5-Minute Basil Cashew Pesto

Name: 5 - Minute Basil Cashew Pesto
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Ingredients: 2 cups fresh basil, (packed); 1/3 cup cashews, (toasted); 2 cloves garlic, (roughly chopped); 1 tbsp lemon juice, (freshly squeezed); 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, (grated); 1/2 tsp sea salt; 1/2 cup olive oil, (extra virgin)

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Make your own pesto without pine nuts! Learn how to make basil cashew pesto in 5 minutes! Use it fresh or freeze it for later to use on pasta, zucchini noodles, roasted vegetables, sandwiches, grilled meats, fish or seafood. A versatile Italian sauce you'll want to put on everything!

A small white bowl filled with Basil Cashew Pesto with garlic and olive oil in the background

Looking to switch up your pesto game? This easy recipe for basil cashew pesto is nutty, fresh, and ready in just 5 minutes - and the best part is, it doesn't require pine nuts!

Use it right away or freeze it for later, and enjoy its versatility on pasta, zucchini noodles, sandwiches, roasted veggies, or your favourite meats, fish or seafood. This Italian sauce is so delicious, you'll want to put it on everything!

Creamy cashews replace pine nuts in this easy recipe for 5-minute basil cashew pesto. Traditional pesto is made with pine nuts, but here in North America, pine nuts have recently become exorbitantly expensive. I've discovered that cashews make an excellent substitute.

Making pesto without pine nuts has now become my favourite way to enjoy it!

❤️ Why you'll love this recipe

So quick! 5 minutes is all you'll need to pulse this in your food processor.
Make ahead! Make a batch, portion it into small jars or even ice cube trays and freeze for another day and another easy meal.
Versatile. Pesto has so many uses. It adds amazing flavour when you toss it with pasta, spread it on pizza, mix it with gnocchi, add it to Pesto Smashed Potatoes or toss it with tomatoes and mozza as in this Pesto Caprese Salad!

Like making your own homemade sauces and seasoning? See How to Make Chimichurri Sauce, Homemade Cherry Barbecue Sauce without Ketchup and many more in my How-To category.

🛒 Ingredients

You may wonder how a sauce with so much flavour has so few ingredients! Here's what you'll need to make this basil pesto with cashews.

basil: 2 big bunches of store-bought or about 2 packed cups of homegrown basil.
cashews: raw, unsalted. You'll toast them briefly to enhance their flavour.
Parmesan cheese: Freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese will give your pesto the most flavour and the best texture.
garlic: one or two cloves, depending on your taste
lemon juice: freshly squeezed lemon juice adds a bright note and helps to preserve the bright green colour of basil leaves once they're chopped.
sea salt
extra virgin olive oil

🔪 Step-by-Step Instructions to make pesto

Toast cashews in a dry skillet for a few minutes, just until lightly browned. Remove from the heat and let them cool a little. Toasting nuts enhances their flavour.

Add all ingredients except olive oil to the bowl of a food processor.

Toasted cashews in a skillet. — 1. Toast cashews to bring out their flavour.

Pesto ingredients in a food processor. — 1. Toast cashews to bring out their flavour.

Pulse until ingredients are finely chopped, stopping and scraping the sides of the bowl with a spatula, as necessary.

With the machine running, slowly pour olive oil through the chute until well combined. You're done!

Your pesto is now ready to use in your favourite recipes or freeze for later. It will last for up to a week in a covered jar in the fridge.

Basil pesto in a food processor bowl. — 3. Pulse ingredients, then add olive oil until well combined.

Basil pesto in ice cube trays. — 3. Pulse ingredients, then add olive oil until well combined.

🍽 Ways to serve pesto

The Italians know how to add a lot of flavour to a dish with a simple sauce! Pesto is so versatile and can be added to many different recipes.

Here are some suggestions for ways to enjoy this basil cashew pesto.

Use it in this recipe for Easy Vegetarian Pesto Gnocchi
Toss it with pasta, fresh tomatoes, garlic, olive oil and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese for an easy dinner.
Add dollops of pesto to your homemade pizza.
Drizzle it on roasted vegetables. It's delicious on these Pesto Smashed Potatoes.
Add a smear inside a sandwich.
Spread it on crostini, then top with goat cheese.
Serve it with grilled shrimp, prawns or chicken.
Add cooked salmon to zucchini noodles and toss it all with a generous amount of pesto.

❓Adding pesto to pasta the right way

What's the best way to add pesto to pasta?

It may seem trivial, but there is a right way and a wrong way to add pesto to pasta! Usually, when preparing a pasta dish you heat the sauce first, then add the cooked pasta to the sauce with a little of the pasta water to bring it all together. You boil it to thicken and coat the pasta, then correct the seasoning with a little butter, oil, salt and pepper or cheese.

When adding pesto to pasta, however, the worst thing you can do is cook it! Exposing pesto to high heat destroys that fresh raw taste that makes pesto so appealing.

Instead, cook your pasta as usual, transfer it to a serving bowl and add the pesto and a ladleful of pasta water. Toss it all together, add some grated Parmesan cheese if you like, and enjoy!

🔁 Possible Variations

Change the nuts: substitute almonds, walnuts or the traditional pine nuts for the cashews.

Keep it dairy-free and vegan: add 3 - 4 tablespoons of nutritional yeast instead of Parmesan cheese

Make it thinner: add a little water until you achieve the consistency you like.

Change the texture: leave it a little chunky, or process it longer to give it a smoother consistency.

🥶 How to freeze pesto sauce

Pesto sauce freezes well. Store it in your freezer to add to pasta, grilled potatoes or roasted vegetables.

Transfer the pesto to small glass or plastic containers, cover it with a lid and freeze. You can also freeze smaller amounts in ice cube trays. Once the pesto cubes are frozen, transfer them to a resealable freezer bag or an airtight container. It will last for 3 months or more.

Pesto cubes are just the right size to add to roasted vegetables. One 4-ounce jar of pesto sauce is the right amount to toss with pasta for two people.

This recipe makes about 2 cups of pesto.

🗒️ More healthy recipes with basil

Are you overloaded with garden basil? Here are a few ideas for ways to use it.

More recipes for homemade sauces and seasonings

When you make this basil pesto with cashews, please leave a comment and a star rating below. Thanks in advance! Subscribe to my newsletter and have new recipes delivered straight to your inbox.

This recipe was originally published in 2020. It has been updated with extra information to make it more helpful.

📖 Recipe