Simple, practical, and full of everyday flavour, Vegan Pesto is a vegan, vegetarian Italian dip, side dish made with packed basil leaves, walnuts, and garlic cloves in about 10 minutes. The recipe lays out the ingredients and each cooking step clearly, so you can adjust seasoning, texture, and serving size for your own kitchen.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: Not specified
  • Total time: 10 minutes
  • Yield: 1 cup
  • Category: Dip, Side Dish
  • Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients

  • 2 cups packed basil leaves
  • 1/2 cups walnuts (or pine nuts (can use 3/4 cup nuts for more texture))
  • 4 large garlic cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper (adjust to taste)
  • salt (to taste)
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Method

  1. To a food processor, add 2 cups packed basil leaves. Then to that add 1/2 cup walnuts (or pine nuts) and 4 large garlic cloves.
  2. Also add salt and pepper to taste and then pulse to combine everything together.
  3. Open the lid and now add 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil. Also, add 1/4 cup nutritional yeast and a tablespoon of lemon juice.
  4. Pulse to combine everything together. Your homemade vegan pesto is now ready!

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.