Vegan Kale Pesto is a delicious way to get your greens in! It's vibrant, packed with flavor, and a great alternative to traditional basil pesto. Made in 5 minutes, it's so good stirred through pasta for a very fast & easy meal!
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Here's the deal. Pesto. But not your average pesto. Today we are making pesto from kale. It's a very delicious way to get lots of greens in!
Vegan Kale Pesto is deep green with a chunky, nutty texture and a really great depth of flavor. Kale also happens to be generally a lot cheaper than basil which helps make this recipe a real winner!
Ingredients
To make Vegan Kale Pesto you will need a few minutes of time and these ingredients:
And a few ingredient notes:
- Nuts - Almonds in pesto are delicious and I love to use them for this recipe. If you don't have any though, walnuts, cashews, and pine nuts also work well. Sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds are a great nut-free alternative.
- Kale - Any variety of kale is fine to use. It makes a great alternative to the usual fresh basil.
- Nutritional yeast - This gives the cheesy, umami flavor of parmesan. It is much cheaper, it's naturally dairy-free, and it gives WAY more flavor than using store-bought vegan parmesan cheese. Important when it needs to stand out against the strong kale flavor.
- Extra virgin olive oil - A good quality one for the very best flavor. Whilst I recommend using extra virgin olive oil for the best results, you can substitute water to make the recipe oil-free. You will need a little less though.
How To Make Vegan Pesto
Making Vegan Kale Pesto is incredibly quick and easy. In fact it can be ready in about 5 minutes. Simply add the ingredients (reserving half of the almonds for later) to a food processor and blend until it's at your desired consistency. I like mine thick but still a little chunky.
Adjust the thickness to suit your preferences by adding more olive oil, water, or a combination of both, and check the seasoning. Finally, add the reserved almonds and pulse until broken up but still with lots of texture. Then it's ready to store or use!
Serving Suggestions
I love this pesto stirred through freshly cooked pasta with a sprinkle of grated vegan parmesan cheese and some vegan garlic bread on the side, but there are lots of other ways to use it including:
- In my Creamy Vegan Pesto Pasta Salad.
- On pizza instead of pizza sauce, or as well as!
- In sandwiches, paninis, and wraps.
- With flatbreads.
- On grain, pasta or rice bowls.
- On roasted vegetables.
- Tossed through steamed new potatoes.
- To flavour soups, sauces, and stews.
Expert Tip - When serving with pasta, scoop out a cup of starchy pasta water before you drain it. When mixing the pesto through the hot pasta, add a little of the starchy water to let down the sauce. It will thin it a little, make it glossy, and encourage it to cling and coat the pasta really well.
Storing Pesto
Store Vegan Kale Pesto in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 7 days. It can also be frozen for up to 3 months. I love to freeze it in ice cube trays so I can just pop out a little at a time. It's ready for a quick meal at the drop of a hat! Remove from the freezer, place in a container, and allow to defrost either overnight or on the counter if you need it more quickly.
Recipe
Vegan Kale Pesto
Author:WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Ingredients
- 7 to 8 large kale leaves
- ½ cup (120 mls) extra virgin olive oil
- 3 large cloves garlic
- ½ cup (32 grams) nutritional yeast
- ½ cup (72 grams) raw almonds
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt , plus more to taste
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper , plus more to taste
- water to thin
RECOMMENDED EQUIPMENT
INSTRUCTIONS
- Wash the kale and strip the leafy parts from the stems. Discard the stems and roughly chop the leaves.
- Add the kale, olive oil, garlic, nutritional yeast, roughly half of the almonds, and salt and pepper to a food processor.
- Process until it becomes a thick, slightly chunky pesto.
- Add more olive oil or a little water to thin as desired and check the seasoning, adding more salt and pepper if necessary.
- Add the remaining almonds and pulse until they are chopped but not too small. A nutty, chunky texture is really good!
NOTES
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Nicky says
Hi Melanie I’d love to make this but is it possible to tell me how many grams of kale to use as I can only buy pre-cut kale rather than large leaves?
Melanie McDonald says
I've never seen kale in bags. It always comes in bunches here. It would be about 6 cups chopped though. I have no idea what that would be in grams. If you don't have measuring cups use any cup or mug that holds about 240ml. Next time I have a bunch I'll weigh it and update the recipe. This recipe doesn't need to be too exact so feel free to tweak all the other ingredients to taste. Enjoy!
Nicky says
Thank you - I used all of the 200g bag I had in the end and took your advice to just tweak as a I went along - I reckon that was probably about the amount you used though. It was delicious! So much cheaper than basil and at least as nice.
Melanie McDonald says
So pleased you enjoyed it Nicky!
Lisa Lee says
Hi Melanie,
Do I need to roast the almond?
Melanie McDonald says
You can if you want to but I never do.
Karen says
This recipe is a crowd pleaser!
Love it but would recommend adding juice of one lemon which I did.
Theresa Martin says
I would like to make this but with parsley rather than kale. The reason being the late fall garden harvest is full off parsley. Any thoughts on whether parsley would substitute well.
Thank you
Susan says
What a fabulous way to use kale! We get a lot of kale from our CSA and this recipe has just become my favorite way to use kale!
Karen Haworth says
Just made this as a filling for tortellini. I thought I would have to add fresh basil For flavor. I was wrong. Great recipe...I will let you know how the tortellini turns out! My only addition.was crushed red pepper because I love it!
A Virtual Vegan says
I'm really pleased you are liking the pesto. I can imagine how good that tortellini will be. My mouth is watering at the thought. Enjoy!
Lucile says
Hi,
I just made the recipe (without the nutritional yeast because I didn't have any on hand so I put in some capers and a squeezed lemon's juice instead). The texture and colour are great, however there is a very bitter aftertaste that is very off-putting especially for the kids. First taste is fresh and green and immediately after, comes a very bitter flavour.
Does the fact of letting it sit in the fridge a couple days make it less bitter ? Any tips otherwise to counterbalance the bitterness ?
Thanks !
Melanie McDonald says
Kale does have a pungent taste when it's blended up raw. That is balanced with the cheesiness of the nutritional yeast and the flavour of the almonds though. They all balance each other out nicely. The nutritional yeast is a BIG part of this recipe. It just isn't the same without it. Capers have a salty, sharp taste and lemon juice is sharp so you probably haven't done yourself any favours by adding them instead. It's not a good balance.
The kale flavour does mellow a little over a couple of days in the fridge when made as instructed, but as you haven't followed the recipe and the balance of flavours is off, I can't say whether yours will improve or not.
The nutritional yeast would really help make it more appealing to your kids palates, but bear in mind that kale isn't the most kid friendly ingredient to begin with, (unless they happen to be real lovers of it which most kids aren't).
Al says
The family loved it. We had it with pasta and made pizza!
Allie says
Thank you so very much! I look forward to trying out this recipe <3