Make Your Own Basil Pesto at Home 🌿 (2024)

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Transform your summer basil bumper crop into this easy Basil Pesto Recipe and freeze it for colder days ahead. It’s easy to make and ready in 10 minutes or less, and its shimmery bright green color is bursting with fresh basil flavor.

This classic Basil Pesto Recipe, also known as Pesto Genovese, originated in Genoa, Italy. Genoa is the capital city of Liguria, a state in northern Italy.

It’s made with plenty of fresh basil, pine nuts, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, and Parmesan cheese (or another non-vegetarian dairy cheese such as Pecorino Romano). Throw in a handful of parsley to ensure a bright green color, and season to taste with salt and pepper. It’s simple, delicious, and packed with flavor.

Pesto is delicious on pasta, sandwiches, salads, and soups. It makes a great sauce for pizza and zucchini noodles, too. Or, make Pesto Chicken by rubbing chicken breasts (or even an entire whole chicken!) with fresh pesto.

Recipe ingredients

Ingredient notes

• Parsley:A handful of fresh parsley ensures that your pesto is always bright green (basil can be dark when it gets bruised).
• Pine nuts:For more flavor,toast the pine nuts. In a medium skillet over medium heat, heat pine nuts until browned and fragrant, stirring occasionally, about 2 to 5 minutes.
• Garlic:Soften its raw taste by roasting garlic. In a dry medium skillet over medium-low heat, toast unpeeled garlic cloves until spotty, dark brown, and slightly softened, about 20 to 25 minutes. Cool completely before peeling.

Step-by-step instructions

1. In a food processor or blender, add basil, parsley, Parmesan cheese, pine nuts, and garlic. Pulse until coarsely chopped, about 10 pulses.

2. With the motor running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil and process until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Recipe tips and variations

• Yield:This recipe makes 1 cup of pesto, enough for 1 pound of pasta or 8 servings, 2 tablespoons each.
• Storage:Store covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Add a layer of olive oil on top to prevent oxidation.
• Freezer:Pour into a jar and float a layer of olive oil on top to prevent oxidation. Leave enough space at the top of the jar for expansion, then freeze pesto for up to 6 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
• Portion control: Pour pesto into an ice cube tray and freeze the cubes solid, then transfer to a freezer-safe bag for storage. Pull it out a cube or two anytime you’re craving pesto.
• Spicy:Add ¼ teaspoon or more crushed red pepper flakes to the food processor before blending.
• Greens: Tweak your pesto flavor by adding other fresh herbs or greens such as cilantro, arugula, or kale. To make kale pesto, omit the parsley, decrease the basil to 1 cup, and add 2 cups packed kale leaves.
• By hand: Homemade pesto is a joy to make by hand. If you have a mortar and pestle, choose that instead of your food processor or blender. Start by grinding the garlic into a paste, and then slowly mash the pine nuts, basil, parsley, and Parmesan together. Finally, stir in the olive oil.
• Vegan pesto: Omit the Parmesan cheese and add 2 tablespoons or more nutritional yeast.
• Basil Walnut Pesto: Skip the pricey pine nuts and substitute toasted walnuts instead. This budget-friendly pesto is just as tasty as the original. Love walnuts in general? Try to Mushroom Ravioli with creamy Walnut Sauce. It’s scrumptious!
• Pesto Cheese Bread:Slice a loaf of bread in half lengthwise, then spread a thick layer of pesto over each side. Top with cheese, then finish in the oven or on the grill.
• Pesto Cavatappi: This is a perfected copycat recipe of the most popular dish at Noodles & Co. There’s so much to love about the springy pasta, creamy pesto sauce, and bright diced tomatoes.