Yummy Vegan Pesto Classico

I have made this recipe three different times; it's THAT good! First, I made it according to directions and ingredients. Then, the second time, I ran out of basil, so I added some kale, and it was still delish! A great way to sneak those green leafies in there! The third time, I ran out of pine nuts, so I subbed some walnuts for a portion of the pine nuts, and I did mostly kale with only a little basil for the flavor, and it was still amazing! This is a fabulous recipe -- thank you!

I hesitate to rate this recipe because I made it with baby arugula, not basil. Other than that one substitution, I followed the recipe as written. Really excellent pesto - and I imagine it would be just as delicious with basil or any other greens variation. The amount of garlic was perfect, not overpowering; the nutritional yeast (which I love) adds a wonderful cheesy taste. The arugula lent a slightly bitter bite that I enjoyed just as much as I like regular basil pesto. So, I posted the review anyway to encourage others to try the recipe - even if all they have is arugula. UPDATE: I have now made this with just regular basil from my garden. Served in a grilled veggie pasta salad to hordes of hungry coworkers. They loved it. Also made it with lightly toasted almonds and basil. I believe this was the best batch yet. Freezes exceptionally well.

Love it! Great on pasta, pizza, just about anything! I needed more than one bunch of supermarket basil, though. What a great option for vegans!

A burst of taste, delicious recipe! I forgot to add garlic even though I love it, and probably that's why the nuances of ingredients' taste were so strikingly highlighted. I also added a couple of kale leaves. Kale is hard to eat by itself but is delicious in the pesto. My family used it on pita bread with potato-leeks soup and absolutely loved it. Thanks!

yummy! I followed the suggestions of the other reviewers and added in other greens (parsley & swiss chard, what I had on hand). The nutritional yeast gives it a good flavor, and doesn't taste too cheddar-y(like it has in a couple other recipes I've tried). We are trying this tomorrow over Rice Pasta w/ Chicken. (we are dairy-intolerant, not vegan by choice) :-)

Delicious and easy. Really didn't taste any difference between this and regular pesto. I made it with fettuccini, sundried tomatoes, mixed mushrooms, artichokes and baked italian tofu and it was really good. Oh yeah also sprinkled some walnuts on top. Yummmy.

My whole family loves this one. It's a tricky way to get them to eat raw green vegetables!

Yummy!! I'm too cheap for pine nuts so I used walnuts; I'm sure pine nuts would have tasted much better!

Great recipe! Needs more basil than just one bunch! Arugula or spinach or a hint of mint is nice too.

I just made this for dinner and have to say how delish it is! I did not even have pine nuts on hand and it still tastes awesome!! Thank you for a wonderful simple recipe!

This is the perfect pesto.

I made this but with the following changes: I used walnuts instead of pine nuts, I used only 1/3 cup of olive oil, and I added the juice of 1/2 a lemon. Tasted just as great as non-vegan pesto!

This recipe is AMAZING and had plenty of accolades from non-vegan friends/family! FYI, I'd go easy on the salt in the pesto itself and make sure you salt the pasta while boiling. Because it's a vegan recipe, you want to drain the boiling water from the pasta but not rinse. The starch will be good to 'hold' the pesto. So, if you have more 'salty' pasta, you'll definitely want to make sure there's less salt in the pesto. Just a tip!

Oh My Gosh! Yum!!! My pasta is still cooking & I love this pesto straight up right out of the blender! I actually made a hybrid of this recipe and Presto Vegan Pesto and had to make some subs for what I had on hand. I used pumpkin seeds instead of pine nuts and added 1 T lemon juice. I have Brewer's Yeast rather than Nut. yeast, so my pesto is a little browner than it should be, but still awesome! Perfect amount of garlic. I picked basil from my garden, not sure of the actual measurement... just kept adding until it seemed right. Thanks for the great vegan pesto recipe, CandiedViolet!

Seriously some of the best pesto I have ever tasted! I kept the recipe raw and didn't toast the pine nuts and it came out great! Nutritional yeast is an amazing substitute and I think may even taste better than parmesan.

Has a smooth, creamy texture. Really tasty, quick and easy. I didn't have pine nuts and substituted pumpkins seeds. Came out perfect! Definitely a do-over.

super good! made pasta w/ sweet potato, broccoli, yellow squash and onion. tossed w/ pesto...yum. tripled the recipe and froze 2- 1/2 pint jars for giving away or later use.

Delicious! Only suggestion would be to buy some extra basil just in case you feel it needs it. I definitely will be putting more next time I make it (a bunch is a pretty variable quantity).

So Yummy! I used about 2 cups packed with basil and kale. When I ran out of basil (I only had one "bunch", I used kale) It was also 1/2 of each. I couldn't tell the difference. I love sneaking kale in when I can. I also used walnuts instead of pine nuts. It's less expensive and what I had on had. I'm so happy with it. I would probably cut down on the garlic a bit. I used 4 large cloves and would adjust to 3 next time. I want to eat the rest of the batch right now!! I'm new at trying vegan recipes and this one loses nothing when using the yeast in place of cheese.

