Basil Season = Vegan Pesto Recipe Time!
Summertime means lots of extra summer produce… and tons and tons of basil!
Basil thrives on sunlight and flourishes all throughout the summer.
Basil will begin to flower in September, marking the end of its season. So now is the perfect time to whip up this vegan pesto recipe.
Dairy-Free Avocado Pesto Sauce!
One of my all-time favorite things to make when we have too much basil in the house is pesto.
But to be honest, my hubby and I do not do too well with dairy, so I had to get a little creative.
When I first made this avocado pesto recipe Cohl turned to me and asked, “How much cheese is in this?” (Asking as if it MUST be loaded with dairy since it tasted SO good!)
“It’s actually a dairy-free and vegan pesto recipe!” To that response he quickly devoured the remainder of the container.
So what replaces the Parmesan cheese in this vegan pesto recipe?… avocado! And it does a remarkable job!
How to Make Vegan Avocado Pesto Sauce:
Making this avocado pesto recipe is actually super easy and only requires a few simple ingredients:
- Basil: an absolute must and the bulk of the flavor in this recipe.
- Avocado: make sure you use a ripened avocado.
- If your avocado is not quite ripe, place it in a bag with a cut apple and let it sit overnight. Within 24-48 hours your avocado should be ready to rock and roll!
- Lemon juice: this helps preserve the bright green of the pesto and gives it an extra bit of freshness.
- Pine nuts: these can get a bit pricey, so feel free to substitute for walnuts or almonds.
- Olive oil: definitely encourage you to get a good grade of olive oil to give this vegan pesto recipe the best flavor.
You can either use a high-speed blender such as a Vitamix or a large food processor to process your ingredients.
How Long Will Avocado Pesto Last?
Trying to figure out how long avocado pesto will keep in the refrigerator led to a bit of a science experiment.
To be honest, it lasted a lot longer than I thought!
Your vegan avocado pesto recipe will last for up to 3-4 days if you do the following:
- Put avocado pesto in a small glass tupperware container.
- *Super important step: Place a piece of saran wrap directly on top of the pesto ensuring that no air is touching the pesto.
- Refrigerate vegan pesto between uses and make sure the saran wrap goes back on top of it. The longer it sits out, the more brown the pesto will turn!
While you can get your avocado pesto to last up to 4 days, it is definitely best when enjoyed during the first 24 hours!
How Can You Enjoy this Vegan Pesto Recipe?
The options are endless! Here are a few of my favorite ways to devour this avocado pesto sauce:
- Serve it with pasta or zucchini noodles and add some cherry tomatoes.
- Mix it with quinoa and serve with raw bell peppers and spinach.
- Make a deconstructed Caprese salad by tossing mozzarella balls and cherry tomatoes in the avocado pesto sauce.
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Ingredients
- 1 cup basil packed
- 1 large avocado peeled and quartered
- ¼ cup pine nuts
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 ½ Tbsp. lemon juice
- ½ tsp. salt
- ¼ tsp. pepper
- ½ cup olive oil or avocado oil
Instructions
- In a food processor or high-speed blender combine basil, avocado, pine nuts, garlic, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Pulse 3-4 times.
- Turn blender to a Medium-Low speed and slowly drizzle in olive oil until pesto is to your desired texture. (Pulse if you want your pesto to have a little more texture!)
- Serve avocado pesto with zucchini noodles, pasta, or in a Caprese salad and enjoy!
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Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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