Basil Pecan Pesto

Name: Basil Pecan Pesto
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 12 servings
Ingredients: 3 cups Basil, fresh; 1 ½ cups Nuts, pecans; 4 cloves Garlic, raw; ½ cup Cheese, parmesan, grated; ¾ cup Oil, olive, salad or cooking; ½ teaspoon Morton Kosher Salt, coarse; 1 pinch Spices, pepper, black

Rating: 4.72 stars

47 Ratings
37 Reviews
10 Photos

I prefer the taste of pecans over the pine nuts usually called for in pesto recipes. I developed this recipe over a summer of trial and error and prefer it to all other pesto recipes!

By grettagirl

Recipe Summary

prep:

15 mins

total:

15 mins

Servings:

Yield:

12 servings

Nutrition Info

Ingredients

Original recipe yields 12 servings

The ingredient list now reflects the servings specified

3 cups Basil, fresh
1 ½ cups Nuts, pecans
4 cloves Garlic, raw
½ cup Cheese, parmesan, grated
¾ cup Oil, olive, salad or cooking
½ teaspoon Morton Kosher Salt, coarse
1 pinch Spices, pepper, black

Directions

Step 1

Blend the basil, pecans, garlic, Parmesan cheese, olive oil, salt, and pepper together in a food processor until the mixture becomes a slightly chunky paste.

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Nutrition Facts

Per Serving:

232 calories; 2.9 g protein; 2.7 g carbohydrates; 2.9 mg cholesterol; 131.9 mg sodium. Full Nutrition

Reviews (37)

Most helpful positive review

Pam Ziegler Lutz

08/14/2011

Delicious! I used toasted pecans. My pesto has a brownish color with flecks of the bright green basil. I used some on pasta and froze some for later use. Great recipe - I will be using it again! Update - I made this again with raw pecans. This time I got the lovely green color we all come to expect from a good pesto. I love what the sweetness of the pecans do for this pesto. Truly delicious! Read More

Helpful

(34)

Most helpful critical review

Cathy Gauthier

07/05/2017

Too many pecans. Reduce the pecans and add oil slowly at the end. Read More

47 Ratings

5 star values: 39
4 star values: 5
3 star values: 2
2 star values: 0
1 star values: 1

Reviews: Most Helpful

Most Helpful Most Positive Least Positive Newest

Pam Ziegler Lutz

08/13/2011

Helpful

(34)

IndieGirl

09/17/2010

Which type of basil leaves do you use? I grow sweet basil boxwood basil and spicy basil. Which would you recommend? Read More

Helpful

(21)

Anne-in-Canada

09/13/2010

Very good!! I had never used pecans for this and it was exellent!. Anne-in- Canada Read More

Helpful

(16)

kjkcooks

07/12/2011

Thanks for the idea of using pecans! I will make this again. FYI I toasted the pecans in the microwave first to add more depth of flavor. (Melt 2 tsp to 1 tablespoon butter or margarine in medium bowl; toss in 1 1/2 cup nuts. Spread nuts out evenly on large microwave safe plate and toast 1 minute at a time stirring at those intervals until a nice toasty smell develops 2-5 minutes. Check often as microwaves differ of course. Also if the nuts seem too crowded toast in more than one batch.) Read More

Helpful

(11)

AllieGeekPi

08/05/2012

I made this for dinner tonight. Used pecans fresh from Georgia and basil freshly harvested from my garden. Followed the proportions of the recipe exactly. I didn't have parmesian cheese so I subbed pecorino romano and it worked out fine. The recipe is silent as to which kind of olive oil to use-- I decided not to use EVOO in favor of lighter olive oil. This pesto has a lovely delicate flavor that my family enjoyed served with crispy gnocchi. Glad to have a delicious affordable alternative to pinenuts. Thank you grettagirl for the delicious recipe. Read More

Helpful

(8)

Kimberly Rekrut

09/14/2011

I was so happy to find a recipe using pecans instead of pine nuts since realizing how expensive pine nuts are. I did not toast the pecans and the pesto stayed green and was absolutely delicious!! Read More

Helpful

(8)

TwoSweetPickles

08/10/2013

I always have a TON of basil in the summer. One day recently I wanted to make pesto but only had pecans on hand. I saw that someone else had made it this way so I knew I was good to go. It was tasty and just as good as traditional pine nut basil pesto. Thanks for confirming what I thought would be a good recipe. Read More

Helpful

(4)

kathyisnyder

06/24/2014

This was my first try at making pesto and it turned out wonderful. So glad I tried this recipe. I tried several others after this one but none were nearly as good. I made a big batch and froze it in ice cube trays. The thawed pesto was very good as well. Read More

Helpful

(2)

Ginny Lee

08/17/2017

Love this! I cut back to 1 cup of pecans (not toasted) and it seems just right to me. I put everything into the food processor except the oil chopped it all up and then added the oil through the tube as the processor was running. Made a double batch last weekend and will probably do that again this weekend (storing in the freezer). Food Network has a page of 50 things to do with pesto which has some great ideas. Thanks for sharing your recipe; I never liked those pine nuts! Read More

Helpful

(2)

Cathy Gauthier

07/05/2017

Too many pecans. Reduce the pecans and add oil slowly at the end. Read More

More Reviews

Reviews for: Photos of Basil Pecan Pesto

1 of 37

All Reviews

Which type of basil leaves do you use? I grow sweet basil boxwood basil and spicy basil. Which would you recommend?

Very good!! I had never used pecans for this and it was exellent!. Anne-in- Canada

I was so happy to find a recipe using pecans instead of pine nuts since realizing how expensive pine nuts are. I did not toast the pecans and the pesto stayed green and was absolutely delicious!!