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An easy dairy-free pesto recipe made with nutritional yeast, basil, olive oil, and nuts, and is perfect as a pasta sauce, on chicken, or on your favorite pizza. You’re going to be trying to find ways to include this vegan pesto sauce on everything!
Pesto is literally one of the best sauces known to man-kind.
I like to think of it as a miracle worker because I haven’t ever tried a food that was covered in pesto that I really didn’t like. Old bread? Smear some pesto. Bland zucchini noodles? Pesto.
This dairy-free pesto is perfect for someone who is on an anti-inflammatory diet or can’t have any dairy because we use other delicious flavors to give it that authentic pesto taste but without the dairy.
It’s also vegan and paleo approved, so anyone with a certain diet is able to enjoy this pesto. Naturally it is soy-free, egg-free, and gluten-free, and it can easily be made nut-free, too.
Pine-nut are also used in this recipe to help add some major flavor and texture to this pesto, but you can also use any type of seed as well.
This best pesto recipe is simple, flavorful, and full of good for you wholesome ingredients, which basically gives you the right to slather it on everything. Not kidding.
I love cooking with pesto so much, so I have to share my Pesto Baked Pasta and One Sheet Pesto Chicken And Veggies recipes too.
What’s in this dairy-free pesto?
We’ve got tons of fresh, flavorful ingredients in this dairy-free pesto. In fact, we used the basil from our backyard to make it even fresher, this is totally optional because most grocery stores offer fresh basil!
Ingredients in dairy-free pesto:
Basil – fresh basil is key for this recipe! The leaves will help give the pesto the perfect texture and the freshest flavor.
Nutritional yeast – don’t be frightened by the name! Nutritional yeast is just a deactivated strain of yeast that has a delicious parmesan flavor. It comes in yellow flakes and can be found in most grocery stores! I get mine at Whole Foods or on Amazon. **If you don’t want to use nutritional yeast, you can leave it out!
Lemon – adds the perfect bit of acid. Fresh lemon juice is best here!
Pine nuts – we used pine nuts in this recipe, but walnuts, cashews, sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds would also work great!
Garlic – fresh garlic cloves gives this recipe a delicious flavor. You can also used jarred.
Olive oil – olive oil or avocado oil both work great! This helps give the pesto some fluidity.
Salt – every good pesto has a little bit of salt for flavor.
How to make dairy-free pesto
Making dairy-free pesto is really easy to do. So easy that people who don’t even know how to cook could do it!
All you need to do is place all of your ingredients in a high powered blender, like a Vitamix, or a food processor. You turn the machine on, blend it up, scraping down the sides as needed, and there you have it!
Easy homemade dairy-free pesto in a minute.
What to eat pesto with
- Use it on a toast as a spread, top with a poached egg, meat, or as a sandwich spread
- Throw a few dollops into pasta to make a delicious pesto sauce
- Mix a little into your scrambled eggs for some extra flavor
- Serve it over grilled chicken, tenderloin, fish, or even tofu!
- Add it to your favorite avocado toast.
If you make this recipe, be sure to comment below and let me know how it was! Also tag @erinliveswhole on Instagram and use the hashtag #erinliveswhole so I can see it and feature you!
If you liked this recipe, you’ll want to try these!
Dairy Free Pesto
An easy dairy-free pesto recipe made with nutritional yeast, basil, olive oil, and nuts, and is perfect as a pasta sauce, on chicken, or on your favorite pizza. You’re going to be trying to find ways to include this vegan pesto sauce on everything!
Ingredients
- 3 cups basil
- 1/2 lemon, juiced
- 1/2 cup pine nuts (or other nut or seed like walnuts or pumpkin seeds)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional – can replace with parmesan cheese if not dairy free)
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a food processor or high-powered blender, like a vitamix.
- Process until well-combined and to desired texture, scraping down sides as needed.
- Taste and add additional lemon juice or salt if needed.
- Store in fridge for up to one week.
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Kara says
If I was going to sub in pumpkin seeds, would you recommend in the shell or out? Thank you.
