Cheesy Vegan Pesto

Pesto is such a versatile condiment to have on hand. It can be slathered on keto bread or low-carb crackers as a snack, tossed through zoodles to make a tasty vegan pasta dish, slathered on meat or fish as a delicious marinade.

This recipe is both nut free, dairy free and vegan, and uses a mixture of sunflower and pumpkin seeds along with nutritional yeast instead of the more traditional pine nuts and parmesan cheese. Rest assured though that flavour isn’t compromised here — this pesto is just as delicious as it’s traditional counterpart!

Step-by-step

1. Wash and pat dry the basil.

   

2. Add all of the ingredients except for the lemon juice and olive oil to a food processor, and process until the seeds and basil are finely chopped.

   

3. Add the lemon juice and pulse to combine. Scoop out the basil mix and place in a small bowl or jar. Stir through the olive oil until combined.

   

4. Store in a sealed contained in the fridge 2 – 3 weeks.

   Make sure when storing that there is a layer of olive oil covering the pesto — this will keep the ingredients fresher for longer.

   

Recipe

Cheesy Vegan Pesto

★★★★☆4.2 (32 ratings)

This 5-minute pesto is allergy-free! There are no nuts, no dairy and no nightshades.

Hands on

5m

Overall

5m

Servings

16

0.9 g

Net carbs

1.7 g

Protein

5.8 g

Fat

62

kcal

1 serving2 servings3 servings4 servings5 servings6 servings7 servings8 servings9 servings10 servings11 servings12 servings16 servings32 servings48 servings64 servings

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Ingredients makes 1 cup/ 240 ml/ 8 fl oz

• 1 bunch basil (40 g/ 1.4 oz)
• 2 tbsp sunflower seeds (20 g/ 0.7 oz)
• 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds (20 g/ 0.7 oz)
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 ¹/₂ tbsp nutritional yeast (30 g/ 1.1 oz)
• 1 tsp sea salt, or to taste
• 2 tbsp lemon juice (30 ml)
• ¹/₃ cup extra virgin olive oil (80 ml)

Instructions

1. Wash and pat dry the basil.

2. Add all of the ingredients except for the lemon juice and olive oil to a food processor, and process until the seeds and basil are finely chopped.

3. Add the lemon juice and pulse to combine. Scoop out the basil mix and place in a small bowl or jar. Stir through the olive oil until combined.

4. Store in a sealed contained in the fridge 2 – 3 weeks.

   Make sure when storing that there is a layer of olive oil covering the pesto — this will keep the ingredients fresher for longer.

Nutrition per serving, 1 tbsp, 15 g/ 0.5 oz

Carbs 6%Protein 11%Fat 83% of calories

Net carbs

0.9 g

Total carbs

1.6 g

Fiber

0.7 g

Sugars

0.1 g

Protein

1.7 g

Fat

5.8 g

Saturated fat

0.8 g

Calories

62 kcal

Sodium

146 mg · 6.34% RDA

Magnesium

14 mg · 3.5% RDA

Potassium

67 mg · 3.34% EMR

Nutrition by ingredient

Per 1 tbsp, 15 g/ 0.5 oz	Net carbs	Protein	Fat	kcal
Basil, fresh	0 g	0.1 g	0 g	1
Sunflower seeds, hulled	0.1 g	0.2 g	0.6 g	6
Pumpkin seeds (pepitas)	0.1 g	0.4 g	0.6 g	7
Garlic, fresh	0.2 g	0 g	0 g	1
Yeast, nutritional yeast, dried	0.3 g	0.9 g	0.1 g	7
Salt, sea salt	0 g	0 g	0 g	0
Lemon juice, fresh	0.1 g	0 g	0 g	0
Olive oil, extra virgin	0 g	0 g	4.5 g	40
Total	0.9 g	1.7 g	5.8 g	62

Serving size 1 tbsp, 15 g/ 0.5 oz

• Gluten free
• Dairy free
• Egg free
• Nut free
• Nightshade free
• Pork free
• Avocado free
• Coconut free
• Fish free
• Shellfish free
• Beef free
• Pescatarian
• Vegetarian
• Vegan