No Parmesan? No problem. This easy vegan pesto recipe is a breeze to make, and it's every bit as bright, nutty, and delicious as the traditional version.
When I make pesto, I almost always make this vegan pesto recipe. Don’t get me wrong, I love traditional basil pesto, but this vegan version is just as good.
Classic pesto is made with fresh basil, pine nuts, garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, and Parmesan cheese. But my recipe calls for one extra ingredient: lemon juice. The lemon’s bright flavor perfectly balances the richness of the olive oil and elevates the fresh, garlicky, and nutty flavors of the other ingredients. Once you add it, the pesto has enough complexity to make the Parmesan cheese optional, and more often than not, I end up leaving it out. This vegan pesto recipe is a streamlined version of my regular recipe, without the Parmesan cheese. It’s lighter than traditional pesto, it comes together in minutes, and it’s totally delicious. Whether you’re vegan or not, I think you’re going to love it.
Vegan Pesto Recipe Variations
You’ll find my go-to vegan pesto recipe at the bottom of this post. It’s delicious as written, but there are all sorts of tasty ways to change it up. Here are a few of my favorites:
- Switch the greens. When I have an abundance of fresh basil in the summertime, this vegan pesto recipe is my favorite way to use it. However, I love making this recipe with different herbs and greens too. Try replacing half the basil with arugula, kale, radish greens, parsley, or spinach. You could also skip the basil entirely and use a mix of parsley and cilantro or a 50/50 blend of fresh mint and spinach.
- Swap the nuts. Almost any nut or seed works well in this vegan pesto recipe! I most often use pepitas or pine nuts, but almonds, cashews, walnuts, and sunflower seeds are great here too.
- Make it cheesier. If you like your vegan pesto sauce to have a really cheesy flavor, blend in a tablespoon of nutritional yeast. Then, taste and adjust, adding more nutritional yeast if desired.
- Or amp up the umami. If you don’t have nutritional yeast on hand, add 2 teaspoons of capers or 2 oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes to give your pesto a rich, savory flavor. Again, taste and adjust, and add more capers or sun-dried tomatoes to suit your tastes.
How to Use Vegan Pesto
There are SO many ways to use this vegan pesto! These ideas are a great place to start:
- Toss it with cooked fresh or dried pasta to make easy pesto pasta.
- Or, for a lighter meal, replace the pasta with zucchini noodles, sweet potato noodles, or spaghetti squash.
- Dot it onto a salad, like my Radish Salad, Shaved Fennel Salad, or Caprese Salad.
- Spoon it onto homemade pizza.
- Serve it as an appetizer with crusty bread for dipping.
- Thin it with additional oil and use it as a salad dressing. It would be fantastic on my Bright Spring Salad!
- Dollop it onto mixed grilled vegetables or roasted vegetables like fennel, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, or tomatoes.
- Swirl it into a soup, like my Carrot Ginger Soup.
- Top it onto a grain bowl, or mix it with cooked farro, quinoa, or couscous for a hearty side dish.
How do you like to use vegan pesto? Let me know in the comments!
More Favorite Spreads and Sauces
If you love this vegan pesto recipe, try one of these spreads, sauces, or salad dressings next:
- Cilantro Lime Dressing
- Lemon Vinaigrette
- Chimichurri Sauce
- Cashew Cream
- Easy Peanut Sauce
- Tahini Sauce (4 ways!)
For more delicious vegan recipes, check out this post!
Vegan Pesto
Ingredients
- ½ cup toasted pine nuts or pepitas
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 small garlic clove
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 2 cups fresh basil leaves
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, more for a smoother pesto
Optional Add-ins
- Nutritional yeast
- Capers
- Sun-dried tomatoes
Instructions
- In a food processor, combine the pine nuts, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and pepper and pulse until well chopped.
- Add the basil and pulse until combined.
- With the food processor running, drizzle in the olive oil and pulse until combined.
