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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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Hello,
Thank you for the amazing receipe plus the good tips!!
But if you can help me to know how to store pesto sauce in can (as for tomatoes paste..) I think we can do as bain-marie methode.
If you have a helpful reply, please Im waiting for your prompt reply..
Have a nice week full of delicious food!!
thanks for the simple pesto recipe and detailed step by step pics. My kids love pesto so I just saved this.
oh good! Thanks!
Those expensive air sealers can be prohibitive for a lot of people I got one from Amazon for less then $30 it uses the same bags as the expensive ones and (yes it can take a few tries to learn how to use it effectively) plus you can buy less expensive bag rolls it is made by VonShef. It looks good and I have been using it almost every day for a year. It fits in a kitchen drawer with the rolls of bags which is great as well
What a great tip! And I think learning a few times how to use something is totally worth it. Thanks!
Thank you,thank you,thank you
needed to know how to store Pesto – and whoolah! came upon you folks. Don’t have time to peruse site today, but have listed you on my Logo/Website list of recipes I copy into my own format–severe ADHD folks (approx. 20+%) need a numbered procedure to follow, not paragraphs. ALL recipes are in paragraph format!!! And I also need a picture. So, if I hear from you by email, I’ll be glad to send you sample. Thanks for storage idea. Also looking forward to reading your tips.
Can anyone tell me why not to stir pesto once its made???
I use very similar recipe for my pesto but use cupcake pan instead of ice cube trays. Each one makes about one serving.
After freezing I put them in zip top plastic bags
I use ice cube trays too; I put the pesto in each cube and pour oil over top to keep air out..works well.
I’m doing that lately and I’ve started doing it for sun-dried tomato pesto too
Love your recipe for pesto sauce – I have made it before, but will try roasting the pine nuts and lots of garlic. I buy aged Parmesan in a large block,
but find it very dry What other cheese to you suggest?
Love your website.
Oh pecorino romano or asiago are great too!
There’s so many nice pesto recipes on your blog guys! I can see you’re a true pesto experts, and I’m gonna start using your pesto recipe immediately. I do have some recipe, but I do not toast the garlic, and I think it would be a game changer for me.
I don’t prefer storing pesto inside the fridge, somehow it changes the color and loses its freshness, probably has to do with the amount of olive oil I add on the top…
Thanks for the recipe, also love the bonus tips at the end.
Thank you for your recipe and the canning instructions. I have always done the ice cube tray method which works great. Once I have poured my pesto into the little cubes I pour olive oil over the top and then cover it with plastic wrap fitting close to the pesto. Once it’s frozen I take it out of the trays and place the pesto cubes in a freezer ziploc baggie and then put it back in the freezer. Then I can pull out as many cubes as needed – which is about 1-2 TBS per cube. I’m not sure how long it will last as I use pesto on many things. But I love having it over the winter season.
I love freezing it. It’s just so nice to have that fresh pesto all winter isn’t it!
I have been making and storing pesto for decades. Our recipes are almost identical. I fill the blender with the basil and then add oil and salt. I pulse and then seal it into jars ranging from 1/2 pints to quarts, I store this in my cool pantry (basement when we lived in Colorado which was always a few degrees cooler than our home. It will be fine and safe to eat for at least a year. When I am ready to use it I dump it back into the blender or magic bullit and add cheese and parmesean. I love doing it this way because it allows me to harvest all my basil before first frost and if I want to do a walnut or other nut and cheese pesto or just have some very fresh tasting basil when I drain the olive oil!
Wonderful tip!! Thank you for commenting!
I have avoided doing this because I could not verify it’s safety or taste…now I know it can be done, I will try as soon as my basil has grown enough to be harvested…oh I am looking forward to this!!!!
Oh I’m so glad it helped then! Good luck!
How do you go about sealing it?? water bath? I have a lot of basil and need to use it before it flowers
We actually love to just freeze our pesto as it keeps that bright and fresh color and flavor. 🙂
I’m wondering about safety….. Are you storing the jars after “sealing” in a water bath or just putting the lids on tight? I think the hot water bath would change the color and maybe flavor too. If you are just tightening the lids and storing in a cool place, I’d like to know approximately what temperature you are storing them. Thanks to anyone who can answer this.
I live in Colorado and we put all our jars of jelly, pickles, peaches, etc. In the basement. My question is like most “canning” do you have to use a pressure cooker with boiling water to seal the jars like you do with jelly and salsa? It wasnt obvious in any comments or the recipie…or do you not do that part?