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What could be better than classic basil pesto? Well, tossing out those hyper-expensive pine nuts and replacing them with glorious tasting, lightly toasted pistachios- that's what! You're gonna be putting this pistachio pesto on pasta, sautéed veggies, garlic grilled sourdough bread, and honestly, just about anything other than ice cream.
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The idea for this pistachio pesto hit me after about the zillionth time I went to Sicily, where my wife's family is from. Over there, pistachios are more than just a classy trail mix.
You see them tossed into salads, blended into pasta sauces, and turned into this ridiculously good, oftentimes completely vegan pistachio gelato that makes you eat 3 scoops of it, even if it's chilly out without a second thought about getting plenty all over your shirt.
So naturally my brain went, "Cool, what if we weaponize these pistachios into classic pesto?" And now here we are. You'll suddenly find convenient new excuses to put it on literally everything. Toss it with my vegan pesto pasta, drizzle a little over vegan carbonara, or honestly just dunk warm vegan garlic bread straight into it, or whatever.
This pesto was quick, easy, and fooled my non-vegan husband. He loved it so much, that he spread it on several slices of bread consuming half the container. I did not have enough for pasta, but I took his example and spread it on toast with some scrambled Just Egg and sundried tomatoes and it worked beautifully. So, in addition to being tasty, it is also versatile enough to be in other ways besides on pasta. Definitely will make more again, and this time I am going to double the amount I make!
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🥰 Why you'll adore this pistachio pesto recipe
✊ Vegan AF & GF: Rich, nutty flavor, completely free of parmesan cheese and cholesterol, and still very much giving Italian dinner table energy. If this is your bag, you are going to freak out just a wee little bit about my gluten-free vegan recipes.
⏰ Fast Enough for a Tuesday Night: Toast the pistachios, toss everything into a food processor, and give it a whirl. Five mins later you're standing there with a bowl of glowing green sauce feeling like some kind of mythical galactic pesto goose.
🛒 Small-Town Grocery Store Friendly: Even the grocery store where the produce section looks more like a gas station's should still carry everything you need for this. Especially because there's not a single crumb of Parmigiano Reggiano in the darn thing.
✅ Tested Worldwide: Like all my vegan recipes, this one got tweaked and perfected with feedback from my 1,000+ person recipe testing crew before showing up on my blog in its well-tested delicious glory.
I'm on my knees staring weirdly into your eyes, asking you in a soothing voice to be my taste-testing partner in crime. Sign up for the recipe testing crew and get early access to new recipes before they're published.
💚 Pine Nut Free Pesto Ingredients
Raw Shelled Pistachios
Pre-roasted pistachios also work, but freshly toasting raw ones for a couple of minutes will give you fresh flavors. Also if you buy the raw pistachios still in shells, congrats, you just added 10 minutes of tiny snack archaeology to your life. So, do yourself a fave and try to seek out some shelled ones.
Baby Arugula
A handful of arugula sneaks in with a peppery freshness that keeps the pesto from feeling too planty and basil-overloady. It also helps keep the cost down because using 100%fresh basil leaves can get expensive fast.
Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
Just a tiny pinch of crushed red pepper flakes gives the pesto a mild warmth that makes me super-happy. A little crushed dried pepperoncino or some Aleppo pepper flakes can also be used, or if you hate any spice, just leave this out completely.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
This is the moment to use your best, fruitiest, first cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil because the pesto is mostly raw and the oil flavor is front and center. When the oil is great tasting, the sauce tastes rich, smooth, and quite a bit lovely.
*See the recipe card at the bottom of the page for exact quantities, nutritional info, and detailed cooking directions.
🤯 Variations
Spinach Pesto
If you want a greener, milder twist, my spinach pesto blends fresh basil with pine nuts and spinach for a bright pesto sauce that's smooth, and perfect for pasta.
Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto
My sun-dried tomato pesto delivers thick, robust tomato flavor accented with a little red wine vinegar that is almost like an Italian tapenade.
Walnut Pesto
Walnut pesto rocks a rustic flavor from toasted walnuts to create a creamy, nutty pesto that's both affordable and incredibly, mind-blowingly satisfying.
