Vegan Tahini Pesto
This Easy Vegan Tahini Pesto recipe is made with 7 simple ingredients and takes less than 10 minutes to make! Perfect to toss together with pasta, spread in a wrap or sandwich, or flavor tofu with for your next meal!
Pesto has always been my go to condiment of choice for just about everything. It’s my flavor enhancer in my pesto tofu salad and my preferred condiment of choice in my favorite lunch wraps. Not only is it packed with flavor thanks to the fresh basil used as it’s main ingredient, but it’s also super quick and easy to make.
This version of pesto I am sharing with you strays away from some traditional ingredients to help make it both vegan and allergy friendly. Being able to provide this version I hope will allow more people to enjoy the fresh and bright flavors that are associated with pesto.
Why You’ll Love This Pesto
- It’s super flavorful thanks to the fresh basil and garlic, while also maintaining a rich creamy consistency that coats pasta and spreads on sandwiches and wraps well.
- The mix of tahini and nutritional yeast in this recipe provide a great depth of umami flavor that I feel make up for the fact that this recipe is dairy free.
- This recipe is also nut free! Traditional pesto typically has pine nuts, which while delicious to include in pesto, it can make it hard for those with allergies enjoy. We use tahini and pepitas as our fat sources in this recipe.
How to make this vegan tahini pesto
Start by gathering all of your ingredients:
- Fresh Basil: The essence of pesto, don’t replace this one
- Tahini: Using a good quality tahini makes this pesto special and also helps provide chronic disease risk reducing lignans
- Pepitas/Pumpkin Seeds: Great source of magnesium and zinc for vegans
- Lemon Juice: Good hit of zing and vitamin C
- Garlic: One of the main flavor enhancers in pesto, don’t change this one up!
- Nutritional Yeast: Loaded with umami flavor that helps to replace the umami of the cheese in traditional recipes, but also loaded with protein and B12 if fortified
- Water: To thin out your pesto to your desired consistency
- Salt/Pepper: To taste
Once you’ve prepped all of your ingredients, add your basil, tahini, pepitas, lemon juice, garlic, and nutritional yeast to a food processor. Process your ingredients together and slowly add in small amounts of water as it’s running to help obtain your desired consistency.
Can you freeze pesto?
Yes you can! Typically, this pesto sauce can last up to 7 days in an airtight container or jar in your fridge. If you don’t think you’ll be able use up all of your pesto, feel free to place it in the freezer until you plan to use again. If you want to use smaller amounts of sauce or as a quick flavor pick me up in a meal, freeze your vegan tahini pesto in an ice cube tray and use individual cubes as needed. I love throwing frozen cubes of pesto in a pan to thaw over heat and stir into pasta.
What do you pair pesto with?
The most common you would see pesto paired with is pasta! But I personally love using this vegan tahini pesto as a spread on sandwiches, using as the sauce for my nourish bowls, in salads, and I also love it drizzled on top of pizza.
More Tahini Recipes
- Tahini Ranch Tofu Sheet Pan
- Lemon Tahini Quinoa Salad
- Lentil Tahini Pasta
- Buffalo Cauliflower Chickpea Wraps
Vegan Tahini Pesto
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 12 oz 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This Easy Vegan Tahini Pesto recipe is made with 7 simple ingredients and takes less than 10 minutes to make! Perfect to toss together with pasta, spread in a wrap or sandwich, or flavor tofu with for your next meal!
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh basil, loosely packed
- Juice of one lemon
- 3 tbsp pumpkin seeds
- 1/4 cup tahini
- 5 cloves garlic, crushed and peeled
- 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1/4–1/2 cup cold water
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a food processor, add all ingredients except water in and process until basil is chunky.
- Add in 1/4 cup water and blend on high to smooth out the sauce. If too thick, add remaining water and process until mostly smooth.
- Store sauce in an airtight container or jar and serve as desired.
Notes
Only use fresh basil for this pesto. This provides the most optimal flavor and leads to the best pesto flavor.
If you are not a fan of tahini, feel free to use extra virgin olive oil! It’s just as nutritious. If using, you may wish to omit the water and add olive oil in until the pesto is to your desired consistency.
Don’t have pepitas/pumpkin seeds on hand? Feel free to opt for hemp seeds or sunflower seeds as another way to keep this nut free.
Did You Try This Recipe?
Then let me know what you thought! Share your creations by tagging me on Instagram with the hashtag #plantbasedrdeats
★ Catherine
