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Homemade Pesto is super easy to make in your own kitchen. This classic basil pesto recipe comes together with fresh herbs and ingredients, and so simple you’ll never reach for store-bought pesto again!
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This Fresh Homemade Pesto is really easy to make and tastes delicious on pasta, in salads, or drizzled over chicken and veggies. This recipe features fresh basil leaves, parmesan cheese and crisp pine nuts that blend together to make a creamy, nutty, fragrant sauce that beats store-bought sauce any day! If you’ve never tried your hand at making your own pesto, start with this recipe. It’s virtually impossible to mess up, and it tastes absolutely yummy on sandwiches, pizza, pasta dishes and more!
Ingredients in Homemade Pesto
To make fresh pesto, start with the freshest ingredients. This is a perfect recipe to use up leafy greens growing in your garden. Here’s what you need:
- Basil leaves – two cups, packed. Gather herbs from your garden or buy them in the produce section of your grocery store.
- Minced garlic – start with one or two cloves garlic and dice finely. Or find minced garlic on-line or at the grocery store.
- Pine nuts – Many recipes call for different nuts because pine nuts can be expensive. I found mine in the bins at Winco and they’re reasonably priced and totally worth it!
- Parmesan cheese – A quarter cup, plus more if you want to sprinkle on top of the pesto.
- Extra-virgin olive oil or regular olive oil – I sometimes prefer extra virgin for this recipe so it keeps the flavor light and allows the herbs to shine.
- Kosher salt – start with a quarter teaspoon salt to start.
- Black pepper – to taste
Nut Substitutions
I know some people use different nuts when making pesto because pine nuts are not the cheapest nut. This recipe is the time to splurge a little. The flavor is out of this world! However if you are working around a nut allergy or want a cheaper substitute for the pine nuts, you can use almonds, walnuts, pistachios, or cashews instead.
A Great Way to Use Your Own Herbs
I am especially proud of this batch of pesto because I made it with my own home grown basil from my little Italian herb garden! This was my first time growing herbs and I am absolutely loving it. It’s been much easier than I thought to take care of it. I have been using these fresh herbs in a lot of my cooking and the flavors are so much better than the dried stuff. We made our Rosemary Tri-Tip on Sunday with the fresh rosemary and it was awesome!
Here is a pic of when I first started my little garden and what it looks like now, just one month later. It’s growing like crazy! The funny thing is that I took this picture after I cut down my basil plants to make the pesto (which I used 2 cups of packed leaves), so you can just imagine how big the basil was before this picture! I have had success with thyme, basil, parsley, rosemary and oregano. If you decide to use your homegrown herbs in this, or any of our recipes, leave us a comment and let us know how it tastes!
Variations on Pesto Ingredients
- Feel free to swap out greens for different flavors. You can use arugula, cilantro, kale or fresh mint.
- Instead of regular parmesan, opt for pecorino Romano which has a sharper flavor.
- Add a little lemon juice or lime juice for extra zing.
- Add some lemon zest.
How to Get Pesto to the Desired Consistency
Use a mortar and pestle to grind ingredients to the desired consistency. Or opt for a food processor, add all the ingredients and give it a few extra pulses for a smoother texture.
Frequently Asked Questions About Homemade Pesto
Pesto sauce freezes beautifully! Pour sauce into an ice cube tray, then keep in the freezer. You’ll have individual servings of pesto sauce to thaw and use any time!
This recipe is easy to make vegan! Just use a vegan cheese substitute, like tofu. Everything else can stay the same.
Since the sauce is made from fresh ingredients, it will only last for about two weeks. Make sure it’s properly covered with plastic wrap or stored in an airtight container.
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More Delicious Pesto Recipes
We love pesto and use it in tons of our recipes! I love it spread on sourdough toast like the picture above but here are a few more recipes you need some delicious ideas:
- Turkey Pesto Croissant Sandwiches
- Grilled Pesto Pizzas
- Gourmet Steak Sandwiches
- Margherita Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
- Homemade Pesto Rolls
- BAM Sammys
- Stuffed Pesto Chicken
- Pesto Potatoes
How To Make Homemade Pesto
Fresh Homemade Pesto Sauce Recipe
Equipment
- Food Processor
Ingredients
- 2 cups basil leaves packed
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- pepper to taste
Instructions
- Put all ingredients in a food processor and blend until mostly smooth.
- For sandwiches, we love pesto mayo (2 parts mayo to one part pesto)
- Pesto can be frozen for later use.
Notes
Recipe Tips
- Feel free to swap out greens for different flavors. You can use arugula, cilantro, kale or fresh mint.
- Instead of regular parmesan, opt for pecorino Romano which has a sharper flavor.
- Add a little lemon juice or lime juice for extra zing.
- Add some lemon zest.
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I’m growing lemon basil I can’t wait to try it with this recipe, Love adding it to pasta. Thanks for sharing.
Homemade pesto is the best sauce for pasta! Can’t wait to try this one out for dinner 🙂
I adore growing fresh herbs in my yard, and I love making homemade pesto. Thanks for the recipe.
Great looking herbs! I recognize the thyme, flat leaf parsley, basil, and rosemary in your planter, but could you identify the 2 herbs on the right side?
I have Oregano, Thyme, Basil, Parsley and Rosemary.
Looks great! I love a good pesto recipe. 🙂