Vegan Spinach and Basil Pesto | Quick and Easy

This vegan spinach and basil pesto is easy and comes together in a few minutes. Spinach adds a nice kick to the traditional basil pesto, as well as making it more nutritious. This is perfect on pasta as well as pizza, sandwiches or on its own as a spread.

I love pesto. I have it incredibly often but I always make my own. It is easier than a lot of people think, you just need to place the ingredients in a blender, hand blender or food processor and voila, in a few minutes you will have a flavourful, smooth and delicious pesto!

This recipe is really easy and only requires a few ingredients. Spinach gives it a really nice flavour, without comprsing the taste, as well as making it extra green and nutritious. This is perfect to sneak some extra veggies in your diet, especially for kids! Spinach is also cheaper than basil, so this recipe is also budget friendly.

This Vegan Spinach and Basil Pesto is:

• Easy
• Quick
• Vegan and dairy-free
• Gluten-free
• Can be nut-free and oil-free

For this recipe, you will need:

• Fresh spinach
• Basil
• Walnuts
• Nutritional yeast
• Lemon juice
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Water

Instructions

The method for this recipe could not be simpler:

• Add all ingredients to a food processor, blender or use a hand blender and mix until smooth. The image above shows the desired consistency. This will be mixed with pasta water once the pasta is ready and become even more creamy.

Substitutions

• Walnuts – Use any other nuts (almonds, cashews, pine nuts etc)
• Nut-free version – Use seeds (sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds)
• Spinach: This is a spinach pesto so spinach is the star of the show but you can substitute it with other greens like kale and rocket, or simply add basil to make a traditional basil pesto. (Check out my rocket pesto here)
• Basil: you can substitute it with more spinach, or other greens
• Oil: this recipe only calls for 1 tbsp of olive oil but to omit it, you can add more lemon juice, acquafaba (chickpea water) or just more water.
• Nutritional yeast: Nutritional yeast is used to substitute parmesan cheese, so if you’re not vegan you can use that instead or you can omit it completely.

How long does homemade pesto last?

Pesto is best when eaten fresh or in the same day but it lasts up to 2/3 days in the fridge in a sealed container or jar. To make it last longer, you can flatten the top once on the container, then pour a thin layer of olive oil, it will last for a week.

Did you make this recipe?

Please let me know how it turned out! Leave a comment below, give it a rating or share your recreation on instagram and tag me at  @recipesandplaces or use the hashtag #recipesandplaces

I love to see recreations and share them!

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you