Basil Parsley Pesto

Easy Basil Parsley Pesto Recipe

I’ve been eating pesto on everything lately! It’s one of the best ways to add bold, fresh flavors to an entree and it’s easy to make. If you haven’t tried making it at home yet, you haven’t lived yet! The freshness of homemade basil pesto makes it so much better than store-bought, plus the fact that homemade uses extra-virgin olive oil vs. the canola oil many grocery store brands use. This is the perfect pesto recipe if you just happen to be planting an herb garden with lots of basil in it this summer (we just planted our first garden — fingers crossed! We’ll see how it goes). This recipe does take about three fairly large bunches of basil to make. Your best bet will be to use a kitchen scale to get the weight of the basil leaves right, because we all pack leaves into cups differently. I did add some parsley to this pesto, but if you’d prefer you can just use more basil, which I also do on occasion. I do love the blend of the two herbs so usually if I have the parsley I’ll always add it in too. If you’re looking to keep your pesto nice and vibrantly green you will need to boil the basil leaves for 5 seconds (fully submerged) then rest in ice water to halt the cooking process and drain (aka quickly blanch it). This step is completely optional, if I’m not too concerned about the look of the pesto and I don’t care if it turns to a dingy-ish green I’ll skip this step on occasion, but it is just so nice to keep it in the fridge for a few days and go back to nice vibrantly green pesto. Just keep in mind blanching removes a bit of the flavor. You can try it both ways and see if you think the blanching is worth it.

Basil Parsely Pesto Ingredients

For this homemade basil pesto sauce, you’ll need:

Fresh basil Fresh parsley Pine nuts Shredded Parmesan Garlic Extra virgin olive oil Salt and pepper

How to Make It

Add basil, parsley, Parmesan and garlic to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until finely minced. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

With processor running, slowly drizzle in olive oil. Scrape down the sides as needed, and pulse until pesto is smooth.

How to Freeze It

I can’t think of a better use for this homemade pesto then to make a bunch of it and freeze it to enjoy throughout the year. Come winter you’ll be so glad you did! To freeze pesto, simply store it in an airtight, freezer-safe container and freeze. When you’re ready to use the pesto, place it in the fridge to thaw slightly before scooping it out. I’ve heard that you can also freeze pesto in an ice cube tray and store the frozen cubes in a freezer bag. Then you can pop one or two pesto cubes into your pasta and warm through that way. If you’ve tried this before, let me know!

My Favorite Pesto Uses

There are so many ways to use pesto! A few of my favorite pesto uses include:

With pasta — I like pairing this homemade pesto with my Shrimp Pesto Pasta, as well as my Tortellini with Pesto and Roasted Veggies. But it goes well with any pasta dish! With chicken — Pesto and chicken is a great combination! Try using this pesto in this Sheet Pan Pesto Chicken with Asparagus and Tomatoes, or with these Caprese Chicken Kebabs. With seafood — This Pesto Salmon and Veggies in Foil is popular with my family, as is this Grilled Salmon with Creamy Pesto Sauce. In soups — Not many people think to use pesto in soup! Add it to this Gnocchi Vegetable Soup, you won’t regret it!

Tips for the Best Basil Parsley Pesto

Pine nuts are a traditional pesto ingredient, but if you don’t have any you can also use unsalted almonds or walnuts. You can use toasted or raw pine nuts for this recipe. If possible, use freshly grated Parmesan for this pesto recipe. It makes a big difference in flavor!