Basil Pesto Dressing

Basil Pesto Dressing is perfect for salad dressing or to add to pasta for a delicious and quick meal. This Basil Pesto Dressing made with fresh basil leaves, pine nuts, parmesan cheese, garlic, and extra virgin olive oil. This dressing will be ready in less than 10 minutes, using only five ingredients plus salt and pepper. Although store-bought pesto may be less expensive than a homemade one, the homemade pesto is fresher, more vibrant, and has a better taste and flavour.

If you grow your own basil like me, you will have plenty of basil that won't stay fresh for a long time. Making Basil Pesto Dressing is a good choice to use all the extra basil you have, then you can freeze and use it when needed.

What's in Basil Pesto Dressing?

Extra virgin olive oil: Use good quality olive oil.
Fresh basil leaves: Prepare the basil by removing the leaves from the stem.
Pine nuts: You can toast on a dry pan over medium heat for 2-3 minutes for a richer flavor. You can also replace them with walnuts if you like. 
Parmesan cheese: It helps in thickening the sauce and gives it a good flavour. For the best flavour, use freshly grated Parmesan.
Garlic: I use 3 cloves of garlic in making this recipe.
Salt and ground black pepper

How to make Basil Pesto Dressing?

Place all the fresh basil leaves, garlic, parmesan cheese, extra virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper in the blender or food processor and pulse several times. Scrape down the sides of the blender or food processor with a spatula, then pulse again. Keep pulsing until it’s a smooth, paste-like substance.

Put the pesto in a jar, cover it with its lid, then keep it in the fridge until needed.

How to make Creamy Pesto Salad Dressing?

To make creamy pesto salad dressing, mix the following:

• ½ cup plain yoghurt
• ¼ cup mayonnaise
• 3 tablespoons of basil pesto dressing
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar

Mix all the ingredients well, then pour over the salad.

Top Tips:

• You can sub half of the basil with rocket or fresh spinach leaves, which will make the basil stay vibrantly green and reduce its strong aromatic smell a bit.
• You can use hemp seeds instead of the pine nuts and make the pesto nuts free.
• Feel free to double or triple this recipe and freeze it to use later.
• This Basil Pesto Dressing will stay fresh in the fridge for three days.
• You can swap basil leaves for coriander leaves and pine nuts for cashews if you like.
• Make it a bit spicy and add a half pod of jalapeño.
• You can make your pesto thick or thin by adding more or less extra virgin olive oil.
• Top the pesto with some olive oil to form an oil seal which prevents the pesto from turning dark while keeping in the fridge.

Recipe Variations:

• Feel free to substitute pine nuts with walnuts.
• You can also substitute parmesan with Romano cheese which has a stronger flavour.
• Olive oil is the best choice for making pesto; however, avocado oil works well too.

Recipe FAQs:

Green or red pesto dressing?

Red pesto has the exact same ingredients as green pesto except for the tomatoes which makes it red and gives it a different taste. As for me, I prefer green pest.

How to freeze Basil Pesto Dressing?

Pesto freezes so well. To freeze it, divide the whole amount into half cups, then put them into freezer bags and freeze for 2-3 months. Or you can line an ice cube tray with plastic wrap, then fill the pesto in the ice pockets and freeze. After that, you can take frozen cubes out of the ice tray and put them in a freezer bag and keep them in the freezer.

Can I make this Basil Pesto Dressing vegan?

Yes, you can; simply swap nuts and parmesan cheese for 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice, and you will have a vegan, nut-free basil pesto dressing.

What is basil substates?

Although basil is the main and traditional ingredient in making pesto, you can have a different pesto flavour by replacing it with ANY of the following: Spinach, kale, coriander, mint, or rocket.

What to use Basil Pesto Dressing for?

There are endless ways to use Basil Pesto Dressing, such as:

• Make pesto pizza by topping the pizza with pesto dressing, or you can brush it on the pizza base.
• Make pesto dip by adding mixing half a cup of cream cheese with 2 tablespoons of basil pesto.
• Add it to roasted veggies.
• Spread it on a wrap to fill it with grilled chicken.
• Make pesto pasta by tossing a cooked pasta into this basil pesto dressing.
• You can add it to a soup, such as a bean soup.
• Add it to mashed potatoes; it makes the potatoes so delicious and flavourful.
• Make a Mediterranean tuna salad by mix basil pesto with tuna and some cheery tomatoes.
• Top it on your morning omelette with some avocado chunks.

If you like Basil Pesto Dressing, check out these salad dishes that would taste so good with pesto dressing!

Grilled chicken salad
Italian pasta salad
Lemon garlic potato salad

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