Spinach Pesto (Vegan) – No Nuts! No Basil! Easy and Delicious

I’ve been trying to add more healthy vegetable dishes to my diet lately. I do love spinach but I was never a fan of cooked spinach as a side dish. I’ve always loved pesto but I find that the basil can be overpowering, so I came up with this recipe for Spinach Pesto! I do NOT like the taste of pine nuts so I decided to omit nuts altogether. No cheese either! I call it a pesto but I guess you can call it a spinach sauce!

Ingredients

There are only 6 ingredients in this recipe. Spinach, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and white wine which is optional. I add white wine, not only for the flavor but also to add more liquid to the pesto. I like my pesto RUNNY! I know…pesto isn’t supposed to be runny is it? It’s also not supposed to be basil-free, nut-free and Parmesan-free! But I like to live dangerously! ☺ If you like your pesto thicker, omit any excess liquid, cut down the olive oil, and maybe add some more spinach.

How To Measure 2 Cups of Spinach?

How do you measure 2 cups of spinach? Get yourself a 2-cup measuring cup and pack in the spinach. Some folks make the mistake of just dropping the spinach leaves into the measuring cup, you really have to pack it in or you won’t have a good consistency. I don’t think that frozen spinach would work with this recipe – it might make the pesto too soggy.

There is so little preparation for this pesto! Just rinse your spinach, chop your garlic, and put everything into the blender. Add all ingredients, but keep about half of the olive oil aside. Once the ingredients start to combine well, you can drizzle the remaining olive oil into the blender as you blend the pesto on the low setting. This way you can control the amount of liquid you’re adding to your pesto.

Wasn’t that easy? This is such a savory pesto that you can use as a dipping sauce, on pasta, or on fish (if you eat fish)! It will stay fresh for just a few days in the fridge, so eat up and enjoy!

Spinach Pesto (Vegan) – No Nuts! No Basil! Easy and Delicious

Recipe by Rain Frances

Servings

0.75

cups

Prep time

10

minutes

Delicious, quick and easy vegan, no-nut and basil-free spinach pesto.

Ingredients

• 2 cups (94 grams) fresh spinach

• 1/3 cup (65 ml) olive oil, divided

• 2 tsp (10 ml) lemon juice

• 4 cloves of garlic, chopped

• Splash of white wine (optional)

• Pinch of salt

Directions

• Place everything into the blender, keeping about half of the olive oil aside. Blend it all up, scraping down the sides if needed.
• Blend on low and drizzle in the rest of the olive oil.
• That’s it! It’s ready to eat or to heat up on the stovetop!

Recipe Video Instructions

Notes

• If you prefer your pesto a little thicker, omit the white wine and reduce the amount of olive oil.
• This pesto will keep in the fridge for a few days.
• This pesto is great for dipping bread, as a pasta sauce or drizzled over my Foil Baked Trout!