This arugula pesto recipe is the best! It’s vegan, easy and completely delicious! We use it in our catering business to enliven soups and stews, toss with pasta, or add to sandwiches, adding a delicious peppery brightness to dishes you are already making.
This arugula pesto is one of the oldest recipes on the blog, and I still find it incredibly useful! It’s made without cheese or pine nuts, using almonds instead. I first developed this recipe for our catering business for those who had a dairy or pine nut allergy, but over the years, I’ve found it’s also a great way to use up arugula that’s on its way out. Here’s a more traditional basil pesto if that is what you are after!
Arugula Pesto tastes bright, tangy, peppery, and complex, bringing dishes you are already making, to their happy place. It truly elevates!
Wondering how to serve arugula pesto? It loves to be paired with lasagna, beans, lentils, and casserole-y things, or lathered into sandwiches, tossed with pasta, sauteed veggies, pasta salad or roasted veggies, roasted cauliflower, or spooned over your morning eggs.
The best part? This vegan pesto takes five minutes to make!
Arugula Pesto Ingredeints
- Fresh Arugula – peppery baby arugula makes the best pesto. I always seek out organic baby arugula.
- Fresh Basil- or feel free to sub more arugula. Basil leaves add a nice dimension but they are not imperative.
- Fresh garlic cloves- for a nice bite and pungent flavor.
- Nuts- marcona almonds, pine nuts or smoked almonds , pumpkin seeds, or toasted walnuts
- Lemon- you”ll use lemon zest and lemon juice
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil – find one that is not overly bitter.
- Salt and Fresh Cracked pepper
- Optional: feel free to add parmesan cheese if you like!
How to make ARugula Pesto (instructions)
This arugula pesto recipe only takes about 5 minutes!
Step one: Place all the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and pulse repeatedly.
Step two: scrape down the sides of the bowl, and pulse again, until uniformly chopped but not overly smooth. Add more oil to get desired consistency!
Storing Arugula pesto
- This recipe makes one cup. Store in a mason jar or airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- To freeze the arugula pesto, place it in a small jar, cover the pesto with a thin layer of lemon juice or thin layer of olive oil to preserve its vibrant color, and seal with an inch of headroom- it will expand as it freezes. You can also freeze in ice cube trays.
- Thaw in the fridge overnight before using.
Chef’s tipS
- Make sure your olive oil is not overly bitter.
- The arugula adds its own bit of bitterness, but you’ll find it will mellow out after an hour or so, and when combined with food is quite pleasant.
- If you are new to arugula, add some basil!
- Using smoked almonds brings this over the top!!!
Ways to Serve Arugula Pesto
Spread it in sandwiches, toss it with pasta, drizzle it over pizza, spoon it over soup, avocado toast or over eggs, use it anyway you would pesto! Here are some recipes we love to pair it with:
- Heirloom Tomato Basil Sandwich
- Simple Tomato Soup
- Tomato Zucchini Gratin
- Lentils with Blistered Tomatoes and Kale
- Simple Roasted Vegetables
- Bucatini Pasta with Arugula Pesto & Heirloom Tomatoes
- Brothy Tortellini Soup w/ Spinach, White Beans & Basil
- Farmers Market Vegetable Soup
More favorite Green sauces!
I hope you enjoy this simple recipe for Arugula Pesto! Let us know how you like it in the comments below!
xoxo
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Arugula Pesto Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 1 cup
- Category: sauces, condiments, pesto
- Method: blended
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
A delicious easy recipe for Arugula Pesto designed to enliven soups, stews, cassoulets, sandwiches and pasta dishes. It’s vegan and made with almonds, basil, and lemon zest adding a peppery brightness to dishes you are already making!
Ingredients
- 1 large garlic clove
- 1/4 cup toasted almonds, pinenuts or smoked almonds
- 1/2 cup packed basil leaves
- 1 cup packed baby arugula
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2–3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/3–1/2 cup light flavored olive oil (make sure oil is not bitter)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (if your almonds are heavily salted, use salt to taste.)
