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This post covers how to make pesto sauce, how to store it, and more! If you’ve never made homemade pesto before, you’ve been missing out!
This a perfect summer recipe to use up all that basil in the garden! I swear basil multiplies overnight. I can’t keep ahead of it, but homemade pesto is one of my favorite ways to use it up!
Homemade Basil Pesto Sauce Recipe
I don’t know why, but I had never had pesto until college. At least I’m pretty sure I hadn’t. And I honestly don’t even remember who made it when I did finally have it. All I remember was that it was a basic pesto pasta and I loved it.
I’ll be the first to admit that I ate waaaaaay more than I should have. It was slightly nutty, cheesy, and super fresh. Could there be a better combo? We use pesto all the time now and we even make it a few different ways depending on how much of everything we have like our 15-Minute Pesto Pasta, pesto butter grilled cheese, creamy pesto chicken pizza, or the bacon pesto grilled cheese sandwich contest I won with Tillamook. However, in the end this is our ultimate, absolute favorite classic pesto recipe.
A classic pesto recipe is easy enough to make, but storing is a bit tricky. I have two ways that I store it and a third that I’ve heard great things about but never tried it. But we can talk about storing it after we discuss the actual classic pesto recipe.
Basil Pesto Recipe Ingredients
This is such an easy pesto recipe! It requires minimal ingredients to whip up. Here’s what all goes into this homemade pesto sauce:
- Fresh Basil
- Garlic Cloves
- Pine Nuts
- NOTE: The best substitutes for pine nuts are walnuts, almonds or cashews.
- Olive Oil
- Grated Parmesan Cheese
- NOTE: The best substitute is pecorino romano cheese.
- Salt
The measurements for each can be found in the recipe card below.
How to Make Pesto Sauce
To start this homemade pesto recipe, I just heat up a skillet over medium heat, add both the garlic cloves and the pine nuts and let it cook until golden, shaking the pan occasionally. Then, I remove the nuts and allow the garlic to finish turning golden as well.
An added bonus is that the garlic slides right out of its skin when it’s toasted this way. I love that. So, yes you read right, toast the garlic in its thin skin and then remove after it’s golden.
Place everything except the cheese and salt in the bowl of a food processor or blender and pulse until smooth. Stir in the cheese and add salt to taste. Yes, making this classic pesto recipe is that easy. If you want to go totally authentic, you can use a mortar and pestle to blend the pesto together. That’s just too much work for me, so food processor it is!
How to Store Pesto
Storing Pesto in a Jar
Make your classic pesto and then fill a jar to to almost the very top. Drizzle a thin layer of olive oil over the top and seal closed to keep pesto green. This can keep for a few weeks in the fridge if you continue to cover the top with olive to keep the herbs fresh. You can also choose to freeze the jar, but I wouldn’t keep it in the freezer for more than a month before switching it to the fridge.
Storing Pesto in a Vacuum Bag
I love the foodsaver. Yes, it costs a little money, but you end up saving tons. You can easily make your pesto, stick it in a bag, suck out the air and freeze it for up to 9 months. BOOYAH! When you’re ready to use it just move it down to the fridge to defrost and use on your favorite dish.
How Long Does Pesto Last?
This easy basil pesto sauce will last up to 5 days in the refrigerator if stored in an airtight container. If you use the olive oil method shared above, the shelf life will be extended.
Can You Freeze Pesto?
Yes! Homemade basil pesto sauce freezes incredibly well. Simply make the recipe as instructed, then seal the pesto in an airtight container or freezer bag.
Alternately, spoon the homemade pesto into ice cube trays and freeze until solid. Once hardened, transfer the pesto cubes to a freezer bag. This way, you wind up with single servings of frozen pesto!
Our Favorite Pesto Uses
We love pesto on everything from egg whites to garlic bread to chicken to pasta to salads. I love having a jar handy in the fridge or freezer! Here are a few of our favorite recipes that use pesto sauce:
- 20-Minute Cheesy Pesto Pasta
- Pesto Pepperoni and Sausage Grilled Pizza
- Sun Dried Tomato, Bacon, & Pesto Grilled Cheese
- 15-Minute Grilled Veggies with Pesto
- Pesto Veggie Foil Packs
- 15-Minute Pesto Pasta
- Cheesy Pesto Tarts
Tips for the Best Pesto Sauce
- Put ice in the food processor and mix. This will cool your machine before preparing your pesto and will help in keeping your pesto greener.
- Because this easy pesto recipe uses so few ingredients, it’s important that you buy the best quality ingredients you can.
- Use extra virgin olive oil and freshly grated Parm for the best flavor.
Other Italian Sauce Recipes
Looking for more Italian Sauce recipes? Who doesn’t love Italian sauces!? Make sure you try these out the next time you are making that Italian dish:
- Traditional Bolognese Recipe
- Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
- Easy Pizza Sauce
- Garden Veggie Marinara Sauce
- Easy Beef Ragu
- Cilantro Pesto
- Creamy Sausage Alfredo Sauce
- Healthier Avocado Pesto
- Spicy Sausage Pasta Sauce
- ALL OF OUR PASTA RECIPES!
