Pesto Recipe (6 Ingredients and 5 Minutes)
When you make something so much, technique and amount of ingredients becomes a like a second nature. It also means that I’ve tried dozens of different techniques and variations. Since I originally shared this recipe in 2011, I’ve improved my recipe greatly and found the best and easiest way to make delicious pesto. Check out my tips below and you will have one amazing pesto to serve in just a few minutes!
Quick Look: Basil Pesto
- 🕐 Prep time: 10 minutes
- 🍳 Cook time: none, no cooking required
- ⏱ Total time: 10 minutes
- 🍽 Servings: 8 (makes about 1 cup)
- 🔥 Calories: 252 per serving
- 🥘 Cook method: Food processor, pulsed
- 😋 Flavor profile: Bright, herby, garlicky, nutty, salty
- 📊 Difficulty: Easy
Table of Contents
What is Basil Pesto?
- Pesto is an amazing uncooked sauce that originated in Genoa, Italy. Literally translated, it means “pounded” or “crushed” because it was originally made using mortar and pestle.
- This classic sauce is fresh, aromatic, with an amazing smooth and flavorful taste. Traditional pesto consists of six simple ingredients: basil, garlic, olive oil, dry aged cheese, pine nuts, and salt.
- It is incredibly easy to make and all you need is a blender. Within 5 minutes, you will have this incredible sauce to add to pasta and so many more dishes.
Key Ingredients and Notes
- Basil: Use fresh Genovese basil, not dried, or sweet Italian as another option. If you’re picking your own, avoid leaves from a plant that has flowered or bolted. Bolted basil turns bitter.
- Pine nuts (and substitutes): I don’t toast my pine nuts because I genuinely can’t taste a difference once they’re blended with everything else. Cashews work well as a substitute and blend up creamier. Walnuts work too, but I find their flavor stronger and more assertive than the other options.
- Cheese: Freshly grated or chopped block pieces of Parmesan, Parmigiano-Reggiano, or Pecorino all work. Pecorino is sharper and saltier than Parmesan, so if you use it, hold back on added salt until you taste the finished pesto.
- Olive oil: Since this is an uncooked sauce, the oil’s flavor comes through directly. Taste your olive oil on its own before using it. A very peppery or bitter extra virgin oil will carry that bitterness straight into the pesto. I also like to use avocado oil when making pesto, it’s neutral and mild.
How To Make Pesto: Steps and Tips
- Make sure your ingredients are fresh and the best. In a simple sauce like that, each ingredient count.
- Add half the oil in the beginning and the other half while pulsing.
- Pulse, don’t blend. Pulsing keeps the basil from over-processing, which is what keeps the color bright green and the flavor clean instead of bitter.
- Scrape down the sides between pulses. Ingredients tend to climb the walls of the bowl, and a few scrapes ensure everything blends evenly instead of leaving pockets of whole basil.
- PRO TIP: Don’t use too much salt, remember that dry aged Italian cheeses tend to be quite salty. Start small and taste after pesto is blended to see if you need more.
- Drizzle a little extra olive oil over the top of pesto after transferring it into a glass jar. I find it helpful to prevent the top of pesto getting dark. (Although, it is still completely safe even if it does get dark. That is simply oxidation.)
Ways To Serve Pesto
Pesto is so versatile, you can use it in many dishes from breakfast to dinner!
- You can use it as an appetizer, dip, or spread on a crostini, crackers, and veggies.
- Try mixing it with shrimp pesto pasta or spreading it over meats like baked chicken and crispy skin salmon.
- You can add it to a white lasagna or a classic lasagna.
- Mix it with homemade Alfredo sauce in a simple comforting pesto Alfredo pasta dish. It’s also great mixed with homemade gnocchi.
- Add a dollop to classic caprese salad. Spread some on my caprese quick bread (it’s divine!)
Storing and Freezing Instructions
- Storing: Store homemade pesto in small glass jars with an air-tight lid. I like to divide the batch into 2 or 3 small jars that way I will not open it too often. After you fill the jar, drizzle a little olive oil over the top and close it tight with a lid. Store in the refrigerator for up to a week.
- Basil pesto freezes beautifully and you can portion it into small amounts of freeze 1/2 cup or a cup at a time.
- Small portions: use ice cube trays and divide ready pesto among the cups. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil over the top of each cup. Freeze for 2-3 hours until it’s completely frozen and then transfer the pesto cubes into a freezer zip-lock bag. Label and place back in the freezer.
