Spinach Basil Pesto – A great flavor booster, we keep a jar of this Basil Pesto in our fridge at all times. Learn how to make pesto in 5 minutes! Basil Pesto goes well with just about everything – pasta, salads, vegetables, chicken, fish, potatoes, soups, pasta, even sandwiches.
Today, we are sharing a super simple recipe for Spinach Basil Pesto. This nut-free pesto recipe is a summer favorite when the garden basil is out of control. You all need to add it to your must make list. This pesto can be made in 5 minutes and goes well with just about everything-pasta, salads, vegetables, chicken, fish, potatoes, soups, gnocchi, and it’s so good on sandwiches. This easy pesto recipe is our all-time favorite!
Embrace the Spinach in this Basil Pesto
And if you are hesitant about the spinach, don’t be. Embrace the spinach. You really can’t taste it and it gives the pesto a vibrant green color, which makes me very happy. I love green! Plus, spinach is so good for you. I mean, you’ve seen Popeye flex his guns, right? Don’t you want arms like that? Gotta eat your spinach! Why not in pesto form?
Our boys don’t even know this basil pesto is made with spinach and they love it! Plus, spinach is cheaper than buying a ton of basil, so this is a budget friendly pesto too!
How to Make Pesto
Making homemade pesto is easy. Place the ingredients in a food processor or blender, let the machine work its magic and voila-you have a smooth and flavorful basil pesto! The ingredients to this spinach basil pesto couldn’t be any simpler:
- spinach
- basil
- garlic
- Parmesan cheese
- lemon juice
- salt and pepper
- olive oil
I didn’t forget the nuts, Josh is allergic to all nuts so we make nut-free pesto. I promise it’s just as tasty! So if you are concerned with nut allergies, this is the pesto for you! Omitting the nuts also keeps the calories and fat down, a bonus for swimsuit season:)
If you need the pesto to be vegan or dairy-free you can leave out the Parmesan cheese, it is still good without it!
Basil Pesto is Versatile!
We keep a jar of Spinach Basil Pesto in our fridge at all times. Again, it has so many uses. I am always incorporating basil pesto into our meals. It is such a great flavor booster.
In the summer, when our basil is growing like weeds, we make a huge batch of Spinach Basil Pesto and put it in the freezer. It comes in handy during the winter months. Pro tip, freeze the pesto in ice cube trays! A little pesto goes a long way and the little ice cubes of pesto are perfect.
Make a batch of Spinach Basil Pesto today! And come back on Wednesday because we are going to share a killer recipe that involves this presto pesto! See, I told you it has so many uses and you don’t want to miss this one!
If you like this spinach pesto recipe, you might also like:
- Basil Vinaigrette
- Pesto Pasta Salad
- Zucchini Noodles with Pesto
- Chicken Pesto Tortellini
- Baked Gnocchi with Sausage, Kale, and Pesto
Main Course
Spinach Basil Pesto {Nut-Free}
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Total Time
- 5 minutes
- Cuisine
- Italian
- Servings
- 8
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 4 cups packed spinach leaves
- 2 cups packed basil leaves
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Place the olive oil, spinach, basil, garlic, garlic, lemon juice, parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper in a food processor or blender. Turn on the machine and blend for 30 seconds. Stop and scrape with a spatula and blend again until smooth. Taste and add more salt and pepper, if necessary.
- Serve with pasta, veggies, chicken, fish, as a spread, etc. Store the pesto in a jar or container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. This pesto also freezes well. Enjoy!
- Note-if you like a thinner pesto you can add a little more olive oil.
Keywords
basil pesto, pesto
Wow! Delicious! I bought a basil plant for another recipe and thought I’d try making pesto with the leftovers but nut-free because I am allergic. This turned out great! I think I may add a little more olive oil upon serving but for now the pesto is in the fridge, flavors melding, and getting even better! I taste tested it with some bread and wow, delish! Thank you!
Wonderful recipe. My daughter is allergic to nuts so I was searching around for alternatives and tried this and it was so so good – winning us all over. Tangy and delicious. YUM!
What do you put the pesto in to freeze? I think I might need to get some small freezer containers. I am at least going to make a small batch.
I like to do ice cube trays.
Just whipped this up and it was DELICIOUS. Thank you!
Glad you liked the recipe!
Hey Maria, first of all, I love the name of your blog – Two peas and their pod 🙂 really make sense. And I love this pesto sauce recipe, as mostly I make pesto sauce with basil and never added spinach and at times it becomes bitter. so I will give a try to this recipe.
This recipe is a life saver! Put it on anything, pasta, sandwich, potato … and you’ll have a delicious dinner in no time. Thanks.
My family said it was the best pesto they’ve ever had. I’ve never used spinach before. I made it exactly as written.
This is my fav recipe for pesto! Thank you 🙂Â
The only tweek I mad was to decrease the salt bcz spinach and Parmesan tends to be salty m.Â
I’ve never left comments for recipes before but I think you deserve it. Making this for the 20th time because my kids love it and ask for it. But the reason why it’s so special is because they are allergic to nuts and also don’t love spinach but this somehow works. Â
Thank you
I tried the Spinach Basil Pesto recipe and my family absolutely LOVED it, it was definitely a WINNER in my house!!!!
Thanks you
Do you ever use nutritional yeast? We have a nut and dairy allergy in our family and I am just wondering if subbing nutritional yeast for the parmesan would be a one for one sub or less?
I dont put it in and it still tastes fantastic.
I’ve made this recipe probably at least 6 times. I’ve used it on everything from tortellini to chicken and everyone always loves it. They don’t even realize how much spinach is in it XD
Such an easy recipe to follow. My son is allergic to nuts so this recipe was just perfect for us to make so many different things such as pasta and pesto tarts.
I work in a daycare making food for about sixty kids. Nuts are banned from the daycare so finding a great pesto was kind of difficult. every time I make this recipe with pasta, they devour it. it is one of their favourites.
I omit the parm from the recipe to put on the side so the kids who are lactose intolerant can enjoy it . I am very fortunate to come across this wonderful pesto. Thank you
Just made this this morning with the copious amount of basil my wee container garden is producing. So easy! And really good. I chose this recipe because it didn’t require me to go on a hunt for pine nuts, but think it might become my go-to.
Pesto is ALWAYS necessary to have in the fridge!
I just made pesto the other week and froze into ice cube trays! Love using garden-fresh basil…can’t wait to try this recipe too! 🙂
I love the recipe. I tried it tonight and it was a big hit. Â I would definitely make this again.Â
It came out great . My new favorite recipe.
I like pesto but I haven’t been a big fan. This recipe completely changed it. The pesto tastes very fresh and I love the color and consistency. We always have it in the fridge and our family -incl. teenage kids- often make themselves a toast/sandwich with it, or we have it on pasta for a quick dinner. Whichever way – it tastes fabulous!
I only blend mine briefly so I get a rougher consistency and a tiny bit of crunch to it. But that’s just my preference.
Great tasting combinationÂ
Simple and pretty satisfying! I would personally add less lemon juice, but otherwise it’s a great recipe
Love it.
This was my first time ever making pesto and it was absolutely incredible. I ate it over lentil spaghetti with tomatoes and grilled chicken. The only thing missing was some fresh mozzarella!
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Hi! I was wondering if I could use frozen spinach for this? If so how much should I use for this recipe? Thanks!
I always use fresh.
There’s also a vegan parmesan cheese that you could use if you don’t want to leave the cheese out of the recipe. Sounds delicious.