This easy pesto sauce recipe is so simple to make! In under 10 minutes you can have a homemade and delicious fresh basil pesto that is perfect for pasta, pizza or even to make pesto chicken! Do not buy store bought when the seasonings and ingredients are so easy to obtain and create a truly homemade and authentic taste.
Pesto Sauce Ingredients
Pesto is one of those ingredients that is used in delicious things like pizza, chicken, Caprese and tons of salads.
There are creamy pesto sauces, Alfredo pesto sauces- I mean once you have a basic recipe down and know how to make pesto, you can really get involve with making it a highlight a ton of other recipes.
Pesto includes:
✔Italian ✔Fresh Ingredients ✔ Bold Flavors
And there really isn’t much to a homemade and easy pesto sauce recipe since the ingredients are just so simple!
- 3 cups fresh basil leaves
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
RELATED RECIPES: Shrimp Pesto Pasta Salad, Honey Balsamic Dressing, Homemade Caprese Pizza
Basil – There is no substitute for fresh delicious basil leaves. Basil can be expensive when bough tin a store bundle, so a trick I have learned is to purchase basil from Lowes when fresh herbs come out. This way its easy to clip leaves for delicious recipes like this sauce as well as salads that include basil.
Garlic – Use minced garlic and make sure you measure with your heart….ok, that’s a joke. Its actually 2 tsp.
Cheese – Skip the Kraft parmesan cheese and opt for freshly shredded Parmesan instead.
Pine Nuts – As noted below, pine nuts can be substituted for walnuts, cashews, almonds or pistachios, but be aware all of those nuts taste different and may result in a different flavored pesto.
How to make Pesto Sauce
To get started, you need to make sure you have a food processor. A Food processor does a great job chopping down all the ingredients and successfully blending dressings, sauces, and salsas quite easily.
This is especially important if you want a smooth over a chunky pesto sauce.
Place all pesto ingredients in a food processor.
Process for 10 seconds before scraping down the sides and repeating until mixture is evenly blended.
If mixture is to thick, add additional oil, 1 tablespoon at a time, until consistency is reached.
This pesto sauce recipe makes about 2/3 cup homemade pesto, which is fantastic for pasta, sandwich spreads or pull apart pizza bread.
Grated or Shredded Parmesan for Pesto? I am a fan of shredded Parmesan or fresh Parmesan in recipes versus grated. In a pesto recipe like this, the basil pesto is a bit more dense and with more texture than if you use grated. If you ever try a jarred pesto sauce, you will know what I mean. If you prefer a smoother texture, you can substitute for a Kraft Grated cheese.
What is Pesto Sauce Used for? Many recipes can be enhanced by adding fresh pesto! Use basil pesto sauce to spread, dip, and dial up the flavor of these amazing recipes.
Can Pine Nuts be Substituted in Pesto? Pine nuts can be pretty strong for some people so if you want a fun substitute, try walnuts instead.
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Fresh Basil Pesto Sauce for Pasta
Ingredients
- 3 cups FRESH basil leaves
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 3/4 cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a food processor.
- Process for 10 seconds before scraping down the sides and repeating until mixture is evenly blended.
- If mixture is to thick, add additional oil, 1 tablespoon at a time until desired consistency.
- Add to pasta, chicken, pizza or dip with breads.
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