Nutritious and Simple Vegan Basil Pesto
The addition of Nutritional Yeast to this dairy free recipe not only creates the wonderful parmesan tang that great pesto needs, but also gives you a great big vitamin B12 boost.* If you have never used it, nutritional yeast comes in delicate little yellow flakes, which melt on the tongue and taste like strong cheese. If added to a soup or sauce, it dissolves instantly, or you can sprinkle on top of complete dishes, as you would parmesan flakes.
Many of my vegan recipes are inspired by the beautiful book: The Homemade Vegan Pantry: The Art of Making Your Own Staples: The Art of Making Your Own Staples [a Cookbook]
Ingredients:
(Be adventurous and swap out basil for other green leaves, such as spinach or wild garlic, try other oils, and different nuts as preferred…)
2 cups basil leaves (packed in tightly)
1/2 cup pine nuts
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
Salt and Pepper, season to taste
Equipment:
Chopping board
Sharp knife
Food Processor (or pestle and mortar)
Recipe:
Combine all of the ingredients in a food processor, until desired consistency is reached. We prefer ours a little course, so that the nutty texture of the pine nuts is still present.
Lasts for at least a week in the fridge … but we have never had any around longer to know how long it could last … we love fresh pesto too much in our family 🙂
*Most supermarkets (in the UK at least) now stock nutritional yeast, but you can also buy it from health food shops or from international online stores like Amazon. I favour the Marigold brand.
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Tiny Potager 
I had not considered nutritional yeast in the place of parmesan. Fabulous idea. I love pesto but hadn’t figured out a good cheese replacement. Thank you!
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I was veggie before I went vegan and miss parmesan so much, but in this recipe it tastes just the same … I hope you enjoy 🙂
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This is a great option instead of the Parmesan! I look forward to trying it 🙂
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Wonderful – I hope you like it x
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This looks and sounds delightful.
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Thank you! 🙂
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Mmmmmmmm…….
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My husband loves cheese, but not parmesan. Unfortunately he’s allergic to cheese but I might try the nutritional yeast to see how he responds to that. 🙂
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I hope you enjoy x
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What an interesting substitute. I actually have nutritional yeast flakes in the cupboard which I bought as a B12 supp. and with all our basil seedlings growing like mad, I could try this. Thanks
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No problem, hope you like it 🙂
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I love using nutritional yeast as a sub for cheese but I had never considered using it in pesto! Thanks for sharing!
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Thank you 🙂 It’s good on pasta bakes too x
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I have never tried nutritional yeast. I think that I’ll try it but won’t tell my husband!
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A lot of people are messaging to tell me they are going to do a secret swap of yeast flakes for parmesan …. let me know how it goes! 😀
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Sounds like a great way to get that B12.
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I cannot wait to try. Thank you for sharing!
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Thank you! It’s so easy to make, I hope you enjoy it 🙂
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trying replacing half with peas! its great and healthy
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Hello 🙂 That is a fantastic idea – I will definitely try this! :o)
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im glad to hear it!
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Green girl gang will be making this for dinner this week!! Yum. Thank you!
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Brilliant! I hope you enjoyed it :o) x
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I love pesto and this looks like a great rendition!
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Thank you! I hope you enjoy it if you give it a try 🙂
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