Don't have basil? Make this easy Kale Pesto in just 5 minutes! It's wonderful to keep on hand for sandwiches, grain bowls, pastas, and salads.
Kale pesto is one of my favorite things to keep on hand for easy meals throughout the week. When I don’t have basil for my pesto, kale is a great alternative since it’s so healthy and green. I put spoonfuls of it on so many things. It makes otherwise-boring meals seem instantly fancy. Here are some of my favorite uses.
How to use Kale Pesto
- On a Grain Salad. Make a quick grain salad with farro or quinoa, a handful of greens, crumbly cheese, toasted walnuts and a scoop of pesto.
- As a Sandwich Spread. Slather pesto onto sandwiches, like these grilled eggplant sandwiches or this veggie caprese sandwich.
- Make a quick crostini. Spread onto toasted baguette for an easy, fast appetizer.
- Make Green Eggs. Dollop pesto onto your morning scramble.
- As Pasta Sauce. Make the pesto with a bit more olive oil so that it has a smooth consistency. Toss the pesto with hot pasta, using some of the starchy pasta water to loosen it up, creating a creamy pasta sauce.
The first recipe here is for kale walnut pesto. Walnuts are a delicious alternative to pine nuts, which are typically used in pesto. Pesto can be made with nearly any type of nut or seed, so the second recipe below uses hemp seeds. That version is a great alternative if you’re cooking for someone with a nut allergy.
How to Make Kale Pesto:
- Pulse the walnuts and garlic in a food processor
- Add the chopped kale and pulse again.
- Add the lemon juice salt and pepper and pulse again.
- While the blade is running, drizzle in the olive oil. Scrape the sides of the food processor, if necessary, and pulse again. For a smoother pesto, add more olive oil.
- Season to taste and enjoy!
Kale Pesto with hemp seeds – a nut-free alternative:
- Use hemp seeds in place of the walnuts
No kale?
Make pesto with carrot tops, mint & peas, or broccoli.
What to do with the kale stems? Make Kale Stem Pesto!
Easy Kale Pesto
- ½ cup walnuts
- 1 garlic clove
- 2 cups chopped kale leaves
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice, plus lemon zest, optional
- ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil, more for a smoother pesto
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt, more to taste
- freshly ground black pepper
- grated parmesan cheese, optional
- Pulse the walnuts and garlic in a food processor. Add the kale and pulse again.
- Add the lemon juice salt and pepper and pulse again.
- While the blade is running, drizzle in the olive oil. Scrape the sides of the food processor, if necessary, and pulse again. For a smoother pesto, add more olive oil.
- Season to taste. Pulse in grated parmesan cheese, if desired.
Wow! Scrumptious!! 😉
I love to keep pesto around as well…it’s so versatile! My husband and I like to use it as a topping for our weekly pizza night 🙂
oh of course, how could I forget about pizza? 🙂
Why did I never think to make kale pesto?? My plants are about to bolt, so I think this will be a project for the weekend…
hope you like it!
This looks amazing! I love kale pesto. Been too long since I’ve made it. Might have to make some this weekend.
I have a spinach and walnut pesto that I loooove to make. I have to try this kale version! Pesto is so versatile!
love it, I do an arugula variation sometimes too.
Hi. My name is Sylvia and I’m a pesto-holic. No joke. This looks so delicious! Always looking for new ways to make this all time favorite of mine. Sounds nutritious too :). Will have to try this one out soon!
ha, me too 🙂
Kale pesto…what a fantastic idea! I adore pesto and kale (and always have some in the fridge). A great quick meal that’s tasty and healthy! Thanks for the idea! FYI…this also inspired me to create a “Pesto & Pasta Sauce” Pinterest board, on which I pinned this (http://pinterest.com/deliciouskarma)…to share the “pesto love”! 🙂
This looks so yummy! I love making pesto – there are so many ways to change it up, but it is always great! Yours makes me want some very soon!
I was in a store while reading this post, about to pay for my groceries when I ran to grab some kale and walnuts 🙂 Thanks for a yum looking pesto! Can’t wait to try.
-Dana
ha! Glad you saw it in time 🙂
Just whipped this up for my lunch 🙂 After finding my walnuts past their used by date, I substituted with pecans and was delicious!
I love pecan pesto, so versatile!
Ooo, trying this tomorrow night! Love that you offered 5 different options as well. I’m pretty good (bad?) at eating the same exact dish over and over until I get sick of it.
I’m so guilty of that too…
Delcious! I love pesto but basil is so expensive. Love that you used kale and the less expensive walnuts too
I know, I love pine nuts, but they’re SO expensive.
I love pesto as well 🙂 I think it’s the perfect ingredient for everything. Today I did two beautiful sandwichies with pesto that were delicious.
I just found your blog, I think that you are doing a great job with this blog!
thanks Nuria, welcome!
After living with 4 Italians for 2 months I must say that I love pesto. It goes perfect with a good pasta 🙂
Kale and walnut pesto is one my staples. Love it even more than the traditional basil pesto! I like the addition of a bit of lemon zest. Haven’t tried that, but it seems like it would give it a nice zing.
I made this last night and used it as a sauce for my margarita pizza – wow was it every delicious! The lemon added an unexpected zip!
