Spinach Almond Pesto Recipe

Made with a mixture of basil and spinach, and a handful of other easy to find ingredients, Spinach Basil Pesto is a delicious sauce to add to sandwiches, pasta and more! As an added bonus, this easy Spinach Almond Pesto recipe is ready in less than 10 minutes and absolutely delicious.

Love pesto? Try Pesto Pasta Recipe and Creamy Pesto Alfredo Recipe!

Oi, gente!

With a million and one ways to use it, this homemade pesto sauce is about to become your newest obsession. We always keep a jar in the fridge and you will, too!

Pesto is a classic sauce traditionally made with basil, pine nuts, grated cheese and oil.

In this rendition of the recipe, I use a mixture of spinach and basil. I also replace the pine nuts with almonds because the almonds provide great texture.

While most spinach pesto recipes completely replace the basil with spinach, I decided to do a mixture because in my opinion, you can’t taste much with just spinach. It yields mild and leafy flavor notes, and it just lacks the sweet notes and robust aroma of the basil.

Why add spinach then? The spinach helps bring out a brighter beautiful green color! And it’s cheaper than basil, so you can stretch out your coins a bit by using it.

Also, it’s a great way to hide veggies from your kids!

Check out these popular dressings recipes: Mango Salad Dressing / Creamy Avocado Salad Dressing / Brazilian Salsa Vinaigrette

This pesto recipe is easy to make and ready in just a few minutes.

All you have to do is throw everything in the food processor and ta-da! You’ll have yourself a beautiful green sauce you can use on literally everything, like proteins (such as chicken), sandwiches, pasta and even other sauces.

In fact, my favorite way to enjoy this recipe is to make this spinach pesto pasta. Just toss cooked pasta with the pesto, and dinner is ready in literally just a few minutes!

Speaking of pasta, you can even make a whole other sauce with this pesto as a base, like a creamy pesto Alfredo sauce.

What you need to make this recipe:

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Ingredients:

• Spinach — make sure it’s crispy fresh. Otherwise, it’s likely to be bitter.
• Fresh basil — straight from your herb garden or the grocery store. Like the spinach, it should be fresh and not wilted.
• Garlic — the kind from a bulb is what you want here because it’ll provide more flavor than the pre-chopped kind from the store.
• Parmesan cheese — grated or shredded both work.
• Whole roasted almonds — other nuts like walnuts also work great.
• Lemon — we need the zest and juice.
• Good olive oil — or another high quality neutral-tasting oil (extra virgin olive oil also works!)

Equipment:

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• Zester
• Food Processor
• Liquid measuring cup
• Jar to store the pesto in

How to customize this recipe:

One of the things I love about this easy spinach pesto recipe is how VERSATILE it is.

You can switch things up in this recipe to customize them to your own tastebuds! Swap out the almonds for other nuts, like walnuts or cashews. Or, try using smoked nuts, for a surprise, smoky flavor.

You can use other greens, too, like arugula for peppery, bitter notes.

And, you can even switch up the ratio of the spinach and basil to make it half and half. This will help amp up the basil flavor!

How to Make Pesto

Prep and measure all the ingredients.

Add measured ingredients to the food processor. Gently pulse until combined.

PRO TIP! We don’t want to blend this straight up because we do not want to heat the oil too much. Pulsing first eases this process in a way where you don’t have to rain in the oil later while you blend.

Then, blend until desired consistency.

Transfer from the food processor to a storage jar, and pop into the fridge until you’re ready to use.

How to serve pesto:

Pesto is great fresh in sandwiches, roasted vegetables, grilled meats and more. I love it on top of seared chicken breasts, and roasted salmon.

But, my favorite way to enjoy it is tossed with some pasta like in this Pesto Pasta recipe.

How to store pesto:

This recipe lasts 5-7 days in the fridge in an airtight container. Drizzle some extra olive oil on top of it before storing to prevent oxidation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Other sauces you’ll love:

• Cilantro Chimichurri Sauce
• Cachaça Cranberry Sauce

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