Vegan Parsley Pesto with Pistachios

This delicious vegan parsley pesto made with pistachios will make you want to break up with your standard basil pesto! It's super simple to make, parsley is readily available in huge bunches and it keeps for up to a week in the fridge. The fresh flavor of flat-leaf parsley combined with toasted pistachios is a delicious match that you'll want to put on pasta, use as a base for bruschetta or in a sandwich!

this recipe

This homemade parsley pesto is incredibly versatile, not only is it great served tossed through pasta, but you can smear it on toast or bagels instead of butter, use it to dab over grilled veggies, toss it through pesto or swirl it through soups and stews such as with my Chickpea, Potato & Red Pepper Summer Stew .

I love making pesto with all kinds of herbs, such as my wild garlic pesto, or my more classic Easy Vegan Basil Pesto. It's a great way to use up leftover fresh herbs, especially if you were a bit too excited at the farmers market and ended up with lots of parsley (it happens!) or if your herb garden is having a particularly abundant season. You can get creative with the types of nuts you use too, this recipe uses pistachios, but I have also made it with cashews, with walnuts and even a nut-free version with sunflower seeds!

Jump to:

• 🌿Ingredients
• 👩‍🍳Instructions
• 🥜Substitutions
• 🍝Uses
• 🔪Equipment
• 🍯Storage
• ❓FAQ
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

🌿Ingredients

This delicious pistachio and parsley pesto is made from simple ingredients:

• Fresh Italian Parsley: I used flat Italian flat leaf parsley because I prefer the flavor.
• Pistachios: Choose pre-shelled plain unsalted and unroasted pistachios. You can also use any other nut you fancy!
• Nutritional Yeast: This is a dairy free recipe, so I use nutritional yeast in place of the more common parmesan cheese.
• Fresh Garlic Cloves: A single clove of fresh garlic is more than enough! It adds that all important garlicky flavour we love! But you can add more if you like.
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Choose a good quality oil when making pesto! As the pesto does not get cooked, is really worth while using a nice one as you can taste the difference!
• Flakey Sea Salt: Lovely flakey salt seasons the pesto perfectly.
• Lemon Juice: A squeeze of fresh lemon juice brightens up the flavours and keeps the pesto tasting fresh. You can also add some lemon zest to the pesto if you like.

See recipe card for the quantities needed for this parsley pesto recipe.

👩‍🍳Instructions

It's super simple to make pretty much any pesto. Follow along with these instructions and you'll have your own pesto ready to use in no time.

The parsley pistachio pesto should look like this once it is ready! Use it to make parsley pesto pasta, on a sandwich or as a dip. To preserve it in the fridge, add a thin layer of olive oil over the top of the pesto once it is in it's storage jar.

Hint: Make sure you wash and then dry the fresh parsley very well. Wet herbs will result in a soggy unlovely pesto.

🥜Substitutions

Make this pesto recipe to suit yourself!

• Pistachios -instead of pistachios use cashews, walnuts or pine nuts.
• No Nuts - make this recipe nut free by using sunflower or pumpkin seeds.
• Vegetarian -choose a vegetarian or vegan hard style cheese instead of the nutritional yeast.
• Arugula Pesto: Swap the parsley for arugala (rocket) for a peppery pesto variation.
• Add other herbs such as fresh basil leaves, mint, dill or arugula.
• Add black pepper or a little red chilli flakes for a little extra spice.

🍝Uses

Here are some yummy ways you can use up this delicious pesto- it's especially great in Italian Recipes:

1. This pesto is fantastic in all kinds of pasta dishes. It's especially great with asparagus pasta or with broccoli or spinach.
2. Swirl through risotto. It's delicious with peas especially!
3. Use in place of basil pesto in this Garlic Mushroom and Pesto Pasta
4. Add to salad dressings for a fresh flavor.

🔪Equipment

The traditional way to make pesto was with a mortar & pestle and pounded to the correct consistency. Fun Fact! Pesto comes from Pestare in Italian, which means to pound or crush!

These days we find it easier to use a food processor or blender. I love using my Kenwood processor. It's very old now, but you can find a similar one on Amazon. It makes creating recipes like this vegan parsley pistachio pesto a total breeze!

🍯Storage

This parsley pesto will keep for a week or even a bit longer in the fridge. Pop it into a clean airtight container and add a little olive oil over the top of the pesto. This keeps the pesto fresh and from oxidizing. Alternatively you can freeze the pesto in an ice cube tray, which is handy if you've made a big batch of the pesto! Once frozen, remove to a freezer bag or container. You can then popping one or two frozen cubes of pesto out when needed.

❓FAQ

📖 Recipe