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August 28, 2016

Easy Vegan Walnut Pesto

Firstly, allow me to apologise for my brief hiatus. If you follow me on Instagram or Snapchat you’ll know that I was busy eating my way through Istanbul, Berlin and Prague, but alas I have returned. A full vegan travel recap is of course forthcoming, so stay tuned!

In any case, on to the recipe du jour.

Even though it takes me about forever and a day, I do in fact respond to reader requests for recipes. Case in point, the vegan macaroni bechamel was one such recipe – and so is today’s.

vegan-walnut-pesto-1

As a seasoned vegan (forgive the pun) pesto is one of those things I have learned not to even bother picking up at the supermarket. While I adore it (basil, garlic, nuts and olive oil – what’s not to love?), the store bought kind is almost never vegan-friendly, given that it usually contains some sort of cheese. That said, I have on occasion come across some vegan pesto, but the truth is more often than not it’s expensive, and sub-par.


So a couple of weeks ago, when a craving for my signature chickpea and pesto pasta hit, I rolled up my sleeves, tapped into the motherlode of walnuts I discovered hiding out in my freezer, and got to work.

vegan-walnut-pesto-4

5.0 from 4 reviews
Save Print
Easy Walnut Pesto
Author: Nada E.
Recipe type: Sauce
Cuisine: Italian
Prep time:  10 mins
Cook time:  5 mins
Total time:  15 mins
Serves: Serves 4
 
Ingredients
  • 2 cups fresh basil, washed and de-stemmed
  • ½ cup raw walnuts
  • ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 2-3 cloves garlic
  • Sea salt to taste
  • A splash of water
Instructions
  1. Combine all ingredients in a small food processor or a high-speed blender and pulse until combined, stopping to scrape down edges as needed. Depending on your device you may need to add a splash of water to help blend.
3.5.3208

And the recipe notes, as per usual:

  • I used the small cup of my nutribullet to make this, and it works fantastically well. A smaller food processor would also work great, and probably result in a more textured pesto which some people prefer
  • Don’t skimp out on the olive oil for this one, I mean it. A high quality, organic extra virgin olive oil will make all the difference in terms of flavour
  • Feel free to reduce the amount of garlic as needed, I just like an extremely garlicky pesto
  • If  you’re feeling ambitious, you could try toasting the walnuts beforehand for a deeper flavour, but I personally prefer it raw

vegan-walnut-pesto-2If you’re not much of  a pasta lover – fret not. There are tons of ways you could use this pesto. Dilute it with some water and lemon juice to make salad dressing, spread it on toast or as a base for sandwiches, or even use it as a coating for your favourite roasted vegetables.

Whatever you do, do not leave it out if your cat is on the prowl.

cinnamon-the-cat

If they’re anything like mine, they’ll head straight for it. That’s Cinnamon snarling at the camera after I shoo’d her away from the pesto.

Until next time, dear readers!

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Filed Under: Dips and Spreads, Recipes Tagged With: 30 mins or less, pesto, sauces, walnuts

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lisa says

    August 28, 2016 at 6:34 pm

    Oh, my goodness–Cinnamon is a doll! I adore orange cats; I think they’re just gorgeous.

    This recipe looks good, except for the nutritional yeast. I just can’t stand that stuff. To me it ruins the flavor of anything it’s in. I make pesto without the yeast and it’s fine. I do use quite a bit of coarse salt in it. Sometimes I wish I could come up with something reminiscent of Parmesan to put in, but so far I haven’t come up with any brilliant ideas.

    Do you have a post on your chickpea & pesto pasta? That sounds great, as I’m a huge chickpea fan. I’ll look for it.

    Reply
    • Nada says

      August 28, 2016 at 6:37 pm

      I’ve never met someone who doesn’t like nooch – but I suppose there’s a first time for everything! I’ve come across some vegan parmesan at the supermarket from time to time and it tastes pretty realistic, perhaps you could check a health food store local to you?

      I don’t have a post on the chickpea and pesto pasta just yet, but I’ll be sure to blog it very soon.

      Reply
    • Cadry says

      August 29, 2016 at 1:50 pm

      I always put a little white miso paste in my pesto, and it really amps up the umami factor. You could give that a try!

      Reply
    • Lilduck says

      August 8, 2020 at 8:50 pm

      Not all NY are created equal..I like the Sari Foods brand better than any other.

      Reply
  2. Lisa says

    August 29, 2016 at 1:59 pm

    Nada, i get that about the nooch; it’s like, apparently some people think cilantro tastes like soap and they think it ruins anything it’s put in. That I don’t understand! But there it is, heh.

    Will look forward to the pasta recipe…

    Cadry, interesting about the miso. I might try that. Thanks!

    Reply
  3. ninaframbuesa says

    September 6, 2016 at 12:34 am

    Do you think this would work with coconut oil instead of olive oil?

    Reply
    • Nada says

      September 6, 2016 at 8:21 am

      Hi Nina, you could try it out however I feel the coconut flavour would be overwhelming and I’m not sure that it complements the walnuts or basil.

      Reply
  4. Shanice says

    October 31, 2017 at 1:05 pm

    Hey Nada, I was just wondering how long can this pesto be kept and for how long and where. Thanks so much!

    Reply
  5. Pedro Alberto says

    June 5, 2018 at 4:14 pm

    Made this recipe today.
    It was totally delicious.
    Thanks for the post.

    Reply
    • Nada says

      June 10, 2018 at 5:41 am

      So glad you enjoyed, Pedro!

      Reply
  6. Carolyn says

    August 3, 2018 at 1:17 am

    I gathered a huge amount of basil this afternoon and when I couldn’t stand it any longer, Googled vegan pesto with walnuts. Yours was at the top of the page, and it is DELICIOUS! Thank you! So glad I have garlic on hand. I think I need to sign up for your listserve if you have one. BTW, Cinnamon is an adorable kitty! We just brought home a ~ 3-year-old semiferal (so we thought), vbery skinny tuxedo kitty after giving him a thorough going over, complete with snip and dip. He turned out not to be feral at all, though, and we can”t wait to bring him in from his private “suite” in the garage to the house where our other two cats (both female) and four dogs (three females) let us stay … most of the time!

    Reply
  7. Ciara says

    August 13, 2020 at 4:44 am

    this is the best recipe! everyone loved it!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Pasta Puttanesca, or The Best of the Best – Whole & Unscathed says:
    August 11, 2018 at 7:49 pm

    […] Dough, which I’ve been using ever since. And in the summer nothing compares to fresh basil pesto, which I like to make with walnuts or pepitas (and I prefer just one clove of garlic). A friend […]

    Reply

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Meet Nada

Hi! I'm Nada, (pronounced ned-a). I create simple, healthy, plant-based recipes inspired by Middle Eastern flavours and write about leading a vegan lifestyle in the Arab world. Read More…

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