Homemade Basil Pesto comes together in minutes in your food processor or blender and only requires a handful of simple ingredients: basil, walnuts, lemon, extra virgin olive oil and kosher salt. No cooking required for this classic Italian sauce.
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Plus I have included tips on freezing your pesto- you will have enough to last the entire winter!
Pesto is great over grilled chicken and seafood- like shrimp skewers, drizzled over crispy potatoes and of course, perfect with an Italian salad! This fresh Pesto also can be a great garnish for Roasted Fennel.
If you have an over abundance of fresh basil, this Homemade Basil Vinaigrette is also a great recipe.
RELATED: If you want a smaller batch of pesto for one dinner, pop over to this recipe for Pesto Pasta. or Pesto Cream Sauce. Or if you make this recipe, give it a try in this delicious Pesto Lasagna Skillet Recipe.
Listen To This Recipe
You can listen to the full recipe on the podcast “Let’s Make Dinner“. I share all the tips and tricks plus recipes to use your fresh pesto!
Why You Will Love This Pesto Recipe
- It is easy to make and ready in minutes.
- Only uses simple ingredients, most of which you probably have!
- Freezes perfectly for later use.
- It is a bright and healthy sauce.
- Great way to use up an excess of fresh homegrown basil.
What is Pesto
If you have never had Basil Pesto, it is a traditional Italian sauce, made from fresh basil leaves. It is a blended herb sauce that is great on chicken, seafood, or pasta.
It has a strong flavor of basil mixed with a tartness of lemon and nuttiness from the olive oil and nuts.
Fresh Basil
Every summer I plant basil, just in a pot, on my patio. And every summer I have an overwhelming abundance of basil. More than I could ever use by randomly plucking a few leaves for my pasta.
That is where this pesto recipe comes in handy. It is a great way to use up all that fresh basil, making sure it doesn’t go to waste.
Tips on growing a healthy, long lasting basil plant:
- As the basil plant grows pinch off a few of the new, tiny, itty-bitty leaves growing in the center of the larger leaves. This allows the plant to grow wider and bushier.
- Do not let your basil plant go to seed. As the plant grows taller and older it will form flowers at the top. Pluck those flower buds off, down to the nearest basil leaves. This will allow the plant to grow longer and not dry out.
- If your plant does flower at the top this is the time you can harvest most of the plant. Cut each stem towards the bottom; count up two or three leaf patterns and cut just above the second or third set of leaves. This will leave just enough plant to regenerate.
By tending and cutting your plant this way you will allow it to regrow 1, 2 , or 3 times thru the summer! Giving you a ton of pesto for your freezer!
Ingredient Details
You only need a few simple ingredients to make fresh Basil Pesto.
Basil– lots of basil! You will need 5 cups of basil.
Garlic- lots of garlic too! The recipe calls for 7 cloves, which I know sounds like a lot but it adds amazing flavor. If you are nervous about what 7 cloves of garlic will taste like, dial it back to 4-5 cloves.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil – make sure you use extra virgin olive oil, it is the one with FLAVOR. Regular olive oil doesn’t have the bite that EVOO does. The EVOO is also the blending liquid for all the ingredients and makes your pesto saucy.
Lemon- The lemon has three jobs in the pesto; it keeps t he basil nice and green, it adds liquid to help blend the ingredients down, and it adds amazing flavor. I always say recipes need a “high note” (or an acid) and the lemon does the trick in this recipe!
Walnuts – Add a heartiness in texture to your pesto sauce. You can also sub toasted pine nuts for the walnuts, like I did in the You Tube Live Video.
Parmesan Cheese – Fresh grated parm is totally optional here. If I know that I am going to use my Pesto in a pasta recipe that already calls for a lot of parm I might skip it. But just use your tasting preference here.
How To Measure Basil
I am adding this section after I had a reader ask about measuring basil…
What is the best way to measure out 5 cups of basil? How many ounces is that? Seems a little ambiguous.
– Theresa, Reader and Pesto Maker
I couldn’t agree more, Theresa! I recently made pesto live on You Tube and when it came to measuring the basil I thought that stuffing it in a measuring cup is really a flawed system.
Also trying to weigh basil doesn’t seem practical.
So what I decided was the best, unscientific, method is using your hands lightly cupped together filled with basil = roughly about 1 cup. It worked great and my pesto turned out perfect!
Step By Step How To Make Pesto
Pesto is truly a really easy sauce to make, and it is perfect during a hot summer when you don’t want to simmer or boil a sauce all day!
- Start by adding the nuts and garlic to a food processor or strong blender. Pulse about 20-30 times to start breaking them down.
- Add the basil, lemon juice, salt and parmesan cheese if using. Turn the processor on and begin to break down the basil.
- After about 10 seconds, start to slowly add the extra virgin olive oil through the feed tube on the top. Note- if you don’t have a feed tube you can add all the olive oil in the step above and it will work just fine.
Pro Tip: You may need to stop and scrape the sides to make sure everything gets blended together.
- Once it looks pretty smooth, open up the blender and give it a taste to see if you prefer more lemon or want more salt.
Storing
Store your fresh basil pesto in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 1 week. You can also freeze your pesto so it can be used for longer!
