Easy Vegan Pesto

Easy Vegan Pesto sauce is really easy to make and takes about 5 minutes to prepare using a blender or food processor. This pesto sauce is great to have on hand to mix in with your favorite pasta, zoodles, or mix into a veggie bowl. It can also be used as a spread on a pesto veggie sandwich.

This easy vegan pesto recipe has a little bit of a twist with it. I made a veganized version. Traditional pesto is made using cheese, olive oil, basil, pine nuts, garlic and salt.

How did you Veganize this Pesto Recipe?

To veganize the pesto, I swapped out the cheese with nutritional yeast and fresh lemon juice. The combination of nutritional yeast and the lemon juice gives the pesto a tangy cheesy flavor.

Another thing I like about this recipe is that it’s oil free. I swapped out the the oil with aquafaba (chickpea liquid in the can). Aquafaba gives it the creamy texture. Also, you can use the chickpeas to add to the pesto dish or use for another dish. (I tend to mix the chickpeas in with whatever I am making whether it’s pasta or a veggie bowl.

One more thing, I swapped out the basil with spinach. (But you can use basil instead of spinach if you want, it’s just as delicious) I tend to always have a lot of spinach in the refrigerator so I went with that.

What are the ingredients in the Pest0

• Spinach (substitute basil or greens of choice)
• Pine nuts (substitute with walnuts)
• Nutritional yeast
• Garlic
• Lemon juice
• Aquafaba (liquid from the chickpea can)
• Pepper
• Salt

How to make the Vegan Pesto?

To a food processor or blender, add in the spinach, pine nuts, garlic, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, and pulse serval times until it forms a paste. You can scrape down the sides as needed before blending the pesto.

Add in the Aquafaba and pulse again until blended. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

You can add in extra nutritional yeast or extra garlic depending on what flavor you would like.

Store in the refrigerator for about 5-6 days. You can freeze the pesto in ice cube trays and store in the freezer for 3 months.

How to use the Vegan Pesto?

• You can use paste or zoodles (zucchini noodles)
• Pesto pizza
• Top over roasted potatoes (sooo delicious that way)
• Use as a salad dressing or mix into a veggie bowl
• Spread on your favorite bread
• Stuffed the pita with greens, veggies, sprout, hummus and pesto… super delicious!

You can use this vegan pesto on all kinds of dishes and it’s delicious, easy to make, and all plant based!