- Larger portions: transfer either 1/2 cup or 1 cup portions of pesto into freezer zip-lock bags. Get all the air out and seal each bag. Label and freeze for up to 4 months.
Classic Pesto Recipe FAQs
Cutting and processing basil activates an enzyme that reacts with air and causes browning. It’s oxidation, not spoilage, and the pesto is still safe to eat.
Drizzle a layer of olive oil over the top before sealing the jar, and store it in the fridge. This slows oxidation but doesn’t stop it completely.
Over-processing the basil, using old or rancid pine nuts, or using a very peppery extra virgin olive oil are the most common causes. Pulsing instead of running the processor continuously helps prevent this. A touch of sugar can help balance out the slight bitterness you could get (start with 1/4-1/2 tsp)
About 1 cup of pesto, this entire recipe, is enough to coat a full pound of pasta with a little pasta cooking water added to loosen the sauce.
It’s optional. I skip toasting because I don’t notice a difference once the pine nuts are blended with the other ingredients.
Yes, this recipe is naturally gluten free. Always double check any packaged ingredients if you have a sensitivity.
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Basil Pesto Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 oz basil about 2 cups packed
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 oz shredded Parmesan cheese about 2/3 cup
- 3 oz pine nuts
- 1/2 cup olive oil (+2 Tbsp)
- Salt
- a little more olive oil to drizzle over the top when divided into jars
Instructions
- In a food processor, add about half the oil.
- Add basil, pine nuts, cheese, garlic, and a pinch of salt to the blender and pour remaining olive oil over the top.
- Pulse several times to begin to blend. Scrape sides of the blender and pulse a few more times. You may need to scrape the sides again and pulse a few more times until all ingredients are well blended.
- Salt pro tip: don't use too much salt, remember that dry aged Italian cheeses tend to be quite salty. Start small and taste after pesto is blended to see if you need more.
Video
Notes
- Make sure your ingredients are fresh and the best. In a simple sauce like that, each ingredient count.
- Add half the oil in the beginning and the other half while pulsing.
- Pulse, don’t blend.
- Drizzle a little extra olive oil over the top of pesto after transferring it into a glass jar. I find it helpful to prevent the top of pesto getting dark. (Although, it is still completely safe even if it does get dark. That is simply oxidation.)
Nutrition
Originally Published on Will Cook For Smiles on August 24, 2011.
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All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
Long time fan, first time commenter…
I’ve been making your recipe for the past few years. It’s absolutely perfect, really tasty, easy to make and never disappoints. My extremely picky son loves it! I always make a double batch and either gift the second jar or make pesto cubes to use throughout the year. Thank you!
when making pesto, do NOT use the flowers or stems. makes it bitter..i like cashew nuts.. makes it creamy (can not buy any fresh pine nuts here, i’ve used walnuts..just make sure they are FRESH) i remove the flowers just as soon as they appear, all the energy goes to produce more leaves,..towards the end of the season i let the flower go to produce seed for next year …will try this receipe…sounds like keeper….
I just made this recipe and it is so good I’m eating it on crackers. Hope there’s enough left to put on the pasta for dinner!!! BTW, I didn’t have pine nuts, but did have walnuts, so I toasted them and….. WONDERFUL!!!
Mmmm yum! I am glad the walnuts were good with it, thanks for letting me know! 🙂
The best Pesto recipe I’ve found. What makes it the best, the technique, oil in first, then basil etc. also pulse, not blend. Have made this multiple times and turns out perfect, always, thank you.
Aww thank you! That makes me so happy that you like it so much!
Hi Lyuba,We grow our own basil and making pesto is so much fun. Your recipe sounds great, I will give it a try. Hope you are having a great week end and thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday.Come back soon!Miz Helen
Now I can make something besides alcoholic drinks and ice cream in my new Vita Mix….that is if I sell my first born for the price of the pine nuts. Loved your post!
My basil is almost a tree. I guess it’s time to harvest and make some pesto! Thanks for sharing this recipe at Cast Party Wednesday. I hope to see you again next week.
If you want to be true ‘Italian Pesto’ you have to use the pine nuts and pecorino cheese, do not get to hear from Liguria that uses nuts and Parmesan cheese!
Angela very Italian gourmet
My basil plant is doing great too. Pesto is the best–I think I will make some today. Thanks for the recipe. Have a great day.