Simply divine sun dried tomato pesto made with simple ingredients. Fantastic on bread or pizza or tossed up with some pasta.
I am in love with this pesto recipe! It’s so simple and so good. In fact I’d go so far as to say it’s addictively good.
You will be looking for ways to use up this pesto. And it’s not hard at all to find them because it’s super versatile.
And if you’re a pesto fan then also check out our classic vegan pesto recipe as well as our vegan pesto pasta!
How To Make Sun Dried Tomato Pesto
- It’s really so easy to make.
- First you just want to lightly roast your pine nuts for 5 minutes in a frying pan, just until they’re lightly browned.
- Then add them to a food processor along with some sundried tomatoes, olive oil, crushed garlic, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, fresh basil leaves, salt and pepper and process until smooth.
- And voilà your pesto is ready!
The Sun Dried Tomatoes!
The best kind of sun dried tomatoes to use for this pesto are the ones in oil. You can let the excess oil drain off of them before using them, but they are juicy and flavorful and work great in this recipe.
Roasting the Pine Nuts
Roasting the pine nuts first in this recipe really adds a wonderful depth of flavor to your pesto. However, I have made pesto before without this step, so if you’re in a big hurry you can omit it. It is highly recommended though and only takes a few minutes extra.
How To Serve Sun Dried Tomato Pesto
It is divine tossed up with pasta, and any type of pasta goes wonderfully well with this pesto!
It is also divine spread onto toasted ciabatta or any toasted bread, or use it as a dip or spread it onto your pizza.
Storing and Freezing
Keep your pesto stored in an airtight container in the fridge where it will stay good for up to a week.
It is also freezer friendly for up to 3 months if you’d like to freeze it.
More Vegan Italian Recipes
Sun Dried Tomato Pesto
Ingredients
- 1 cup Pine Nuts (136g)
- 1 cup Sun Dried Tomatoes (210g)
- 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 tsp Crushed Garlic
- 2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
- ⅓ cup Nutritional Yeast (20g)
- ¼ cup Fresh Basil Leaves Packed
- ½ tsp Sea Salt
- ¼ tsp Ground Black Pepper
Instructions
- Add your pine nuts to a frying pan and roast (no oil needed, just a dry pan) for around 5 minutes, turning them over regularly until they are lightly browned.
- Then add the roasted pine nuts to a food processor along with the sun dried tomatoes, olive oil, crushed garlic, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, fresh basil leaves, salt and pepper and process until well mixed.
- Serve right away or store in a jar in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Roasting the pine nuts adds a lovely depth of flavor to this recipe, however, if you're short on time you can skip this step and just use the pine nuts without roasting them first.
- Sun dried tomatoes in oil are best for this recipe, just let most of the oil drain off before using them.
- This recipe makes around 1 and ½ cups of pesto.
I just made this, and it’s amazing. Stuck my finger in the jar to test it, I can’t wait to smother pasta in it later, it tastes divine, better than any jar I’ve ever tried. I don’t even miss the parmesan!
That is so awesome Claire! Thanks so much for posting!
What can be used in place of pine nuts?
You could try walnuts.
Woah! Another 5 star review from me. I’ve never made pesto before but I think the toasted pine nuts really give it that extra dimension. I didn’t have fresh basil so I looked at other online vegan recipes when I read that spinach can be a good substitute. I then returned to the “mother ship” that is lovingitvegan and made yours with a little spinach instead of basil. I am going to grow some organic basil soon so will try again with basil. Thank you!
Hahaha ‘the mothership’ I love that! So pleased you enjoyed the pesto! Thanks a million Satin!