterness from the basil leaves. Use salt as per preference.
3. I would not advise to skip the garlic. It tastes so good.
4. You can store the pesto in an airtight jar for upto a week in your fridge.
5. You can skip nutritional yeast if you like but the flavour does alter especially the nutty cheesiness.
📖 Recipe Card
Vegan Almond Pesto
Equipment
- 1 Food Processor
Ingredients
- 2 cup basil leaves
- ½ cup almonds
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp. nutritional yeast
- 2 cloves garlic
- ¼ tsp. salt
- ½ tsp. pepper
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Instructions
- This is a fairly simple recipe and all it needs is to assemble the ingredients. I lightly toast the almonds but you can use them raw too. If toasting them, you can air fry at 200C or 400F for 4 minutes. Let them completely cool before using them.
- Wash the basil leaves well and dry them. Now take basil leaves, nutritional yeast, garlic, salt, pepper and almonds in a food processor or blender. Pulse till everything is coarsely chopped.
- Add in the lemon juice and pulse more. Finally add the olive oil slowly while the processor is running till your pesto has a nice sheen and is mostly smooth.
- I leave the almonds slightly grainy. They taste so good and fresh. You can add more olive oil if your pesto is too dry.
- Taste and adjust seasonings. Your delightful vegan almond pesto is ready to enjoy. You can store it in a bottle and refrigerate. It keeps well for a week.
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