Light tasty and a hit with my family! We will not be buying store brand again. This is a keeper!

This recipe is perfect! I do not like pine nuts, so I used walnuts and it was super!

I am on week three of a plant based diet. I was a little skeptical to try this recipe, b/c I didn't think pesto was pesto without cheese. This is AMAZING! My husband even loved it...and he loves cheese. I ran out of basil, so like another reviewer...I added kale. It was fabulous!

I used spinach rather than basil, This was fantastic! I plan on making many more batches of this. I'ld like to play around with some different nuts , Walnuts, sunflower seeds to.

This was absolutely wonderful! I used 2 one ounce packages of fresh basil and it turned out great. I added a few pieces of sun dried tomatoes as suggested by another reviewer. My son is vegan and I'm always trying things like this so we can share dinner. Nobody would ever realize this pesto is dairy free. Thanks so much for this recipe! Will make again and again.

It was super yummy! I used a live basil plant that I bought at the local health food store. I have made this two times and can't wait to try a new variation suggested by the other reviewers. Thank you, CandiedViolet!

My boyfriend is dairy-free and I was missing pesto like crazy. Tried this recipe and it was awesome - I didn't even notice that there was no Parmesan.

Awesome! This is my all time fav pesto recipe! Everyone who ate it at my parties asked for recipe!! Thank you so much!

Just made it tonight and it's a hit. I don't quite recall what dairy-based pesto tastes like but this was quite delicious and will last us for a little bit. I ended up using more than a "bunch of basil leaves" by adding an additional generous handful of spinach. I'm sure this recipe would fare well with any substituting of leafy greens for more nutrition. I also squeezed juice from half of a lemon into the food processor - makes for a slightly smoother mixture with that perfect amount of acid.

Love it, made it just now and what a flavour hit! I used 1 bunch of basil from Tesco, and walnuts instead of pine nuts. Delicious. Definitely going in my standard weekly recipes!

This is really, really delicious. I don't know how much a "bunch" of basil is (I used approximately a cup of leaves), but I only used half the amount of oil and thought it tasted just as good as regular pesto.

Excellent flavor! I'm not vegan and I loved this. I'm sure I will make it many times simply because it's delicious and nutritional yeast is easier to keep on hand than parmesan cheese. Thanks for the lovely recipe.

I made this twice, once as a pasta sauce and once as a sandwich spread. For pasta, it's perfect as-is. For a spread, I held back on the oil - I think I used about half as much, though with a very flavorful extra virgin oil, to get the classic pesto flavor while having a more spreadable consistency.

We're making this for some family members who are vegan/vegatarian .. How come ours turned out reddish-brown, and not green like traditional pesto (or at least pesto as I know it).. It tasted yummy without the pasta and we'll make it again in two days for a group of 17.. mG

First vegan pesto that my sweetie has liked! I used almonds instead of pine nuts.

This is amazingly delicious. My husband asked me after dinner when I'm making this again :) Thank you so much. This also introduced me to the nutritional yeast ingredient, which I think I'll use a lot more now that my husband is not having milk products (which may be making his allergies to trees, dust mites ... much worse). God bless!

I didn't roast the pine nuts, just threw everything into the blender, and it was better than non-vegan pesto! I wanna eat it from a bowl with a spoon.

I love it! I added juice from half a lemon and made it a Yummy Vegan Lemon Pesto Classico. This is my first attempt at pesto and it was a hit!

I made angle hair pasta with this pesto.added sauteed mash room, asparagus and Spanish.I was really good.

I didn't like it, not sure if it was the pine nuts or the feel of the yeast ..

I made this pesto with large cloves of garlic, so it was too garlic-heavy raw. But once I cooked it a bit with the zoodles I prepared, the garlic mellowed and the pesto tasted a little sweet. Very easy, tasty weeknight meal.

I love this. Not hard to make and it tastes awesome!

This is, hands down, the best vegan pesto I have ever made, and I have tried many, many vegan pesto recipes. The flavor balance is perfect! This will be my go to pesto recipe from now on.

Amazing pesto. I did just as the recipe said and it turned out great. We used it as a base on a pizza. Delicious!

I just need to let you know that this is my favorite sauce and I make it every summer a couple times when our basil comes in--it really does freeze AMAZINGLY! People rave about this pesto and say it's easily the best they've ever tasted--vegan or regular! Even my 5 yr old son loves it! I iwhs I could give it 10 stars!

I like this basic recipe. I used spinach instead of basil and I roasted the pine nuts. I also used lemon juice. If you taste as you go, you can't go wrong. If you add too much salt, add more lemon and spinach. It's so creamy!

Perfect!