- 1/4 teaspoon cracked pepper
Instructions
- Place all ingredients into a food processor and pulse repeatedly until uniformly chopped and well combined.
- Scrap down the sides and pulse again.
- For a looser pesto, add a little more olive oil, and for a sturdier pesto, add a few more almonds.
- Store Arugula Pesto in a mason jar in the the fridge for 4-5 days, or freeze.
Notes
For a delicious, smoky taste, try using smoked almonds- heavenly! ( These are salty, so only add salt to taste!)
Pesto can be frozen for later- squeeze a thin layer of lemon juice or olive oil over the pesto ( with an inch of headroom) before freezing.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 tablespoons
- Calories: 133
- Sugar: 0.5 g
- Sodium: 76.4 mg
- Fat: 11.7 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 6.9 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 2.2 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Great pesto, I assumed your pepper quantity is 1/4 tsp even though it didn’t say.
Yes, thanks Sandy! Weird that no one said anything until now. 🙂
Easy and tasteful. I make more and freeze it so I always have on hands. Thanks!
Perfect! Glad you are enjoying!
Delicious! And so easy. Thank you
Glad you are enjoying!
OK, everyone needs to make this! I prepared it to go on the Eggplant Lasagna (amazing), but I’m going to be using this pesto on veggies, pork & chicken, and omelets. It is GOOD. Oh, and EASY & FAST!
Yay Janet- happy you enjoyed! I love this one too!
Delicious
Thanks so much!
Excellent. Your recipes never disappoint.
I added nutritional yeast for a cheese like flavor.
Perfect Joy!
Absolutely delicious vegan pesto – the smoked almonds are a must. We love pesto and make different ones – this one has become one of our favorites.
Glad you gave this a go!
I find it useful to blanch the basil for twenty seconds to preserve the color. I throw the arugula in the water too for convenience, but that’s clearly not necessary. I do this one with pistachios as well. Great recipe!
Thanks Naresh!
This was so good, thank you! I made it twice already!
Wonderful!
Hi
Love these sauces – do you have any that might use/spice that half bag of salad leaves always left in the fridge? Hate to waste anything!
Let me think about this Rosemary. What type of salad leaves?
Seriously, the best pesto EVER!!! Thank you!
thanks Vera!
yum
The only pesto recipe I ever use now. We have made this at least ten times, and it’s the main reason we grow so much basil and arugula. A couple times I have added 1 drop of liquid smoke because I couldn’t get smoked almonds. Love this and your chimichurri sauce too, even just with celery as a dip. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks so much! Glad you like this one!
This is INCREDIBLE on homemade tomato soup!
I am wondering if I can substitute cilantro for angular and use chopped walnuts instead of pine nuts. I”ll try this and let you know how this turns out. Thank you Sylvia! Your’s is my “go to” cooking website!
I think cilantro and walnuts would taste good- different form this, but tasty!
What can I substitute for fresh basil? It’s February – no fresh basil in sight. Can I substitute dried basil and increase the volume of fresh arugula leaves?
You could try but the fresh basil really makes it.
Hi, as a home gardener, I make a similar recipe using lettuce leaves (we often have a glut of one thing or another that I try to use up as best I can). A combo of lettuce, arugular, and celery leaves works great too.
By the way, arugular is called rocket in Australia!
Thanks for all your great recipes
This was fantastic. Great flavor and I didn’t miss the cheese at all. I chose to add a little more garlic, but it really didn’t need it. Thanks for the recipe!
Hello! Love your blog and recipes! Does the oil have to be light or would avocado oil work?
Avocado is fine as long is it not bitter.
I enjoy every recipe that I’ve tried from your blog!
Thanks so much Shelley!
Good morning Sylvia, I just want you to know that I am loving your blog and recipes! Several have become regulars but the problem is I have been putting on weight!!! I made your Indian Vegetarian Sheperd’s Pie 2 days ago and it was delicious. I never was a lentils fan, but I have found the path….thanks also for your inspirational quotes, Kathy
Thanks Kathleen!