This easy homemade pesto is a garden-fresh recipe that’s delicious in pasta, on bread, on meats, or even a sandwich. You’ll never buy store-bought pesto again once you’ve made your own!

Homemade pesto in a bowl on a cutting board beside olive oil and balsamic vinigar.

The most traditional recipe for pesto includes pine nuts, basil, garlic, extra virgin olive oil, and grated parmesan, but I like to substitute pine nuts for pepitas (pumpkin seeds). They’re much less expensive, they have a delicious nutty flavor and they make the pesto extra bright and green.

You can also substitute pine nuts with almonds or even walnuts, but all other ingredients are required to make pesto “pesto.”

My recipe also includes a bit of white balsamic vinegar to give it a little extra zing. Enjoy!

Homemade Pesto

This easy homemade pesto is a garden-fresh recipe that's delicious in pasta, on bread, on meats, or even a sandwich. You'll never buy store-bought pesto again once you've made your own!

5 from 1 vote

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Course: sauce

Cuisine: Italian

Diet: Gluten Free

Prep Time: 10

Total Time: 10

Servings: ounces

Calories: 168kcal

Author: Genevieve Morrison

Equipment

▢
1 food processor

Ingredients

▢ 1 cup fresh basil leaves – packed
▢ 6 tbsp. pine nuts – or pepitas
▢ ½ cup grated parmesan
▢ 4 tbsp. white balsamic vinegar
▢ ¼ cup olive oil

Instructions

Into a food processor, add 1 cup basil leaves, 6 tbsp. pine nuts (or pepitas), ½ cup grated parmesan, ¼ cup olive oil and 4 tbsp. white balsamic vinegar. Purée until almost creamy. At least 30 seconds.

Notes

Pesto will stay fresh in a covered, refrigerated container for up to a week. It can also be frozen for months but will brown in color.

Nutrition