This spinach pesto is my favorite because it's so easy to make with basic ingredients. I use almond butter in place of pine nuts, add spinach to get my greens in, and leave out the cheese because it tastes great without it. It's vegan, Whole30, and Paleo, and it's so easy and good.
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Why We Love This Pesto
- No fancy ingredients: This is a pesto recipe without pine nuts, so you don't have to buy anything fancy or expensive to make it. I use almond butter in place of pine nuts, which is something I already have in my pantry.
- It's easy: This recipe is as simple as throwing the ingredients in a food processor.
- It's delicious: I pull out this recipe at least once a week in the summer. It's so fresh and delicious and pairs well with anything.
Looking for a nut-free pesto? Try our nut-free pesto.
Key Ingredients and Substitutions
Fresh spinach: We use baby spinach, but any fresh spinach will do.
Almond butter: This takes the place of pine nuts in traditional pesto recipes, which are quite expensive. We always have almond butter on hand, so we can just pull it out of the pantry to make this pesto. Mixed nut butter is a good substitute.
Extra virgin olive oil: A good quality olive oil makes all the difference.
Garlic: Use fresh garlic for best results.
Lemon juice: You guessed it—fresh is best.
See recipe card for full ingredient list.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Combine all of the ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.
Step 2: Store in a jar or air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 6 months. Enjoy this spinach pesto over pasta, chicken, salmon, or whatever you'd like!
Meal Ideas
We love using this spinach pesto in several of our recipes. If you're looking for meal ideas, try these:
- Pesto butter salmon
- Pesto turkey wraps
- Creamy pesto pasta with chicken
- Hearts of palm pasta with pesto and chicken
- Pesto caprese pasta salad
- Pesto salmon
Frequently asked questions
Of course! If you're not vegan/Whole30/paleo, feel free to add cheese! I'd recommend good quality parmesan or pecorino Romano. Just add it to the food processor with the other ingredients or mix in finely grated cheese at the end.
Yes! I've also tested mixed nut butter, which usually includes some combination of almonds, cashews, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, or flax seeds. We love the Kirkland Mixed Nut Butter at Costco. Trader Joe's has a great mixed nut butter too. I haven't tested other nut or seed butters, but I'm sure this would also be great with cashew butter, sunflower seed butter, etc. If you try other substitutes, let us know how it was in the comments!
You can! I've tried this without the almond butter, and it's still good. Simply make the recipe as written, but exclude the almond butter. If the pesto is too runny for you, add more spinach.
📖 Recipe
Spinach Pesto
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 1.5 cups 1x
Description
This spinach pesto is my favorite because it's so easy to make with basic ingredients. I use almond butter in place of pine nuts, add spinach to get my greens in, and leave out the cheese because it tastes great without it. It's vegan, Whole30, and Paleo, and it's so easy and good.
Ingredients
4 cups spinach, packed into a measuring cup
½ cup fresh basil, packed into a measuring cup
6 tablespoons olive oil
6 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons almond butter
1 teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
Instructions
- Combine all of the ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.
- Store in a jar or air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 6 months. Enjoy this spinach pesto over pasta, chicken, salmon, or whatever you'd like!
Notes
- If you'd like to add cheese, I'd recommend good quality parmesan or pecorino Romano. Just add it to the food processor with the other ingredients to taste.
- To make this recipe nut free, prepare the recipe as written, but exclude the almond butter. If the pesto is too runny for you, add more spinach.
- See our "Meal Ideas" above for recipes to use this pesto in.
- Nutritional information is only an estimate.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Sauces
Nutrition
- Serving Size: ¼ cup
- Calories: 165
- Sugar: 0.5 g
- Sodium: 210.7 mg
- Fat: 17.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 3.4 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Sharie S. says
I had some spinach and basil I used from my garden and this recipe worked perfect! I used mixed nut butter because I didn’t have almond but it still turned out great!
Michael says
One of my favorite pestos!