This is the best vegan walnut pesto recipe! It's easy to make in just 5 minutes, and has the most incredible flavour. This pesto sauce is made without pine nuts and instead uses walnuts, basil, and nutritional yeast. You'll love that this pesto is also dairy-free and plant based and it makes the best dip, sauce, or spread.
Homemade sauces and dips like my carrot dip, sugar free cranberry sauce, homemade hummus and parsnip and red pepper dip are one of the best ways to add flavour to meals or snacks, and the pesto recipe I am sharing today is another fun way to pump up the flavour of your meals even more!
Table of Contents
Why you will love this recipe:
- This vegan walnut pesto has such an amazing flavour! It's creamy, garlicky, cheesy, and incredibly delicious.
- It's so quick and easy to make and is ready in less than 5 minutes! Just like my arugula pesto and vegan parsley pesto.
- This homemade pesto sauce is made with walnuts instead of pine nuts so it's a more budget-friendly option.
- Besides being vegan this healthy pesto recipe is also dairy free, paleo, vegetarian, gluten free, sugar free and Whole30 compliant.
- You can use this pesto in so many ways including as a dip, for salad dressings, as a sauce or marinade, or to make a pesto sandwich, veggie pesto pasta or tuna pesto pasta.
Ingredients and substitutions:
For the full ingredient list and exact measurements refer to the recipe card later in this post.
Jump to the Recipe Card.
- Fresh basil - You can use both the basil leaves and basil stems for making this pesto.
- Raw walnuts - Be sure to use raw walnuts and not roasted or salted walnuts. Feel free to use cashews, sunflower seeds, or pine nuts instead.
- Avocado oil - this is what turns the basil and nuts into a delicious creamy sauce. You can also use olive oil if you prefer.
- Garlic - a key ingredient in pesto recipes, fresh garlic adds even more flavour. Feel free to add as much or as little as you like.
- Nutritional yeast - this gives it a parmesan cheese like taste and flavour while keeping this pesto dairy free and vegan.
- Lemon juice - adds a nice bit of citrus flavour to this creamy pesto. This can be substituted for apple cider vinegar instead.
Recipe variations and add ins:
- Feel free to add an extra cloves of garlic if you like a stronger garlic flavour.
- Add as much salt and pepper as you like.
- For a chunkier texture, blend this vegan pesto for less time.
- To give this pesto an added flavour boost add 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes or a bit of vegan parmesan.
- Add different herbs or vegetables that you have on hand such as a fresh parsley, spinach or kale to this vegan walnut pesto.
How to make vegan walnut pesto:
Step 1
First, put all the ingredients into a food processor.
Step 2
Next, blend until everything is combined and you have a smooth sauce.
Top tips:
- The fresher your ingredients, the better this pesto will taste.
- Don't over-process the ingredients as this can make them taste more bitter.
- If you don't have a food processor you can use a high speed blender such as a Vitamix to make this pesto instead.
How to serve:
This pesto can be used in so many ways. Here are a few serving ideas:
- Use it as a pasta sauce or as a topping for your favourite pasta dishes.
- Make pesto pasta salad.
- Use it as a salad dressing, or as a topping for roasted vegetables.
- It makes a great dip for raw vegetables, crackers or bread.
- Add this fresh pesto to mashed potatoes!
- Use it as a sauce on sandwiches, paninis, burgers, pitas, or wraps.
Vegan walnut pesto FAQs:
Both extra virgin olive oil and basil when they are blended for too long in the food processor can cause your pesto to taste bitter. To avoid this only blend your pesto sauce until it is smooth. This only takes about 1 - 2 minutes. You can also try using a more neutral tasting oil such as avocado oil.
Yes! Nutritional yeast helps give vegan pesto a cheesy flavour to make it taste more like a classic pesto with cheese, but you could easily leave it out of the recipe. Just note that the pesto will be slightly thinner and will have a different flavour so you may want to add a few extra nuts instead.
Traditional pesto is not vegan because it contains parmesan cheese. However you can easily make pesto vegan by omitting the cheese and using nutritional yeast instead.
Store any leftover vegan walnut pesto in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 7 days. The pesto may thicken a bit in the fridge - if it does stir in a little avocado oil or olive oil before serving.
Yes, you can freeze this vegan pesto for up to 3 months in a freezer safe container.
Other vegan sauces and dips you will love:
Recipe
Vegan Walnut Pesto
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup packed fresh basil leaves
- 1 cup raw walnuts
- 1/2 cup avocado oil (or olive oil)
- 1 clove garlic, chopped
- 2 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (more or less to taste)
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper (more or less to taste)
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients to your food processor or high speed blender.
- Blend until smooth.
Notes
- This recipe yields just over a cup of pesto.
- Nutritional values are an estimate and will vary depending on the exact ingredients used.
- Store any leftover pesto in an airtight jar or container in the fridge for up to 7 days.
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