This vibrant kale pesto recipe comes together in 5 minutes flat! Nutty and bright, it's delicious on pasta, pizza, sandwiches, bowls, and more.
When I have a bunch of kale in the fridge, I almost always save a few leaves to make this kale pesto recipe. I especially love making it in the winter, when basil is out of season. Of course, it doesn’t taste exactly like basil pesto (basil is more aromatic, while kale is more peppery), but it’s still delicious. Extra-virgin olive oil and pepitas make it rich and nutty, and lemon juice adds a lovely bright finish.
The whole recipe requires 8 ingredients and comes together in 5 minutes, so it’s a great one to have in your back pocket. Whizz it together and toss it with pasta for an easy dinner one night, and save the leftover kale pesto for the next day. It’s super versatile, so you’ll have no trouble finding ways to use it. Spoon it over eggs, dollop it on a grain bowl, or slather it on a sandwich. The options are endless!
Kale Pesto Recipe Ingredients
Ready to make kale pesto? Here’s what you’ll need:
- Fresh kale, of course! You’ll just use the leaves and tender stems in this recipe. Save the tough stems for another use. You could blend them into a smoothie or simmer them into soup!
- Garlic – For sharp depth of flavor.
- Pepitas – Pepitas create an especially vibrant green pesto, but if you don’t have them on hand, feel free to substitute another nut or seed. Hemp seeds, walnuts, almonds, and pine nuts all work well.
- Parmesan cheese or nutritional yeast – Both options are delicious! Parmesan is traditional for pesto, but if you’re vegan, nutritional yeast is a great substitute. It adds savory, cheesy flavor to this kale pesto recipe.
- Lemon juice – For brightness.
- Extra-virgin olive oil – A pesto essential! It adds richness and moisture to tie the sauce together.
- And salt and pepper – To make all the flavors pop.
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
How to Make Kale Pesto
You can whizz together this easy kale pesto in 5 minutes flat! Here’s what you need to do:
First, pulse the solid ingredients. Add the garlic and pepitas to the bowl of a food processor, and pulse to grind them up. Then, add the nutritional yeast or cheese, salt, and pepper, and pulse again.
Next, add the raw kale leaves and lemon juice. Process until all the ingredients are well-combined.
Then, add the oil. With the blade running, pour the oil into the food processor. Process until the oil is completely incorporated.
Finally, season to taste! Try a spoonful of the sauce and add more salt, pepper, lemon juice, and/or nutritional yeast, as desired. If the kale pesto tastes bitter, add 1/4 teaspoon maple syrup or honey to balance it.
Enjoy!
How to Use Kale Pesto
You’ll love having this kale pesto on hand in your kitchen! It’s super versatile, so have fun experimenting with different ways to use it. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Toss it with pasta. Use it instead of basil pesto in my Easy Pesto Pasta recipe. For a lighter dish, replace the regular pasta with spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles.
- Spoon it over a frittata or sunny-side-up eggs.
- Swirl it into mac and cheese.
- Scoop it onto a bowl of soup. I love it on my Ribollita, Tortellini Soup, and Tomato Basil Soup!
- Serve it as an appetizer with crusty bread for dipping.
- Slather it onto a Caprese sandwich, a grilled cheese, or any sandwich you like.
- Dot it onto homemade pizza.
- Toss it with roasted veggies for a yummy, healthy side dish. It’d be fantastic with roasted cauliflower, butternut squash, or sweet potatoes!
- Dollop it onto a grain bowl, like this Roasted Veggie Grain Bowl or this Kale Pesto Mushroom Pistachio Bowl.
How do you like to use kale pesto? Let me know in the comments!
More Favorite Sauces and Dressings
If you love this recipe, try one of these sauces or dressings next:
- Marinara Sauce
- Alfredo Sauce
- Romesco Sauce
- Chimichurri
- Cilantro Lime Dressing
- Green Goddess Dressing
- Tahini Sauce (4 ways!)
Kale Pesto
Ingredients
- ½ cup pepitas
- 1 small garlic clove
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese, or 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- Heaping ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 2 packed cups chopped curly kale
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
- In a food processor, pulse the pepitas and garlic until the pepitas are ground up. Add the cheese or nutritional yeast, salt, and several grinds of pepper and pulse again.
- Add the kale and lemon juice. With the food processor running, drizzle in the olive oil, and process until combined. Season to taste.
Great nutritious and easy to prepare recipe! I am on a low sodium diet so omitted the salt, doubled the nutritional yeast and added a handful of fresh basil. Can’t wait to try it on fish!
Hi! The kale pesto recipe is excellent! Thanks very much. I will definitely try your other recipes.
Hi Andrea, I’m so glad you loved it!
Hi! Looks and tastes amazing. Just wondering: what can sub in if I don’t have cheese or nutritional yeast? Can I opt it out?
My favorite kale recipe from now on! I spread the pesto on slices of white bread and cooked in rhe oven for 15 minutes. My picky daughter who eats no vegetables ate two slices! Thank you for this very versatile recipe!
I’m so glad you both have loved it!
Thank you for this simple elegant recipe. I used nutrional yeast and walnuts, and then added this pesto to pasta mixing in some pasta water. It was amazing! My son loved it. Tasty and super nutritious.
Unfortunately, this was way too bitter for me, even with the maple syrup 🙁
Sorry to hear that, Rachel! In the future, adding a little extra salt and/or more Parmesan or nooch could also help balance the bitterness.
This has quickly become a weeknight go-to! Substitutions also work well — I’ve had great results with nuts instead of pepitas (almonds, pine nuts, and my personal favorite, pistachios) and whatever greens I have on hand (spinach, arugula, mystery greens from farm share).
I’m so glad it’s been such a flexible recipe!
If I’m being honest I had low hopes for this pesto, I decided to make last minute when there was no basil in any stores.. surprisingly it was super delicious!!! Will definitely remake (I used pine nuts and no honey or maple syrup, it was perfect!)
I love this recipe so much! It’s my second time making it. I find that the pesto is pretty thick following the instructions, so I drizzled some water in at the end while running the food processor. It came out perfectly! Thank you for your wonderful recipe ❤️
I made this when my local farm stand had giant bags of kale on special. I quadrupled the recipe, froze it portioned in my souper cubes. It was a little harsh on day 1 but really calmed down after freezing.
Best summer pasta recipe, hot or cold:
1 lb pasta, I love cavatappi
1 cup frozen pesto
2 cups cherry tomatoes halved or 1/2 cup julienned sundried
1 cup pitted kalamata olives
1 cup quartered artichoke hearts
EVOO as needed, I love my refillable sprayer
Slightly undercook pasta. Spray/toss with evoo after draining.
While pasta is sitting in strainer, spray pot with evoo, add tomatoes and olives, cook on low for a few minutes. Add pasta, stir well, add frozen cube of pesto. Cover, on low, stir every few minutes until pesto is defrosted/combined. Stir in artichoke quarters.
Perfect for me as is, vegan, hot or cold, including standing at the fridge in the middle of the night with a fork.
Some family members preferred hot, some added grated parmesan and/or salt. (Note, I didn’t tell them it wasn’t traditional pesto and they didn’t notice a difference.)
Perfect for heat wave weeks when I’m only cooking indoors in the morning.
I love the decadence of basil pesto with pine nuts, but the comparative lower fat , nutritional powerhouse of the kale with pepita is my preference as a staple in the summer.