Basil Pecan Pesto

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!

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

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.)

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!!

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.

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.

this is now my family's favorite recipe. We use it as spread on sandwiches, we add tofutti sour cream for a cream pesto pasta sauce, we use it on pizza, we add it to baked chicken, we grill with it on burgers...their most favorite is pulled chicken and mozzarella in a pan toasted wrap. Quick, easy, and fabulous!

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!

I made this with fresh mammoth basil out of my garden. Mammoth basil has a slightly musky flavor as compared to common basil. I followed the recipe exactly as written, except I did not have shredded parmesan, just the standard grated Parmesan in the plastic jar (I know). Even so, it turned out very good. Next time, I will use fresh parmesan, and I can imagine how much better it will be.

I had to register just to say how great this recipe is! I absolutely loved it...better than any pesto I've had before :)

Awesome!!!! I used 1 cup pecans and 1/2 cup pine nuts, then added some lemon juice at the end. Had some good quality parmesan cheese and basil from my CSA box. This is a keeper!!

Very tasty pesto recipe!! I always add a few leaves of fresh spinach to my pesto to give it a nice fresh green color. Basil tends to turn murky brown when processed.

I don't make pesto often, this was easy to make and tasty.

I have a bumper crop of basil this year so I wanted to turn some of it into pesto. Pine nuts are so expensive so when I saw this recipe called for pecans I figured this was the one to try. It is delicious! I added 1/4 tsp of fresh lemon juice to it to help it keep its beautiful color.

Pesto was yummy but it turned dark. How do you keep the bright green look?

Delish! I did sub walnuts for pecans and only had 1c basil, added 2c spinach. Solid recipe base though!

My 1st time making pesto with my fresh-from-the-garden basil leaves, and it tastes great with salmon and spaghetti & zoodles!

Amazing recipe!!! I added a couple tablespoons of jalapeño olive oil and i used toasted sunflower seeds and almonds as the nuts. Only had powder parmesan and was still great!

I was looking for a pesto recipe with ingredients I had on hand. This is fabulous. I just ate it on my Caesar salad. Now I have to decide if I'm going to make a chicken dish or seafood pasta. Either way, I think it's going to be great. If I hadn't made this myself, I wouldn't have guessed it was made with pecans.

Fantastic! My new way to make pesto!!!

The pecans definetly make this recipe! Truly outstanding.

I will double the amount of basil and half the amount of pecans next time.

Loved using the pecans I had on hand instead of pine nuts!!

This was just fab, thank you for posting! I was out of walnuts and asked google if I could make basil pesto with pecans...and voila! I can't tell you how much better I like it than with either walnuts or pine nuts.
I only used 1 cup of totally packed in basil, then a cup of frozen spinach I had defrosted, it was just soooo delish!!

So good and so easy!! We made it with raw pecans and it turned out great.

I have made pesto using almonds but wasn't sure about pecans. Googled it and came up with this recipe. Made it tonight and Yum! I tend to have pecans and almonds on hand so now I know I can use both.

love it.

This was so tasty and light to put on pasta! I added a touch of broth to thin it out a bit, it was so yummy! Will make again for sure!

I never really cared for the sharpness of basil. My husband grows lots of it in his garden. He has asked me every year to make pesto. When I saw the recipe with pecans, I gave in and made a batch tonight. This recipe makes 2 cups. It is so delicious that I put 2 half pints in jars in the freezer. I am looking forward to putting it on garlic bread.

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

This pesto will be my go to from now on! So delicious exactly how the recipe is. I am addicted :)

This pesto was on the rich side thanks to the high ratio of nuts in the recipe, but it was absolutely delicious! I will definitely use it again!

I prefer pinenuts. But when all you have is pecans and your basil is ready to go, this recipe is great! I froze mine. They save really well in the freezer.

This pesto is delicious!! 100% as good (if not better) than with pine nuts, I followed recipe exactly. So happy to have an alternative now, thanks!!

There are a lot of pesto variations, but so far I have liked this simple one the best. Plus we usually have pecans on hand!

Great recipe but it came out a bit too dry. I added a good deal more olive oil and I also added some apple cider vinegar to give it a bit more tartness.

The fact that I could use pecans, basil and garlic that I grow is always a plus and then the ease and taste take it over the top. Mixed it in spaghetti squash and it was an awesome side dish.

This was excellent. I used walnuts because that's what I had on hand. Definitely making it again.

Since I had lots of basil in my garden and a bag of fresh pecans I searched for this recipe. This is a wonderful pesto! I plan on making it again and wouldn't change a thing.

Ohhhhh, Mama!!! I had to hurry and freeze most of it to keep myself from just diving in.

Super easy! Add cream cheese, kale and spinach to make “green spaghetti.” Just mix into cooked pasta kids will love it...

I loved this recipe! Kept close to the measurements (recipes like this don't have to be precise). I used a really good parm from one of the Italian markets in my hood. I added a pinch of red pepper flakes to give it a little kick.