This creamy Dairy Free Pesto is quite delicious. The fresh basil combined with the lemon and nutritional yeast gives this paleo basil pesto sauce a nice cheesy flavor without cheese. This pesto recipe only takes minutes to make! This is always a huge hit in my home when I make it! I love to make a batch and keep it in my refrigerator so that it is already in there for me to use with any meal. This is my favorite way to always have this delicious homemade pesto without having to make it each time.
This recipe is so versatile and can be paired with multiple dishes. From seasoning proteins to using it as a spread on gluten free bread or rolls, you can’t go wrong! The taste is so refreshing it will remind you of summer but is a sauce you can make year round.
I love to make a batch of it and use it on multiple dishes through out the week for easy weeknight dinners! I have used pesto on not just pasta, but in chicken salad and with salmon as well. The fresh flavor from the fresh herbs make it easy to pair with any protein and side. The delicious pesto sauce also doesn’t taste heavy like a cream based sauce would. Other sauces that I like to keep on hand are: Argentinean Chimichurri, AIP Nomato Sauce, Dairy Free Avocado Creama, Lemon Dill Aioli, and Red Chimichurri. If you love homemade pesto, but can’t have nuts, check out my Nut Free Pesto.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- This easy dairy-free pesto recipe is so simple! You just dump all of the simple ingredients into your blender, blend it up, and it’s ready to eat.
- Kids will love this recipe too!
- This recipe is naturally Whole30, paleo, gluten free, dairy free, and soy free.
- I love to make this recipe for my favorite pasta recipe, Whole30 Shrimp Pesto Pasta or my Pesto Orzo Salad. It is truly a perfect pairing and the classic pesto makes the perfect pasta sauce.
- Even though it only has seven ingredients, it is packed with delicious flavor!
- Any recipe that calls for traditional pesto you could use this recipe. Such as my Pesto Salmon, Gluten Free Pesto Meatballs, and my Pesto Chicken Salad.
- This recipe will have more flavor and better consistency than store-bought pesto.
Ingredients
- Pine nuts-This gives the pesto a nice and creamy texture. You can use walnuts but the pesto will not come out as creamy as it would if you use pine nuts.
- Fresh basil leaves-I love using my fresh basil from my garden! If you have leftover basil that you bought, trim the stems some and place into a mason jar with water and cover with a plastic bag in your refrigerator to keep it fresh longer.
- Extra Virgin Olive oil-My go to fat of choice.
- Garlic cloves -To add some flavor.
- Fresh Lemon juice-This makes this whole30 pesto, do not skip this!
- Nutritional yeast-Nutritional yeast is widely used in dairy free/ paleo cooking because it gives dishes a nice cheesy flavor.
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Substitutions and Variations
- If you are not dairy free, you can use parmesan cheese instead of nutritional yeast. The nutritional yeast makes it so you don’t even realize the cheese isn’t in there though.
- If you can not find pine nuts in a local grocery store, you can also substitute for another nut such as walnuts or pecans but it will change the consistency and flavor.
- If you follow a vegan or autoimmune protocol (AIP) diet, you can refer to my AIP Pesto recipe for an AIP or vegan pesto sauce.
- For a different consistency, you could substitute the pine nuts for seeds such as pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds.
This recipe has not been tested with other substitutions or variations. If you replace or add any ingredients, please let us know how it turned out in the comments below!
Step by Step Instructions
Photo 1: First, place all of your ingredients into your blender.
Photo 2: Then, blend until smooth.
Equipment Needed
- Blender – I love my blender. I have had it for years and it still works great. All of the additional attachments that come with it make it an even better value.
Expert Tips
- Tip # 1: If you have left over fresh basil when you are done, trim the stems some and place stems into a jar with water in the refrigerator to keep the herbs fresh and green longer.
- Tip # 2: If you are looking to buy pre-squeezed lemon juice at grocery stores, make sure that there are no additives on the ingredient labels. You will want to make sure they have not added any ingredients such as sugar or another artificial sweetener to it. When using fresh lemons, make sure they are at room temperature when you juice them to make it easier.
- Tip # 3: Once your pesto is smooth, open your blender and scrape down the sides of the blender and mix a little more to make sure it is fully combined. When you first start to blend some of the ingredients will splash up higher on the sides of the blender and you don’t want to miss having those flavors incorporated.
- Tip # 4: If you want a more thin pesto, you can add extra olive oil or lemon juice to help thin it out. Adding more liquid and not more basil will change the flavor of the pesto though.
Recipe FAQ
So many different things! I love fresh pesto on so many dishes from chicken salad, to my salads, steak, and even salmon. You can add additional lemon juice or oil to this mixture to make it into a delicious salad dressing.
I love my Ninja Food Processor! I have had it for years and it works super well. it is super simple to wash. I just rinse it and place it in the dishwasher. You can use either the blender base or the bowl of a food processor attachment for this recipe.
You can either serve the pesto in a container on the side for you and your guests to serve themselves. Or you could also mix it into your dish ahead of time.
I don’t recommending freezing pesto. When you thaw it, the consistency will change and will have additional liquid.
Storage Instructions
- This recipe can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days in an airtight container.
- I love to keep mine in a mason jar and use it on recipes throughout the week!
Other Dairy Free Pesto Recipes You Will Love
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Whole30 Pesto
Equipment
- high speed blender
Ingredients
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in the food processor and blend.
Dana says
This is amazing! I love how simple it is and all of the options on your blog to use it with.
Lori says
SO good and so glad to be able to have pesto on Whole30
Allianna Moximchalk says
Agreed 🙂 thanks for your review!