Most pesto is made with basil, pine nuts, and parmesan. This one skips all three and is better for it.
This vegan parsley walnut pesto comes together in a food processor in about 10 minutes with five ingredients. I toast the walnuts first. It takes five minutes and makes the flavor noticeably deeper and nuttier. The result works on pasta, grilled chicken, fish, sandwiches, and pizza. I’ve also been known to eat it straight from the jar.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Ingredient Notes
- Parsley – Flat-leaf (Italian) parsley has more flavor than curly parsley. Either works, but I always use flat-leaf. You need about one bunch.
- Walnuts – Toast them before blending. Spread them on a dry skillet over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until fragrant. It makes a noticeable difference in flavor.
- Olive Oil – Use a good quality extra virgin olive oil here. Since there’s no cooking involved, the flavor of the oil comes through directly in the finished pesto.
- Lemon Juice – Fresh only. Bottled lemon juice is too sharp and will throw off the balance of the pesto.
How to get the right consistency
Run the food processor continuously and drizzle the olive oil in slowly through the feed tube. Starting with 1/2 cup and adding more as you go gives you control over the final texture. A thicker pesto is better for toast and sandwiches. A looser one coats pasta more evenly.
Recipe FAQs
Traditional pesto alla genovese does include parmesan, but it’s not required. This recipe leaves it out entirely and the olive oil, walnuts, and parsley provide enough richness on their own. If you want to add parmesan, stir in 2 to 3 tablespoons after blending.
Pine nuts are the traditional choice and work here. Almonds, pecans, and cashews are all good options too. One reader makes it weekly with cashews and loves the result.
Expert Tips
Storage Instructions
Refrigerator: Store in a sealed glass jar for up to one week. The oil will separate as it sits. Stir before using and it comes right back together.
Freezer: Spoon into a silicone ice cube tray and freeze until solid, then transfer to a freezer-safe bag or container. Thaw only what you need. Keeps up to 4 months.
Serving Suggestions
This pesto works on just about anything. Toss it with gluten-free pasta, spread it on sandwiches or toast, or use it as a pizza sauce base.
Spoon it over these gluten-free roasted chicken thighs right before serving, or drizzle it over this gluten-free sausage potato skillet for an easy weeknight dinner. It also works spread on top of gluten-free focaccia or this gluten-free Christmas tree focaccia before baking. And if you want a full meal built around this pesto, these gluten-free chicken pesto quinoa bowls are great for meal prep.
Vegan Parsley Walnut Pesto
Ingredients
- 2 cups (50 g) flat leaf parsley - loosely packed (about 1 bunch)
- ½ cup (59 g) walnuts - toasted and roughly chopped
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon (15 g) fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup (112 g) extra virgin olive oil - plus up to ¼ cup more as needed
**Use the toggle button above to turn the instruction photos on and off!
Instructions
- Add 2 cups (50 g) flat leaf parsley, ½ cup (59 g) walnuts, 2 cloves garlic, 1 tablespoon (15 g) fresh lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon kosher salt to a food processor. Pulse until the mixture is roughly combined.
- With the food processor running continuously, slowly drizzle in ½ cup (112 g) extra virgin olive oil through the feed tube. Start with ½ cup and add up to ¼ cup more until the pesto is smooth and reaches your desired consistency.
- Taste and adjust salt as needed. Serve immediately or refrigerate in a sealed glass jar until ready to use.
Notes
- Walnuts: Use unsalted. Toast in a dry skillet over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until fragrant. Let cool before adding to the food processor.
- To add cheese: Stir in 2 to 3 tablespoons of freshly grated parmesan after blending. This will make the recipe no longer dairy-free or vegan.
- Gluten-free: All ingredients in this recipe are naturally gluten-free.
Wow, this looks delicious! Thank you for sharing this recipe. I LOVE, love, love pesto! I recently came across an organic sundried tomato basil pesto at Costco and I’m in love! I would highly recommend it. Pesto, whether the traditional type or the not-so-traditional tomato type, just makes everything better!
Thanks Sara! I kind of want to slather pesto on anything and everything now haha. I’m headed to Costco today so I’m definitely going to check out the sundried tomato pesto! Thanks for the recommendation 🙂
Hi, This pesto looks delicious. I too am a big fan. I love how it’s so versatile, I often make mine with spinach when I don’t have enough herbs to hand! Lovely post, keep up the good work on the blog.