How To Freeze Your Fresh Basil Pesto
You can absolutely freeze homemade pesto! This recipe makes a large batch of fresh pesto so it is great to plan on freezing at least half the recipe.
- After making the fresh basil pesto recipe pour it into an ice cube tray- in 1 ½ tablespoon portions. Top each cube with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
- Put the ice cube tray in the freezer.
- After a couple hours the pesto cubes will be frozen, pop them out and store them in a freezer safe bag.
- You can keep the cubes in the freezer for up to 6 months.
- Pull out the delicious homemade pesto 1, 2, or 8 cubes at a time to add to your recipes.
Ways to Use Fresh Basil Pesto
You can use fresh pesto in so many ways! Here are a few recipes to get you started:
- Pesto Pasta
- Pesto Lasagna Skillet
- Drizzle over a Caprese Salad (tomatoes and mozzarella).
- Serve as a sauce for grilled chicken.
- Drizzle over Roasted Fennel.
- Spoon over Crispy Oven Potatoes.
- Use as a dip for Roasted Shrimp.
- Make a salad dressing for an Italian Salad.
Other Great Basil Recipes
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Did you make this recipe?
I would love to hear your review, especially if you have tips and tricks to add! Pop down to the comment section and connect with me
Homemade Basil Pesto
Equipment
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup Walnuts - – can sub pine nuts
- 7 Garlic Cloves
- 5 cups Fresh Basil Leaves - – see notes about measuring
- 1 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 4 tablespoon Fresh Lemon Juice
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- Pepper to taste
- **Optional ⅓ cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- In a food processor with the blade attachment, blend the nuts and garlic for about 20-30 pulses.⅓ cup Walnuts, 7 Garlic Cloves
- Add the basil, lemon juice, salt, and parmesan cheese (if using) to the walnut mixture.5 cups Fresh Basil Leaves, 4 tablespoon Fresh Lemon Juice, 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt, Pepper to taste, **Optional ⅓ cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
- Start the processor and slowly add the extra virgin olive oil through the feed tube until the pesto comes together and is blended smooth. Pro Tip: You may have to scrape the bowl down while you are processing to make sure that all the bits and pieces get blended in.1 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Fresh Basil Pesto can be stored in the fridge, in an air tight container, for about a week
Freezing Pesto
- Spoon 1½ tablespoon portions into each compartment of an ice cube tray. Top each cube with a little extra virgin olive oil.
- Place the tray(s) into the freezer and freeze for up to 12 hours until the cubes are frozen. Pop them out and store in a freezer safe bag, up to 6 months.
- You can use the frozen cubes 1, 2, or 8 at a time for your pastas, soups, side dishes and dips.
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Recipe Tips and Notes:
For a smaller batch of pesto, good for one dinner, pop over to this recipe for Pesto Pasta! Or use some of this pesto in this recipe for Pesto Cream Sauce or Pesto Lasagna Skillet. Drizzle over Grilled Chicken or serve on Roasted Fennel for a great side dish! LISTEN TO THIS FULL RECIPE ON THE PODCAST “LET’S MAKE DINNER” . FIND AN AUDIO PLAYER HERE.
Theresa
What is the best way to measure out 5 cups of basil? How many ounces is that? Seems a little ambiguous.
Susie Weinrich
I couldn’t agree more! LOL! On my You Tube Live when I made pesto I just filled my hands with basil leaves, lightly cupped them together and estimated that was about 1 cup. I know it’s not exact or scientific, but it definitely worked.
Susie Weinrich
Also thank you for saying this… I am going to add a section to the post about measuring fresh basil.
MARY PETERSEN
Recipe was great not happy can no longer print the recipe from your site without siging for a Grow account and have to agree to get ads from them.
Susie Weinrich
Hi Mary- So glad you love the pesto! I actually made some this week and had it for dinner with pasta and grilled chicken yesterday. Delish!
I’m sorry you are unhappy about the print pass. I want to explain it so maybe you will feel less bad about it.
When you sign up through the print button you will sign up for my newsletter, which is wonderful by the way. So, if you already are signed up for my newsletter you shouldn’t get that prompt, let me know if you are. It also signs you up for a Grow account, which allows you to save recipes from my site and across multiple food sites, that will all be collected in one place for you.
As for the personalized ads… it sounds like MORE ads but it is not. Google is getting rid of 3rd party cookies in the next year, this allows you to receive personal ads- ie. when you go to the pottery barn site and then come to my site and see a pottery barn ad. Without the 3rd party cookies you will STILL see ads on my site, but they will not be geared towards you. It will be diapers, motor oil, or vacations, maybe things you could care less about. So basically you are not agreeing to more ads, just ads that are geared towards you.
Hope this makes sense and if you have any other questions do not hesitate to reach out! – Susie
Ann F.
Exceptional blend of ingredients, teamed up in the perfect proportions, create the perfect pesto!
Thanks for the recipe, and for anticipating my questions about freezing. I will be making batch after batch using our backyard basil and savoring the taste of summer all winter long.
Grateful to you, and your team, for your excellent site.
John
Perfect summer pasta dish!