Looks great! I love pesto- any combo of nuts and greens works for me! Thanks for posting this one with Kale, I will have to try it!
I think you missed out ‘just eating it with a spoon’ from your list 😉
I made this for dinner tonight and it was fantastic over pasta! I agree that the lemon put it over the top. I can’t wait to use the leftovers for as many things as I can think of.
Usually I stick with parsley or basil walnut pesto, but I would be very interested to try kale in it’s place. Thank you for posting this!
I love the idea of the kale pesto! I’ve been trying to work more kale into our weekly diet (for my husband and I… haha, I am gradually converting him to kale!) and this looks like a fantastic option to add in the benefits of kale without having to chew through heaps of leaves 🙂 Thanks for sharing this inspired idea. I love walnuts so that in itself is enough to convince me to make it, like, now! x
Beautiful site! Question, must you blanch the kale? I eat a lot of raw kale salad, so I’m wondering whether raw kale pesto will work.
thanks!
I’m not sure, I’ve never tried it with raw kale. If you go for it, let me know how it works out (and what you end up altering to get it to work out)!
I make it often w raw, just remove the stems and save them for a stew or something later.
I’ve made a raw version and it comes out well but I have to say it tastes much better blanched (but the raw still tastes better than overcooking it) 🙂
definitely! I blanch mine, just barely, to avoid any bitterness 🙂
Wow, just added some goat cheese and sriracha to this and my husband and I can’t get enough! What a perfect wait to eat more kale!
sounds like some nice additions! (I’ll add sriracha to anything any day!)
How long can you keep kale pesto in refrigerator?,..
I keep it 3 to 4 days.
This is a great recipe for using kale in a creative way beyond soups and smoothies! Thank you! Made it tonight for a pasta toss, (tossed with pasta, shrimp, parmesan and kalamata olives). I did add a few basil leaves to the pesto, and loved the addition of the lemon. It was sooo delicious! I think that blanching the kale gives it that bright green color that tends to stay that way for an extended time. I made a lot of it so we will be using it in a variety of ways this week. I think trying it on pizza with roasted tomatoes and feta or mozzarella cheese would be lovely.
so glad you liked it! I hope you’ve continued to enjoy it all week 🙂
Was in the mood for a kale/walnut pesto tonight, and yours was perfect! In fact I loved it so much, I blogged about it (and of course directed my readers back to your beautiful website). Thank you so much – I know I’ll be returning to L&L on a regular basis – beautiful!
Does it matter what kind if kale you use (Dino,curly,etc)?
Does it matter what kind of kale is used (Dino,curly,etc)?
I used dino, I think curly kale might be fine too (since it all gets blended up anyway).
I just made a bunch of kale pesto. I did not cook the kale. I also tossed in a jalapeno pepper per batch scince I had a bunch laying around. I plan on using it in soups and frittatas this winter. It’s the only way I can get my husband to eat kale.
I just made this but with cashews instead of walnuts. It’s so delicious! I have to stop myself from eating it by the spoon.
I love this recipe and was making it so much last summer and fall that I burned out on it!
I’ve been sheltering in place for almost a month and it’s been difficult to get to the store for fresh produce. So now I have three bunches of kale from my grocery delivery yesterday and I’m going to use at least one for this pesto and then freeze it so I have some greens left. Thanks so much for this awesome recipe! Stay well!
Hi Mary, ha, I’m so glad you’ve loved the recipe… freezing pesto is such a great idea for making fresh groceries last!
Best kale pesto I have ever made. The lemon zest really adds to it and I would not make it optional.
I’m so glad you loved it!
I’ve never made kale pesto before so I used this recipe. However, I used pine nuts because I didn’t have any walnuts. It still came out very tasty. With so much kale in the garden, this recipe will definitely be used frequently.
I’m so glad you loved the kale pesto!
Can I use toasted sunflower seeds instead of walnuts?
yep! or try pepitas if you have to avoid nuts, I love them for pestos because they make it very vibrant green. Hemp seeds also work.
Can you make a store for long periods of time?
Hi Candy, you can store it in the fridge for 3 to 4 days, and you can freeze it to last longer than that.
Just curious if the kale is curly kale or tuscan kale? I am having a hard time figuring it out from the image. Thank you
Wow, this was so good. I used cashews instead of walnuts because that’s what I had on hand. And I drizzled some truffle oil on top. Genius idea to make pesto out of kale!
YUM…
Just made pesto for the first time and used this recipe. Also, my first time working with kale. I didn’t realize I was supposed to blanche the kale until afterwards when I read the comments. I have read and re-read the recipe and post but I don’t see that written anywhere. I can’t seem to get the flavour right but I tend to have trouble with recipes.
Hi Dee, I don’t blanch it here (sometimes I make pesto with just the stems and I blanch those). You should be able to easily adjust the flavor – if it’s too bitter, sometimes I add a little bit of honey. If it’s not salty enough, add more cheese or another pinch of salt. If it’s too thick, stir in more oil. If it needs more pop, squeeze in some more lemon.
Also, here is my classic basil pesto if you’re after something a little more traditional: https://www.loveandlemons.com/pesto-recipe/
Hope that helps.