Erin says
Hi Kara, out of the shell would work! Let me know how your pesto comes out!
sara says
so easy to make and so so good! i love that it’s dairy free as my family has been trying to cut out dairy
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Sara, so glad you all loved it!!
Gina says
Delicious!
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Gina, so lad you liked it!
alex says
Easy to follow and great tasting pesto! I used parmesan cheese + added some red pepper flakes for a little spice. Went perfect with some ravioli’s and shrimp
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Alex, so happy you liked it and made it your own!
Kathy W. says
Put on toast, mix it in scrambled eggs?? What??? Instead of using it as a topping or a mix-in, this pesto is so fabulous…I could eat it by the spoonful without anything else!!! 🙂
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Kathy, so so happy you loved it!
Jennie says
Can we substitute spinach for the basil in this recipe? I need to make a larger batch for our preschool and spinach is much less expensive and fresher than the basil when I need to buy in bulk. I have kids who are both dairy free and nut free as well. Thank you for your help.
Erin says
Hi Jennie, yep that should be okay! Let me know how it comes out!
Frank D says
I tried this and it turned out great! It was tasty and healthy. I might be doing this weekly. Thanks Erin!
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Frank, so happy you liked it!!
Laura says
I made this today. I made the recipe as written with avocado oil and walnuts. It was a little too lemon forward for my taste and I also really like garlic. So I made another batch with no lemon and double garlic and combined the two batches. That’s perfect for my taste!! I also included the nutritional yeast. Love that flavor
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Laura, so glad you liked it and made it your own!!
Pamela says
This is exceptionally delicious. We are vegan. I have never made pesto before or after being vegan. I had several other pesto recipes to try. I deleted them all. Nothing could be better than this and simpler. It is the only pesto recipe I will ever need.
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Pamela, so happy you loved it!!
Valerie says
Just made this tonight and it’s the BEST dairy free pesto I’ve had! SO good! I made it with walnuts and the flavor and consistency was fantastic.
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Valerie, so happy you liked it so much! 🙂
Sheryl says
This is beyond good! It’s superb! Thank you for sharing this recipe! As I’m allergic to yeast and dairy, I used one tablespoon chickpea flour instead of the yeast or parma! Worked fantastic! I find chickpea flour is a good substitute in recipes for nutritional yeast and contributes a bit of protein.
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Sheryl, I am so glad you enjoyed it and made it your own!! Thanks for sharing!
Gene says
THANK YOU SO MUCH!! This is my tried-and-true pesto recipe now.
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Gene, I’m so happy you love it!
Kathy says
Have you ever frozen this?
★★★★
Erin says
Yes, works great!
★★★★★
Tonja Williams says
I love this pesto! It’s great on zucchini noodles.
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Tonja, thanks for your kind words! I am so happy you enjoyed it and love zoodles! 🙂
Mira says
Hey! What do you think about using pistachios or pecans? Those are the nuts I have on hand right now. Thanks!!
Erin says
Hi Mira, Either of those would work great! Let me know what you decide to use and how the pesto comes out! 🙂
Amber says
Delish!! Pesto always intimidated me for some reason, but you got me hooked especially with your cilantro pesto you featured on your IG. I make this pesto weekly now!
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Amber, I’m so glad that this recipe helped you overcome your pesto fear!! Thanks for adding it into your weekly cooking routine!
Corina Turner says
Absolutely delicious!
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Corina, I’m so happy you like the pesto!
Kate Zeller says
This dairy free pesto was amazing! I stuck with the pine nuts. My family didn’t even know that it was dairy free. Thank you so much for this delicious recipe. Just like you said, I am going to be finding ways to put this stuff on everything!!
★★★★★
Erin says
Hi Kate! Thanks for the kind words and so happy your family enjoyed it too! 🙂
Liberty says
How much Parmesan do you put in instead of yeast ?
Erin says
Hi Liberty! Same amount! Let me know how it comes out!
Hilary says
YES GIRL. Addicted to this stuff!!! I shall put it on everything forever & ever amen.
★★★★★
Erin says
YAY! So glad you love it!!!! Thanks for sharing!