Dairy Free Pesto
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This 5 minute dairy free pesto recipe is Whole30, Low Carb, and Vegan, and it will quickly become your favorite healthy condiment! Grab a few simple ingredients and make the best pesto ever.
About this Dairy Free Pesto
This incredible pesto recipe comes together in just a few minutes with wholesome, healthy ingredients like fresh basil, garlic, olive oil, and cashews and without pine nuts.
The secret ingredient to making it Whole30 AND Dairy Free? Nutritional yeast!
If you've been needing a boost of flavor in your routine, this is the Basil Pesto recipe you've been looking for! It's packed full of delicious ingredients AND it's gluten free, dairy free, vegan, Paleo, Keto, Low Carb, and of course, Whole30.
You can use dairy free pesto in a million ways! It's amazing on pasta, sandwiches, wraps, or even used in recipes like my pesto chicken salad, pesto baked chicken, and more! This is the recipe I follow at the end of summer when my garden is basically exploding with basil. I can't let it go to waste, so I make a ton of pesto and freeze it.
Create all the delicious flavors of classic pesto, but without the dairy and pine nuts. This is a winner of a recipe that you are sure to love!
Why You'll Love this Recipe
Pesto may just be my favorite condiment! It's just so delicious:
- Not only does it come together in like 2 seconds flat, okay maybe more like 5 minutes, but it's budget friendly AND freezer friendly.
- Dairy free pesto is so versatile! Use it in dozens of different dishes — whatever your imagination can dream up.
- Make pesto ahead of time and store for later. It's a great way to get condiments into your meal prep rotation!
Ingredients
Who would've thought such simple ingredients would make the absolute best condiment of all time? Yup, this Whole30, Dairy Free Pesto is so good, you'll make time and time again. Here's a list of what you need:
- fresh basil
- olive oil
- garlic
- cashews
- nutritional yeast
- salt and pepper
Substitutions and Variations
You can use any kind of fresh basil you can find, but my favorite varieties are Italian and Sweet Basil. They're fairly common at most grocery stores. I've also used purple basil that I grew in my garden. The flavor was wonderful, but the color ended up a little brown, which was fine by me!
If you use raw garlic, the pesto will have more of a bite to it, and the garlic flavor will be more pronounced. If you're like me and you love strong garlic, use raw. Using blanched garlic will give your pesto more of a mild garlic flavor, which is generally a better bet if you like garlic but don't want the flavor to be too strong, if you get heartburn, or if you're serving this to kids.
I make my pesto recipe without the traditional pine nuts. Choose raw and unsalted cashews as a delicious and more budget-friendly option. Alternatively, if you're looking for a nut free pesto recipe, swap raw, unsalted sunflower seeds.
Nutritional yeast has a wonderful cheesy flavor that's so important here to making delicious pesto that's Whole30, Low Carb, and Vegan. Pick it up at your local grocer, Thrive Market or on buy on Amazon. If you're not worried about keeping things dairy free, you can add parmesan cheese to this recipe!
How to Make Dairy Free Pesto
Surprisingly, basil pesto is one of the easiest recipes to make. You just need to have a food processor or blender. Here's how to make it:
First, pulse all the ingredients together except the oil. This allows the flavor of the basil to be more fully released and incorporated into the sauce.
Then, slowly add in the oil as you blend the mixture until it's the desired consistency. You don't want a basil smoothie, so don't overblend.
Keep an eye on it and stop blending when the cashew pesto is smooth, but not creamy. Use as desired and enjoy!
How to Store Dairy Free Pesto
Cover and refrigerate the pesto for up to 5 days. Alternatively, you can add it to ice cube trays and freeze into cubes. Once they're frozen pop them out and add them to an air tight bag or container and freeze.
Uses for Dairy Free Pesto
Pesto is great with veggies, eggs, wraps, pizzas, and sandwiches, but it's also delicious served with proteins like shrimp and chicken. I love using it in Pesto Chicken & Spaghetti Squash Bake and Baked Pesto Chicken & Tomatoes.
It's also perfect in recipes like Spiralized Zucchini & Pesto Egg Nests and Sheetpan Salmon & Brussels Sprouts Salad. You can even use it when you make Homemade Pizza! The possibilities are endless.
Tips for Success
Make your basil pesto extra perfect with these few tips
- Don't overblend your pesto or it won't have the right texture. Every blender and food processor is different, so just keep an eye on it as you blend the mixture.
- Always taste your pesto before serving. You can add some more salt and pepper to the mixture if needed!
- If you're not going to use all of your pesto in 5 days, freeze it. It freezes and thaws beautifully, so you don't have to let the pesto go to waste!
FAQ
Dairy-free pesto is a super popular condiment! It's really easy to make yourself and this recipe is perfect for those who are avoiding dairy, but love the flavor that pesto brings to many dishes.
Not at all. This recipe uses cashews, but you can even use sunflower seeds to make a nut-free pesto. There's so many options out there!
More Condiment Recipes
- Homemade Buffalo Sauce
- Homemade Big Mac Sauce
- Sugar Free BBQ Sauce
- Healthy Copycat Chick fil A Sauce
Like this pesto recipe?
Drop a star rating below, or tag me on Instagram @cookathomemom!
Dairy Free Pesto
Equipment
Ingredients
Basil Pesto
- 2 cups fresh basil
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup cashews raw and unsalted
- 3 Tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/4 teaspoons salt
- 1/4 teaspoons pepper
Video
Instructions
- Add the garlic, nutritional yeast, basil, salt and pepper and cashews to a food process or blender. Pulse a few times to break everything down a bit.
- Turn the food processor or blender to a slow blend or low speed. Open the top and drizzle in the rest of the olive oil slowly. Blend until smooth, but stop before it gets creamy (I like when there's still a little texture in the pesto from the cashews).
- Season to taste with salt and pepper.