- For extra cheesy flavor, add 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast. For brinier flavor, add 2 teaspoons capers. For more umami, add 2 oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes. Briefly pulse to combine. Taste and adjust, adding more nutritional yeast, capers, or sun-dried tomatoes, as desired. For a smoother pesto, add more olive oil.
Wonderful recipe! I really enjoyed making this pesto. I had sunflower seeds and arugula in my pantry, so I made a 50/50 basil and arugula pesto with toasted sunflower seeds. I can’t eat cheese because of my lactose intolerence so this recipe was perfect for me! Really aromatic and fresh.
I made this recipe with 1/2 pine nuts and 1/2 walnuts. I added 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast. My wife and I loved it. She can’t eat Parmesan and didn’t miss it. Delicious!
So glad you both loved it, Brad!
I made this recipe for my daughter’s college roommate who has food sensitivity to several ingredients. I substituted pesto infused oil (by La Tourangelle, Infused Pesto Oil) b/c she can’t have olive oil. I also added baby spinach with the basil as suggested as an add-in and salted and roasted pepitas with the toasted and unsalted pine nuts with the lemon and garlic. I also added nutritional yeast and it turned out amazing. I tossed with gluten free spaghetti. It would have been good w/o the nutritional yeast but I wanted to cheesy texture. I will make again.
Hi Kim, I’m so glad you loved it!
How many grams of basil do you put into one cup?
Hi Jared, I’m sorry, but we don’t have a weight measurement for the basil at this time. We typically use 2 loosely packed cups. I think you’ll have good results even without a highly exact measurement.
Super easy and yummy! I used the yeast and sun dried tomatoes!!
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
I have been making pesto for years but have been going dairy free due to allergies. I am so happy to find this recipe and like it so much better than using parmesan. It is healthy, bright and tangy and the whole family can enjoy it. Also more economical not using cheese and I sub toasted almonds.
Hi Jana, I’m so glad you loved it!
I’ve made this many times we love it for a snack
Hi Jess, I’m so glad you love the pesto!
This recipe has made me so happy. I am on a journey to try and cut out as much fat (especially saturated) in my diet and this has been a game changer.
I always have cheese with my pasta and tonight I didn’t and I did not miss it at all. I just want to say thanks!!
Hi Kylie, I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
This recipe is a keeper , no doubtnabout it, amazing flavor , I didn’t have 2 cups of basil ,so I used 1 cup of basil and 1 cup of Malabar spinach from my garden , my whole my family love it!!
How much of basil is needed for this recipe?
Hi Maria, you’ll need 2 cups of basil leaves. You can find the measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Love this recipe! I like going half-half pine nuts and toasted walnuts. When my garlic cloves are extra fat, I throw it in while roasting the walnuts to soften the flavor a bit. I prefer using a bottled Sicilian lemon juice as it’s a little mellower than fresh. A healthy teaspoon of nutritional yeast is a must for a creamy-umami boost. And I always find I need a little extra olive oil to loosen it up. Thanks for a vegan rendition that never misses the cheese!
This recipe is such a life saver! Been not restocking my parmesan cheese to save money, but this pesto is just as good without it. I live in Indonesia, where pine nuts are not readily available. The closest substitute here is the kenari nut i.e. Moluccan/Malay almond, which is widely available in baking supplies shops and is delicious in basil pesto. Cashews work well too! I also do not normally buy nutritional yeast so I used mushroom stock powder instead which adds its own kind of oomph. The garlic, lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil all synergise their magic in this pesto and bring out a wonderfull well rounded flavour. Will make again and recommend!
I’m glad you’ve been enjoying it!
This was excellent with nutritional yeast. Would definitely recommend!
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
This recipe is so good! I normally make pesto with these ingredients plus green olives and parmesan cheese, but today I have neither of those so I was worried. Thankfully this recipe is perfect.
Pine nuts are difficult to source where I am, so I substituted with walnuts and cashews.
Hi Caro, I’m so glad you enjoyed the pesto!