Name: Fresh Homemade Pesto Sauce Recipe
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Ingredients: 2 cups basil leaves (packed); 1 tsp. minced garlic; 1/4 c. pine nuts; 1/4 c. parmesan cheese; 1/2 c. olive oil; 1/4 tsp. kosher salt; pepper to taste

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You will definitely want to make this amazing homemade pesto, thanks to this recipe that is so simple and delicious! Made with fresh herbs and pine nuts, you will want to make this all summer long!

Fresh Homemade Basil Pesto in a black bowl with more pesto and tomatoes in the background.

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Homemade Pesto

Fresh Homemade Pesto has an amazing flavor combination featuring basil, parmesan, and pine nuts. I know some people use different nuts when making pesto because pine nuts are not the cheapest nut. If you must substitute the pine nuts — like for an allergy or something — you can use walnuts or cashews instead. But if you want that true authentic pesto flavor you have got to use the pine nuts! I got my pine nuts from the bins at Winco and they weren’t too expensive and totally worth it.

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!

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