Wild Garlic Pesto - Vegan

I love making this vegan Wild Garlic Pesto every year. To me, it means Spring truly has sprung. It's so GREEN and the flavour is a deliciously pungent essence of garlic that somehow also manages to taste of pure Spring. It's simple to make and goes on all kinds of Spring dishes, so I know you'll love making it too.

this recipe

Jump to:

• 🌱What is Wild Garlic?
• 🌿Key Ingredients
• 👩‍🍳How to make
• 🥫Storage
• 🧀Variations and Substitutions
• 🌱Wild Garlic Pesto FAQ
• 🌱Serving ideas
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

I first tried wild garlic a few years ago in Germany, (In German it is called Bärlauch) and thought it was one of those cool German/ Northern European But when I moved to the country, I found a HUGE patch of it right near my house. Hurrah!

Wild garlic, also known as Ramsons and Ramps is a relatively new thing to me, it doesn't grow in Australia where I grew up, but here in the UK, it's a common Springtime woodland plant. So this recipe, Vegan Wild Garlic Pesto has become somewhat of a Springtime seasonal obsession.

Wild Garlic Pesto is delicious swirled into this Pesto & Pea Risotto or turned into Wild Garlic Hummus. It tastes great in place anywhere you would use other pesto. For example, I like to blob it onto a Spring Greens Minestrone Soup, you can also use it to top toasts or smear on Garlic Bread, or add it to a simple pasta in place of other sauce like in this Garlicky Cavolo Nero Pasta.

🌱What is Wild Garlic?

Wild garlic or Ramsons (Allium Ursinum) is a bulb that grows in woodlands across the UK, Europe and North America in Spring. It's a sign of old established woodland, so be sure to look around and appreciate the area when you find some! It's a really easy plant to forage because the smell and taste is so distinctive.

Did you know that it's sometimes also called Bear Garlic or Bear Leek (Bärlauch) because bears like to eat the bulbs! Cute.

Anyway, if you're foraging for it, be sure not to confuse it with Lily of the Valley (which smells completely different and not at ALL like garlic). When foraging, take only what you need and don't pull it out by the bulb.

You can eat the stems, leaves, flowers, and flower buds. For this pesto, we use the stems and leaves. I like to decorate spring dishes with its pretty white flowers.

🌿Key Ingredients

• Wild Garlic - You can forage your own, or sometimes it's available in farmers' markets.
• Olive Oil- Good Quality Olive oil is a must for blending the pesto.
• Nutritional Yeast- This takes the place of traditional cheese in pesto. It's high in B vitamins and adds a delicious umami flavour.
• Pine Nuts OR Walnuts- Either nut is delicious when making this pesto. I have also tried making it with pistachios which was so yummy.
• Salt- A little flakey sea salt or kosher salt.

👩‍🍳How to make

1. Once you have gathered your wild garlic, check it over and discard any leaves that are marked or dirty. Wash it well and allow to dry.
2. Toast the nuts in a dry pan.
3. Add the nuts and nutritional yeast to a blender or food processor and pulse.
4. Add in the wild garlic leaves and stems. Pulse for a minute.
5. Gradually add in the olive oil and blend. I like to leave a bit of texture to my wild garlic pesto, but blend until desired.
6. Add salt to taste.

🥫Storage

This pesto stores well in a clean jar in the fridge for up to a week. Pour a thin layer of olive oil over the top of the pesto to keep it fresher for longer.

If you want to preserve the fresh pesto for longer, put tablespoons of it in an ice-cube tray and freeze. Once frozen, pop the little bricks of pesto out, put into freezer bag and back in the freezer. Now you have pesto ready to use for months!

🧀Variations and Substitutions

• Lemon juice or zest- if you like your pesto a little tangier and brighter tasting, add some lemon.
• No Nuts: use sunflower or pumpkin seeds to replace the nuts. Or omit altogether.
• Vegan Parmesan Cheese: Swap the nutritional yeast for a commercial vegan parmesan cheese.
• Other Herbs: Of course you can use other herbs to make this pesto, or to add to it if you only can find a small amount of wild garlic. Parsley or Basil are delicious.

🌱Wild Garlic Pesto FAQ

🌱Serving ideas

Wild garlic pesto is used in all these yummy dishes: Try one and let us know what you think!

Wild Garlic Pesto & Pea Risotto- Vegan

Vegan Asparagus & Pesto Quiche

Asparagus with New Potatoes & Vegan Wild Garlic Pesto

📖 Recipe