Classic Pesto Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/4 Cup Pine Nuts, plus 1 1/2 Tablespoons
- 3 Cloves Garlic, unpeeled
- 3 Cups Fresh Basil, packed
- 1/4 Cup Olive Oil, plus 1-2 Tablespoons
- 1/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese, plus 2 Tablespoons, grated
- Salt, to taste
Instructions
- Heat a skillet over medium heat and add the pine nuts and garlic.1/4 Cup Pine Nuts, 3 Cloves Garlic
- Toast for a few minutes or until golden brown, shaking the pan occasionally to toss the pine nuts and promote even color.
- Once the pine nuts are done, remove them from the pan and continue to toast the garlic.
- Remove garlic from the pan and remove the skin.
- Wait until both garlic and pine nuts are cooled.
- Place the basil, pine nuts, garlic, and olive oil in a blender and pulse until smooth, but still a tad grainy in texture.3 Cups Fresh Basil, 1/4 Cup Olive Oil
- Place everything in a bowl and stir in the cheese.1/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese
- Salt to taste and store according to post directions.Salt
Recipe Notes
- You can adjust the garlic to your own taste. It you don’t love it, just use 2 cloves!
- See the post for details on storing pesto in a mason jar with a little olive oil in the fridge.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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If I were to make multiple batches of this, do you think it would be suitable to can/preserve (without freezing) by submerging sealed jars of pesto in a hot water bath?
You can do canning with pesto however there is a little bit of a back and forth on if it’s really a good method. Here’s a good article on it.
this is truly a classic pesto recipe! Thanks!
If freezing in 4 oz. jars how much cheese do you add when you defrost to use.
Honestly, the cheese is really preference as many use different amounts. I would just sprinkle in a tablespoon and go from there until your desired flavor is met.
I got everything together, and was getting ready to make your basil pesto recipe (I love your website, by the way), when I decided to take a look at the pesto pasta recipe. I notice that the proportions are different – while this receipt calls for 3 cups of basil the pasta recipe calls for 1 cup, however the oil and cheese measurements are about the same as for this recipe with 3 times the amount of basil. Is this correct?
Hi! So this is just for good ol’ pesto while the pasta recipe is more of a pesto sauce so there’s less basil etc but still all of that olive oil so it goes all over the pasta versus just clumps of it. You could always use the pesto over the pasta if you love the full flavor. We do that all the time.
I want to give the pesto as Christmas gifts, but that’s more than a month away. I want to make it now and store it for Christmas presents. How do you recommend I store it?
Mary Jo Labayog
Hi Mary Jo, You would have to make it and freeze it in storage bags or freeze in ice cube trays and then in storage bags then defrost into the containers you’ll be using. 🙂
Thank you for sharing this recipe. I love Mediterranean tastes being Greek and Italian and Greek cooking. MY TIP: add zest of half a lemon and the juice of half a lemon with a little balsamic of vinegar Di Modena. Got those not so fond of garlic reduce the garlic and add ginger. All of the above add huge flavour and aroma and keeps the sauce in the fridge for a couple of months. Remember your sauce must always be topped with olive oil. Fresh pesto sauce is great, but pesto sauce that has rested in the jar for a couple of weeks is magic, as all the ingredients kind of ferment and give all their goodness.
Ciao from Greece
Oh I just love your tips! Cannot wait to try!
I have three basil plants in my garden. Enough to supply family and friends. I know to omit the cheese when freezing, but is it ok to leave in the pine nuts when freezing, and also can I ship it over night to my brother in California?
Love you site!
Thanks Karen! I leave in the pine nuts since they are chopped so fine and if you overnight it you would want to use one of those cold containers since it isn’t sealed.
I have three basil plants that have gone crazy. Enough basil for the whole neighborhood. I know to leave out the cheese when freezing, but what about the pine nuts? Also can I ship this in the mail if I overnight it? My brother would love some of my pesto.
My husband and I love pesto and have made it a few times, with very good luck using a basic recipes. However, in all the posts no one mentions rinsing the basil after it is cut and removing the stems. Is either step necessary? Thank you for your recipes.
Hi Dianne,
If the basil is fresh from the garden I rinse it a little but otherwise it isn’t necessary. As for the stems, unless they are long we don’t worry about trimming them off. 🙂
Hi i have tried pesto before but i always stored the pesto in the freezer. can i store pesto in a bottle without putting it in the fridge or freezer? Will it go bad ?
Unfortunately you do need to keep it in the fridge or freezer to keep it fresh.
Enjoyed this recipe — the toasted garlic and pine nuts give it a great flavor!
Thank you so much!
This is my first time EVER making pesto! I love it! I’ve been snarfing down the Buff Pesto Bowls at Noodles & Co. and thinking all the while “I could be making this at home!” So glad I came across your recipe……and I’ve signed up to receive your emails, too. Tonight I will be making my own Buff Pesto Bowl with spinach, sauteed grape tomatoes and mushrooms, and prawns tossed in this pesto! I CANNOT WAIT! Thank you so much!
Sounds wonderful and we are so glad you enjoyed it!