Spinach Pesto (With Basil)
This flavorful spinach pesto is a delicious spin on the pesto made with fresh baby spinach and basil, rich olive oil, bright lemon, bold parmesan, garlic and nutty walnuts. It’s a healthy Italian-inspired sauce and there are countless ways to use it.
❤️ About This Spinach Pesto Recipe
- Easy: Just add ingredients into the food processor and blend, your spinach pesto is ready.
- Quick: It takes under 5 minutes to make this spinach basil pesto.
- Hesitant to use spinach? Don’t worry, you won’t taste the spinach at all. It just gives the vibrant green color of the pesto. Plus, spinach is good for you.
- Taste & Flavor: It tastes herby (from basil), very fresh, creamy with a quite noticeable garlic undertone.
- Cheaper alternative to classic pesto: Spinach is a whole lot cheaper than buying a ton of basil. So this spinach pesto is budget-friendly
🍽 Ways To Use Spinach Basil Pesto
- Toss with cooked pasta (any type works but tortellini and gnocchi are the best options)
- Use it to enhance pasta salad (e.g. pesto tortellini salad)
- Use as a spread for sandwiches or burgers.
- Use as a pizza sauce
- Spread over crostini or make pesto bruschetta
- Drizzle over steamed or roasted veggies
- Add a dollop of it to a soup like minestrone or other creamy soup
🧾 Ingredient Notes For Spinach Pesto
- Baby spinach: I highly recommend using fresh spinach. Frozen doesn’t work here.
- Basil: Again, fresh is recommended. Dried basil in spinach pesto doesn’t work.
- Garlic: Use fresh garlic or use readymade minced garlic.
- Walnuts: It adds a nice nutty flavor. Another classic option is to use pine nuts.
- Lemon juice: Freshly squeezed lemon juice is the best choice over bottled juice.
- Olive oil: Extra virgin olive oil should be used while making any pesto as it has a mild flavor. Plus, pesto is eaten raw, and fresh so extra virgin should be used.
- Parmesan cheese: As being vegetarian, I only buy vegetarian parmesan cheese and not the original Parmigiano Reggiano that has rennet.
👩🍳 How To Make Spinach Pesto With Basil?
- To a food processor, add baby spinach, basil, parmesan, walnuts, garlic, salt, pepper, and lemon juice.
- Also, add oil.
- Cover and run the processor until it is a pesto consistency.
- You may need to stop and scrape the sides with a spatula and blend again.
💭 Expert Tips For Spinach Pesto Recipe
- Make a thin layer of olive oil on the surface of the spinach pesto when your store it in the jar to keep it fresh longer.
- Store the spinach basil pesto in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days. It can be frozen for 3-4 months.
- For an extra nutty flavor, you can toast the walnuts before adding them.
Check out another pesto recipe – Parsley pesto
Did you try this spinach pesto recipe? I’d love to hear about it! Click here to leave a review.
Spinach Pesto Recipe (With Basil)
This flavorful spinach pesto with basil is a delicious spin on the classic pesto. It tastes herby (from basil), very fresh, creamy with a quite noticeable garlic undertone.
US measuring cups are used (1 cup = 240 ml)
Ingredients
- 2 cups Baby spinach, packed
- 1 cup Basil leaves, packed
- ½ cup Walnuts
- ¼ cup Vegetarian parmesan cheese
- 3 cloves Garlic
- ⅓ cup Extra virgin olive oil
- Salt & Pepper, to taste
- 3 teaspoons Lemon juice
Instructions
- To a food processor, add baby spinach, basil, parmesan, walnuts, garlic, salt, pepper, lemon juice and oil.
- Cover and run the processor until it is a pesto consistency.
- You may need to stop and scrape the sides with a spatula and blend again.
Notes
- Make a thin layer of olive oil on the surface of the pesto when your store it in the jar to keep it fresh longer.
- Store the spinach basil pesto in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days. It can be frozen for 3-4 months.
- For an extra nutty flavor, you can toast the walnuts before adding them.
Nutrition
Calories: 144kcal (7%) | Carbohydrates: 2g (1%) | Protein: 3g (6%) | Fat: 15g (23%) | Saturated Fat: 2g (10%) | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 2mg (1%) | Sodium: 129mg (5%) | Potassium: 92mg (3%) | Fiber: 1g (4%) | Sugar: 1g (1%) | Vitamin A: 888IU (18%) | Vitamin C: 4mg (5%) | Calcium: 59mg (6%) | Iron: 1mg (6%)
What brand of vegetarian parmesan cheese do you buy?
I use BelGioioso Vegetarian Parmesan Cheese.
Can Parmesan cheese be substituted for any other cheese?
You can use mozzarella.