Our easy recipe for Kale Pesto takes just five minutes to prepare and is perfect for so many different applications! From pasta, sandwiches, eggs, seafood, and more, keep a container of this versatile homemade pesto in your fridge for a quick dinner!
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Our easy Kale Pesto recipe is a bold, herbaceous twist on traditional basil pesto. It blends nutrient-rich kale with parsley, garlic, lemon juice, and a mix of oils for a balanced, creamy sauce. Thanks to avocado oil and olive oil, the texture is smooth and spreadable, with just the right amount of richness. Ready in under 10 minutes, it’s a versatile sauce you can use throughout the week.
The recipe uses raw kale and parsley as the base, which gives it a fresh, slightly grassy flavor that mellows out once blended with garlic, lemon, and oil. Nutritional yeast helps mimic the flavor of cheese without dairy, and the optional white miso paste deepens the whole recipe.
How to make homemade kale pesto
First, gather your ingredients.
Ingredients
For best taste, always use the highest quality ingredients you have access to.
To make this kale pesto recipe, you will need the following ingredients:
- Kale
- Parsley
- Pine Nuts
- Nutritional Yeast
- White Miso Paste
- Garlic Cloves
- Lemon Juice
- Kosher Salt
- Black Pepper
- Avocado Oil
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
If you don’t want to use pine nuts, you can use sunflower seeds, walnuts, or cashews, which all work well as affordable, tasty substitutes.
You can skip the miso if you prefer, but I recommend adding a bit more salt or lemon juice to compensate.
Making kale pesto
Kale Pesto is a simple recipe that can be made in just a few steps. Here is how to make it.
First, add the kale to the food processor.
Next, pulse a few times to break up the kale.
Now, add the rest of the ingredients besides the oil to the food processor.
Pulse on high until a creamy green paste forms.
Next, drizzle the oil slowly into the food processor while it is running.
After all of the oil is incorporated, you’re done and the pesto is ready!
Leftovers
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Always use common sense and good judgment when it comes to leftovers, though! If something looks or smells funky, don’t eat it.
I hope y’all enjoy this kale pesto recipe! Let me know if you try it.
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Kale Pesto Recipe
Simple, delicious, homemade kale pesto can be made in just five minutes and tastes delicious!
Ingredients
- 3 cups fresh torn kale no stems (about 1 large bunch)
- 1 cup fresh parsley stems removed (about 1 bunch)
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
- 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon white miso paste optional but recommended
- 2 cloves garlic
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice juice of approx. 1 large lemon
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup avocado oil
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- To a food processor, add the kale, parsley, pine nuts, nutritional yeast, miso paste, garlic, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and avocado oil. Pulse on high speed until a creamy green mixture forms.
- Slowly stream in the olive oil while pulsing the food processor, just until combined.
- If the pesto is too thick, thin it out by adding in 1 tablespoon of water at a time, pulsing just until combined. You can also add starchy pasta cooking water at this point if you’re planning to mix the pesto with pasta afterward.
- Taste and add more salt or lemon juice if needed.
Recipe Notes
- During step 1, the food processor will look very packed (and nearly overflowing with kale), but as the kale gets broken down it will turn into a creamy pesto nearly 1⁄4 of the volume.
- Once the pesto is ready, easily toss it with freshly cooked pasta! If the pesto isn’t adhering nicely to the pasta, add 1⁄2 cup of the starchy pasta water to the mixture and mix on low heat until the pasta is well coated.
- You can alternatively add cold pesto to cold pasta for a chilled pasta salad vibe!
- I always use Diamond Crystal Kosher salt. This recipe will not work the same with Morton Salt (highly advise against for measurement purposes).
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