Pesto without Pine Nuts

Would you believe that pesto without pine nuts could taste just as delicious as the traditional Italian recipe? You can learn how to make this versatile sauce packed with herby, nutty, salty flavour — in just a few easy steps.

There are a few reasons you might want to make pesto without pine nuts. For one, have you seen the cost of pine nuts nowadays? It’s practically daylight robbery!

And, not to state the obvious, but classic pesto Genovese, which is loaded with buttery pine nuts, isn’t allergy-friendly, either.

Of course, you can make pesto with just about any nuts and seeds you can imagine —according to A Small Kitchen in Genoa, pine nuts likely don’t feature in the original Ligurian basil pesto — including pumpkin seeds, as in my pumpkin seed pesto, almonds, walnuts, cashews, or sunflower seeds.

Each of these options is significantly cheaper than traditional pesto, yet still retains the glorious taste of true Italian cooking.

But if you’re the kind of person who doesn’t have a large selection of alternative nuts and seeds hiding in your pantry, this is in the recipe for you.

It has just four basic ingredients: plenty of beautifully aromatic fresh basil, vegetarian pecorino cheese, garlic, salt, and extra virgin olive oil.

Without the buttery mildness of pine nuts, all the other ingredients shine. There’s a real intensity of flavour in nutty, salty pecorino; peppery, sweet basil; punchy, sharp garlic; and fruity, vibrant olive oil.

So, no matter what your reason is for not wanting to make pesto with pine nuts, let’s get into this pesto recipe without pine nuts!

🌿Pesto Ingredients Notes

You’ll need just four basic ingredients for this pesto recipe without pine nuts (five, if you count salt!).

While the list of ingredients is short and sweet (or savoury, more like!), the quality of these ingredients is crucial.

• Fresh basil is the backbone of any pesto. You can use store-bought or homegrown (I like to propagate basil from supermarket plants), but Genovese basil is your holy grail; it’s peppery, aromatic, and intensely flavoured compared to other varieties like sweet basil or flat basil.
• Pecorino is a salty, tangy, and nutty Italian hard cheese. Always buy one marked vegetarian.
• Olive oil adds a rich, fruity layer to the pesto and helps to preserve it (although this quantity of pesto will get used in one serving!). Regular olive oil is okay, extra virgin olive oil is preferred.
• Salt boosts the flavour of our other ingredients. However, pecorino is a particularly salty cheese, so I only add this once the pesto is made. That way, I can adjust the seasonings to my liking.
• Garlic is sharp, punchy, and spicy. Use moderately!

Is Pesto without Pine Nuts Vegetarian?

My recipe is 100% vegetarian, as is everything on Oh My Veg. That said, a standard basil pesto from a store or restaurant isn’t vegetarian — unless labelled as such.

That’s because traditional pesto uses Parmigiano Reggiano. Like many hard cheeses, Parmigiano Reggiano is made with rennet, an enzyme derived from the stomach lining of animals (most commonly cows and lambs).

Thankfully, many cheeses are now made with microbial rennet (obtained from fermenting fungi or yeast) or plant-based rennet (from thistles, artichokes, or nettles, as per The Spruce Eats). These cheeses are vegetarian.

You can now find vegetarian Parmesan or pecorino in most large stores — look for the vegetarian label. It’s also possible to find vegan cheese alternatives nowadays.

However, DOP products, which have a protected designation of origin, must be made with traditional methods — that means using non-vegetarian, animal-based rennet.

Any cheeses labelled DOP, which include Parmigiano Reggiano, Pecorino Romano, and Pecorino Fiore Sardo, are to be avoided.

Adapting this Recipe for Allergies and Dietary Requirements

This recipe is vegetarian, nut-free, gluten-free, and soy-free as written.

To make this recipe vegan and dairy-free, swap pecorino for a vegan alternative. I like using a Violife Prosociano wedge or Marigold nutritional yeast (it’s got a real savoury cheesy oomph that’s a mainstay in vegan cookery).

Sometimes I leave the cheese out entirely, but I don’t recommend it for this recipe. Because we’ve already sacrificed the pine nuts’ texture, omitting the cheese would leave this pesto too insubstantial.

👨‍🍳 How to Make Pesto Without Pine Nuts

Making pesto without pine nuts is a simple, four-step process that requires no cooking and no culinary experience.

As for tools, you have a few options:

• Pesto made with a mortar and pestle is the traditional Italian way. It’s time-consuming (expect to set aside 30 minutes) but tastes phenomenal.
• A knife and a chopping board are two tools every cook has in the kitchen, making this method the most accessible. Like a mortar and pestle, this is also a commitment time-wise. The result is rustic and chunky. You can also use an Italian rocking knife called a mezzaluna, which is more specialised, but creates a slightly better texture.
• Immersion blender is quick and easy, but hard to make in small batches. You need to add all the ingredients at once and may need to scale the recipe.
• Pesto in a standard blender is easy, but, much like the above, it only works when you blend all the ingredients at once.

Finally, the winner: a food processor! It allows you to layer the flavours (rather than bunging everything in at once), keeps the best bright green, and takes a minute tops.

If you’re a visual learner, you can follow along with step-by-step photos direct from my kitchen (plus written instructions) here:

🫙Storing Pesto without Pine Nuts

This pesto recipe makes one serving, so it’s best served immediately.

However, if you choose to adjust the serving size (easily done via the recipe card), you can make this recipe in bulk and store it for later use.

• Fridge: Store in an airtight jar for up to five days. Cover the top with a layer of extra olive oil to prevent the basil from oxidising.

• Freeze: Pour the pesto into ice cube trays. Freeze until solid, then pop them out and store in a freezer bag for handy, pre-portioned pesto you can easily throw in any recipe. Store for up to four months.

I use this technique for most of the sauce/condiment recipes on Oh My Veg, including avocado cilantro sauce, Indian green chutney, and green chilli thecha. It’s just so convenient!

🍝 What to Make with Nut-Free Pesto

Perhaps it would be quicker to list what you can’t serve with nut-free pesto!

Pasta is the obvious choice. You can make pesto-based pasta dishes like spaghetti al pesto, pesto rigatoni, creamy pesto gnocchi, pasta Portofino, or orzo pesto pasta salad. These are just a few examples!

I also love to use pesto as a spread for sandwiches like my picnic and lunchbox favourite, pesto caprese sandwiches!

Or, as a stuffing for crispy fried/baked bites like pesto arancini, garlic dough balls, or fried mac ‘n cheese balls.

Finally, this pesto without pine nuts is also fantastic drizzled over caprese flatbreads, pizza, mushroom risotto, caprese toasts, roasted garlic and tomato soup, caprese crostini, or caprese risotto.