Grab my easy-yo-use app that builds your whole week with real, chef-tested vegan dinners in 30 seconds, customized to your budget, time, and taste, with a shopping list sorted by aisle.
📖 How to make pistachio pesto
Give me about 5 minutes, and we'll turn this pile of leaves into a platinum record of the sauce game. These step-by-step instructions will walk you through the whole thingy, but you can scroll down to the recipe card below for a speedy li'l shortcut.
Step One
It Was the Pesto of Times, It Was the Worsto of Times:
Place the pistachios in a dry skillet over medium heat. Stir frequently for 2-3 minutes until fragrant and just very lightly toasted. Transfer them to a plate and allow them to cool completely.
Step Two
Pista Rogers' Neighborhood:
Add the cooled pistachios to a food processor along with the basil, arugula, garlic, lemon juice, crushed red pepper flakes, and salt. Pulse several times until everything is finely chopped and begins forming a coarse paste, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
✅ If you feel like tossing in a few tablespoons of grated vegan parmesan here, go for it. I support your life choices.
Step Three
Oliving on a Prayer:
With the processor running, slowly pour the olive oil in a steady stream so the mixture emulsifies and becomes smooth.
Step Four
The Only Ice I Don't Want to Abolish:
Add the crushed ice and process again until the creamy pesto loosens to a spoonable consistency. Scrape down the sides once more and process briefly to ensure an even texture.
Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.
This pesto is pretty damn glorious packed into some vegan stuffed shells, or spread into the layers of a vegan lasagna.
🤷♀️ Recipe FAQs
Lightly toasting the pistachios brings out their aroma and deepens the flavor of the finished sauce, which makes the pesto taste much more rounded.
Bitterness usually comes from over-toasted nuts, too much raw garlic, or herbs that were processed too aggressively. Keeping the pistachios only very lightly toasted and blending just until it has a smooth consistency helps avoid this.
Oh yes. Very yes. A blender is the easiest swap, but if you want to get a little old school, you can grab a mortar and pestle and crush the pistachios and garlic first, then mash in the herbs and olive oil until a coarse pesto forms. This is how homemade pesto was done for hundreds of years.
🧊 Refrigerating
Transfer the pesto to a sealed glass container and refrigerate it for up to 5 days. A thin layer of olive oil on the surface helps limit air exposure and keeps the color bright.
❄️ Freezing
Pistachio pesto freezes very well for longer storage. Spoon it into small containers or an ice cube tray (if you want to be able to thaw 1-2 tablespoon portions), freeze until solid, then store the portions in a sealed container for up to 3 months.
✌️You'll also love these vegan Italian sauces:
Learn to make plant-based red sauce masterpieces in a super-fun recorded cooking class with Chef Adam Sobel!
Pistachio Pesto Recipe
Equipment
- blender optional)
Ingredients
- ½ cup raw shelled pistachios
- 2 packed cups basil leaves
- 2 packed cups baby arugula
- 2 cloves garlic peeled
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- ⅛ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes optional
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup crushed ice
Instructions
- Place the pistachios in a dry skillet over medium heat. Stir and flip the nuts frequently for 3-4 minutes until the nuts are fragrant and very lightly toasted. Transfer to a plate and let cool fully.
- Add the cooled pistachios to a food processor. Add the basil, arugula, garlic, lemon juice, crushed red pepper flakes, and salt. Pulse several times until the mixture is finely chopped and begins to form a coarse paste. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to keep the mixture moving evenly through the blades.
- With the machine running, slowly pour in the olive oil in a steady stream so the mixture emulsifies and becomes smooth.
- Add the ice and process again until the sauce loosens to a spoonable consistency. Scrape the sides of the bowl once more and process briefly to ensure an even texture. Taste and tweak the seasoning if needed.
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Fara M. says
This pesto was quick, easy, and fooled my non-vegan husband. He loved it so much, that he spread it on several slices of bread consuming half the container. I did not have enough for pasta, but I took his example and spread it on toast with some scrambled Just Egg and sundried tomatoes and it worked beautifully. So, in addition to being tasty, it is also versatile enough to be in other ways besides on pasta. Definitely will make more again, and this time I am going to double the amount I make!