Made exactly as listed and it is yummy. Perfect.

fantastic! made this according to the directions and it was wonderful. the whole family loved it. will try it again using walnuts instead of pine nuts for a different flavor.

Made this a few times when we had vegan guests. It all hinges on the specific yeast’s flavor, which you can’t control. I was not a big fan but it was OK.

Easy and yummy!

Love this recipe, I usually double it and freeze what's left for quick additions to soups, breads, pastas.

Followed precisely. Amazing!

Delicious!!! I used almonds instead of pine nuts for environmental reasons.

I have made this recipe three times now. The first time I didn't have the nutritional yeast with me, so made it without it. It was good, probably 3 or 4 stars. The last two times we've made it with the yeast and it's so much better. I would recommend cutting back on the oil. Last time I used half a cup and it still seemed too much. Serve with fresh tomatoes, kalamata olives, and extra pine nuts. Delicious!

It’s delicious! I would recommend using less garlic, though. I used walnuts, almonds, and Brazil nuts (because that’s all I had) and it worked just as well!

Pretty good!!! Added sundried tomatoes and artichoke hearts..... yum!

Delicious. My vegan sister is visiting, so I picked out a few recipes. This recipe wins, hands down as a favorite for vegans and non vegans! Doubled the recipe and used pre chopped garlic in water. Yum yum. Will gladly make again and again!!

Quick, healthy, and tastes like pesto!

My daughter and I absolutely loved it, we tossed it with pasta and even wanted to eat it out of the container that I was going to store the "extra" pesto in, I realized at that moment that this will be a new staple in our kitchen.

Just became a vegetarian and was thrilled to find this recipe. Excellent! I didn’t change anything. I’ll use this in pasta but also great as a dip.

Better than traditional cheeses pesto!

Next time I’m not going to roast the pine nuts as I think their raw flavor makes pesto taste a lot fresher. Also might change the amount of yeast next time, but overall this is a really good recipe. Everybody in my family enjoyed it a lot and I’m definitely making it again, just with those two tweaks. Thank you so much for sharing!

I toasted almond slivers instead of pine nuts and this pesto is amazing. Vegan and non-vegans love it!!

Excellent. Also used walnuts (instead of pine nuts), and also added a little lemon juice. Will make it again and again!

Added some cilantro leaves, roasted cashew nuts and half a red pepper for the spicy moment. Yummy.

Just not the same as the original, but I will continue to make it for my wife. It wasn't bad at all, just different.

I made this recipe twice; both times for 2 servings. While I loved it the first time, the second time it was not as good. I think I messed up the proportions (it's difficult to eyeball 1/8 bunch of basil). Plus, it wasn't blended as well, because the blender I used was too big. Next time I'll buy a whole bunch of basil to make a full batch, and freeze it in 2-servings pouches.

I added more basil and used half the oil and it was yummy!

I am always trying to find a nice easy vegan Pesto to make. This is it. I added some Vegan Parm cheese yummy. This time I had Basil, next time I am going to try arugula. I didn't have pine nuts, so replaced with toasted Pecan's

This is my go-to recipe for vegan pesto! If you are on a budget, or just want a change, you can substitute sunflower seeds for the pine nuts. Still delicious!

I took the advice of the other comments and used additional greens (actually juicing greens mix) and this was fantastic. Flavorful. nomnomnom

This is delicious. I used 2 cups of basil and substituted sunflower seeds because I didn't have pine nuts. It turned out so good. It was a little salty, but that's my fault because the sunflower seeds were salted and without thinking I still added the salt called for in the recipe. I'm a cheese loving vegetarian and made this for my vegan daughter - you don't miss the cheese in this at all!

Being vegan and a novice pesto maker, this recipe seemed easy and the reviews saying they just put everything in a blender sold me! I only had walnuts instead of pine nuts and cilantro instead of basil. I used 2 packages of frozen spinach, thawed. I also added lemon juice and nutmeg. I put it all in my blender, adding the olive oil as I went. WOW! I mixed a bunch with spaghetti and roasted veggies and froze the rest in a silicone ice cube tray. The Italian hubby went nuts for it, almost preferring it over tomato sauce!

Super easy to make, well-balanced and really tasty! Shame pine nuts are so pricey. Great recipe!

First of all... what an adventure! A smoky pesto that will make you smile! We served this recipe on our homemade noodles with some sun-dried tomatoes, a squeeze of lemon (a subtle yet enjoyable zesty addition), and a touch of roasted pine-nuts and basil as garnish! The only challenge that we found with this recipe was the vagueness of the term "bunch" in reference to the basil. As we were picking our basil fresh from the plant, as I'm sure many of you do, we just weren't sure where a "bunch" begins and where a "bunch" ends. However, this wasn't a deal-breaker and with some taste-testing and fine-tuning we were able to make it work. Overall, we give this recipe a thumbs up! Thanks for a good one CANDIEDVIOLET!