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HOMEMADE BASIL PESTO RECIPE:
Fresh Garden Basil, Made Simple
There is something special about making pesto with basil picked fresh from your own garden. The aroma is incredible, and with a few simple ingredients, you can make a vibrant, flavorful pesto that is ready for pasta, spreading, or keeping for later. We make ours without garlic, but include it as an optional ingredient because it is traditional and many people love its flavor.
We also make a generous batch and freeze it as a 250 ml block, so a taste of summer from our garden is ready whenever we need it. The pesto freezes beautifully and can be quickly added to pasta or loosened with a little pasta water for a lighter sauce.
Key steps of the recipe are supported by short videos showing textures and techniques, while the complete recipe video is available just below.
VIDEO RECIPE HOMEMADE PESTO
RECIPE SCORECARD
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* Based on our internal rating system
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9.0
NUTRITIONAL VALUES
* Calculated per portion using standard ingredient databases
230 kcal
2 g
5 g
24 g
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Meal Type:
5 minutes
10 minutes
15 minutes
6
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RECIPE PROFILE
INGREDIENTS PESTO
"For us, great pesto starts with the basil — fresh from the garden, carefully cleaned, thoroughly dried, and mostly leaves. We take a little extra time to remove the small branches and stems, keeping mostly the tender basil leaves. We also make the pesto soon after picking the basil and dry the leaves well before blending. For us, this simple extra care makes a smoother pesto with the fresh aroma and flavor we love.”
✓ 2 oz fresh basil leaves (60 g)
✓ ½ cup Grana Padano, freshly grated (60 g)
✓ 3 tbsp pine nuts (25 g)
✓ ½ clove garlic, optional
✓ ½ cup extra virgin olive oil (110 g)
✓ ½ tsp salt (2–3 g)
How it Comes Together
"A visual walkthrough of the key moments that turn simple ingredients into Pesto Sauce."
+ HOW TO MAKE IT STEP BY STEP
1. Prepare and blend the pesto
✓ Remove the basil leaves from the small branches and wash them gently
✓ Dry the basil leaves thoroughly
✓ Add the Grana Padano to a powerful blender and blend for about 15 secs, until finely grated
✓ Add the pine nuts, optional garlic, basil leaves, olive oil, and salt
✓ Blend for about 20 seconds, or until smooth and vibrant. Blending times may vary depending on your blender
2. Serve or freeze
✓ Toss the pesto with your favorite pasta
✓ If needed, add a couple of spoonfuls of pasta water to loosen the pesto
✓ For later, transfer the pesto to a 250 ml freezer-safe container or block and freeze
✓ One block is enough for about 6 servings of pasta
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01 - Fresh Pesto
+ RECIPE MOMENTS
02 - Use or freeze
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Grate the cheese finely before freezing. Parmesan is often added after thawing when pesto is frozen, but we find that blending very finely grated Grana Padano directly into the pesto works beautifully. The pesto keeps its quality in the freezer and, in our experience, can taste even better once thawed.
Dry the basil thoroughly. Excess water can affect the texture and freshness of the pesto, so take the time to dry the leaves well before blending. We also recommend making the pesto soon after picking the basil, while the leaves are at their freshest and most aromatic.
Use a powerful blender. A strong blender helps create a smooth pesto and is particularly useful when finely blending the cheese together with the other ingredients. Blending times can vary, so use the texture of the pesto as your guide.
Loosen with pasta water. Pesto can be quite dense on its own. When mixing it with pasta, add a couple of spoonfuls of the hot pasta water to create a lighter, silkier sauce that coats the pasta more easily.
Make it lactose-free. Replace the Grana Padano with a lactose-free hard cheese with a similar firm, savory character. Keep the rest of the recipe unchanged. Always check the cheese label, as not all hard cheeses are lactose-free.
Make it vegan. For a completely plant-based pesto, replace the Grana Padano with a vegan hard cheese or nutritional yeast. Nutritional yeast gives the pesto a savory, cheesy flavor while keeping the recipe simple. Use a little less at first and adjust to taste.
Use almonds instead of pine nuts. Pine nuts are traditional, but almonds are an easy and more affordable alternative. Use the same quantity and blend them with the other ingredients. The pesto will have a slightly different flavor and texture, but it remains delicious.
Make it more intense. For a stronger, sharper flavor, replace half of the Grana Padano with finely grated Pecorino Romano. The result is saltier and more pronounced, so you may want to adjust the amount of salt.
TIPS FOR PERFECT RESULTS
RECIPE VARIATIONS
+ FAQs ABOUT PESTO
Can you freeze homemade basil pesto?
Yes. Homemade basil pesto freezes very well, and we like to freeze ours as a 250 ml block so it is ready whenever we want to make pesto pasta. We freeze it with the Grana Padano already blended in, which works particularly well when the cheese is finely grated. For the best quality, we recommend using frozen pesto within 1 month.
How long does homemade basil pesto last in the fridge?
For the best freshness and flavor, we recommend keeping homemade pesto in an airtight container in the refrigerator and using it within about 5–7 days. If you know you will not use it within that time, freezing it is a better option.
Can you make basil pesto without garlic?
Absolutely. Garlic is traditional in basil pesto, but it is optional. We make ours without garlic because we prefer the fresher basil flavor, but you can add ½ clove of garlic if you enjoy a more pronounced garlic taste. sauce.
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