This Vegan Cashew Pesto uses cashews instead of pine nuts and nutritional yeast as a cheese replacement. It is salty, cheesy, creamy, and a tiny bit sweet. It is so easy to make and absolutely delicious.
Pesto is one of those sauces that are so inviting to taste. It’s cheesy, salty, with a little herbiness from the basil. It’s one of my favorite sauces for pasta, besides the classic tomato sauce.
The brilliant green color is eye-catching and it is kind of hard to mess up. The combination is a winning one.
In this vegan version, I don’t miss the cheese because nutritional yeast is already very savory and has a cheese-like flavor. With the olive oil and salt, I find that I don’t miss the salty parmesan or pecorino.
Is it traditional? No. Is it still just as delicious? Yes!
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Ingredients for Vegan cashew pesto
There isn’t a lot of ingredients in making your own homemade vegan cashew pesto, but each ingredient plays an important part in making a delicious pesto.
- Basil. Fresh Basil is the absolute best. Try to get it as fresh as you can. If you can’t find a lot, you can substitute some with some spinach. Don’t worry it won’t have a spinach taste.
- Cashew. Pine nuts are more traditional, but they can be hard to find and really pricey. I happen to get my cashews in bulk and they work wonderfully in this recipe. You can also use silvered almonds or sunflower seeds to keep it nut-free!
- Garlic. Fresh whole cloves are best.
- Nutritional Yeast. I have found nutritional yeast works best in pesto because it has a naturally savory and salty flavor, similar to parmesan cheese. The umami is hard to find in other vegan parmesans. You can still add some if you want, though.
- Salt. This is to season it and to also emulsify the sauce better.
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Cashew Pesto
Equipment
- Food processor
Materials
- 40 g (4 cups) fresh basil You can also substitute some with spinach.
- 37 g (1/4 cup) cashews or equivalent amount in any other nut, like pine nuts, silvered almonds, or sunflower seeds to keep it nut-free
- 60 g (1/4 cup) Nutritional yeast
- 144 g (2/3 cup) extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Wash and remove any stems from the basil. It's best to get basil that is as fresh as possible.
- In a food processor, add the cashews and the garlic. Pulse until a fine paste forms.
- Add the nutritional yeast, and a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Pulse to mix in. If you taste it, it should be salty and savory.
- Add your basil leaves and mix until the paste turns a dark green color.
- Slowly drizzle in the olive oil while the food processor is running to emulsify it. It should turn a lighter green and have a creamier consistency.
- Taste to adjust the seasonings.
- Use in pasta or sandwiches or baked into a foccacio!
Notes
- If you don’t have a food processor, you can use a mortar and pestle. Or a high speed blender.
- I used cashews because it is cheaper than pine nuts, but you can use other types of nuts, such as silvered almonds, macadamia nuts, or sunflower seeds to keep it nut-free.
- This will store in the fridge for up to 1 week in an airtight container. Or alternatively in the freezer for 6 months.
I hope you try this recipe. If you tried this recipe, let me know in the comments below.