Thank you Daire! Pesto does take quite a bit of herbs so I love your spinach version! Great idea!
….so I shared your post and my silly Dad say, “get rid of the parsley and pesto and it wouldn’t be too bad!” lol (he likes walnuts:)) My daughter uses parsley, I use spinach, but I’m going to try your version, it’s so pretty, after all. Then dad says, “whats Megnut?” to which Mom relpies, “maybe the opposite of nutmeg/” hehe, and this conversation is going on, on my share of your blog! Moms and Dads are so amusing:)
omg this seriously made me laugh out loud! Sooo funny! Parents are super funny that way! Also I’ve had a few people ask me this week what Megnut was so your dad is not alone 😉 thanks for the chuckle!!
How long does this pesto keep for?
Hi Virginia – It should keep in the refrigerator about a week.
Hello! I don’t know what went wrong but my pesto came out so weird. The walnut flavor is way strong and I’m not sure if tart or bitter is the right description for the flavor. Maybe I chopped the walnuts too small so it was packed in the measuring cup too much? I added more parsley and that really didn’t help much. I really hope you will see this to help me out. I did follow the instructions exactly, but I didn’t know if the cups of parsley were to be packed or loose, and I did packed since all the other pesto recipes I’ve tried are packed. please advise and thanks!
Hi Zarmene! There could be a few reasons for this. Did you happen to try any of the walnuts before putting them in the pesto? Did they taste bitter on their own by chance? Sometimes that happens with walnuts. It could also be the oil – what kind of oil did you use? You can try adding a pinch of sugar to the pesto to see if that takes away the bitter taste.
Amazing recipe!! I’m on a budget so I used sunflower oil instead of olive and sunflower seeds instead of walnuts and it turned out great!
I love pesto and usually make it with basil. There was so much parsley in the garden, so I decided to look up a recipe. This is great! Thank you. I try to have as much pesto on hand as possible – it goes on so much!!
So glad you enjoyed it Lynn! It’s one of my favorites – I always have so much leftover parsley from recipes that parsley pesto is always being made in our house!
This is a weekly recipe in our home! My husband and toddler LOVE it! I use cashews instead of walnuts, and it comes out great!! Thank you 🙂
I make this once a week! It’s so amazing and simple! I do sub a couple of ingredients with our family’s preferences: cashews instead of walnuts, avocado oil instead of olive – and it is still great!! Thank you!
Can you freeze this?
Yes, you can freeze it. I either freeze it in ice cube trays or plastic freezer bags that I spread flat so I can break off a chunk and either let it defrost or reheat it easily.
This was delicious!!!! I was afraid my bunch of parsley would wilt and die and went looking for a recipe so that didn’t happen. This pesto was a perfect solution. I love to spread it on a toasted whole grain tortilla with tomatoes and red onion for a yummy breakfast.
Will definitely make it a standard in my household.
So glad you enjoyed this recipe, Laurelea! I always find myself with extra parsley so this is definitely one of my go-to’s to use it up!
My daughter has been diagnosed with gluten and dairy intolerance and she never touches meat. She loves pesto and I could not give her the one she loves from Costco anymore. I made this pesto recipe tonight and just doubled the garlic and added some wilted basil that I had in the fridge. It is OUTSTANDING! We all love it! Thank you so much!!!!!
I’m so glad your family liked this recipe, Armand! I appreciate you coming back and leaving a review! After my celiac diagnosis, I was having such a hard time processing dairy and eggs so you’ll find a good amount of dairy-free recipes here if you are ever looking for other recipes for your daughter. Just let me know what I can help you find!
In Step #2, should the oil be incorporated by hand, or should we use the pulse or continuous blend settings on the food processor? The instructions mention drizzling it in until smooth but don’t specify the mixing method.
Hi Nicole,
I do continuous blend in the food processor and then drizzle the oil in slowly. Hope this helps! I’ll update the instructions to make it clearer. Thanks!
Megan
Good but Very salty. Suggest starting with 1/2 tsp salt.
Did you happen to use salted walnuts? I wonder why it was so salty – but maybe it’s just preference. I do love salt.
Fantastic recipe! It’s also extremely flexible as I’ve used basil in place of parsley and roasted cashews in place of walnuts and it still has the perfect consistency. No tweaking necessary.