Whole and Heavenly Oven

Where healthy meets indulgent

  • Home
  • Recipes
  • Videos
  • About Me
  • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Press
Spinach Basil Pesto

Spinach Basil Pesto

All Posts 8 Comments
February 11, 2014

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Reddit
  • Yummly
Jump to Recipe - Print Recipe

Smooth and creamy homemade pesto with lots of fresh spinach, basil, and Parmesan cheese. Easy recipe and ready in less than 5 minutes!

Spinach Basil Pesto

I am craving fresh fruits, veggies and basically anything cherry and colorful. Particularly on this cloudy, 10 degree mid-February day.

Spinach Basil Pesto

This is that annual time of year when I start getting anxious for warm temperatures, sunny skies, and COLOR. Right now the only color I see when I look outside is grey, grey, white, grey. Ick. Bring on spring and all the bright colors AND fresh recipes that come with it!

Spinach Basil Pesto

I’m diving into spring a little early this year—I just can’t wait any longer to bring out recipes loaded with fresh fruits, veggies, and COLOR! 

Spinach Basil Pesto

Pesto is a must on this particular day. I am crazy-in-love with pesto. I put it on everything. From salads, to pasta, and even pizza! 

♥ Here are my top favorite ways to use pesto ♥

  • On top of a green salad
  • On sandwiches
  • Used in the place of tomato sauce on pizza (don’t knock it ’til you try it! One of my favorite kinds of pizza!)
  • In pasta
  • Sauteed with fresh veggies
  • As a sauce for meat (we love it on baked chicken or salmon!)
  • Dipping sauce for veggies

Spinach Basil Pesto

My little photo-shoot buddy wanted to know what “that green stuff” was. ♥

Rachel

I think she’s kind of used to watching me photograph mainly sweet stuff. 

My entire family all agree that this is the best pesto I’ve ever made. It’s so smooth and creamy and packed with tons of fresh spinach and basil flavor, nutty Parmesan cheese and pine nuts, and just a pinch of fresh garlic for flavor. It far surpasses any store-bought pesto by a mile.

Spinach Basil Pesto

 It is also the easiest pesto recipe you will ever find. 7 super-basic ingredients: Fresh basil, fresh spinach, pine nuts (you could sub walnuts for the pine nuts) grated Parmesan cheese, fresh garlic, salt, and olive oil.

5 minutes is all the time you’ll need to make this pesto. ‘Heck the longest part is probably just getting out all the ingredients! Grab all your ingredients (except the olive oil!) and place them in your food processor.

Spinach Basil Pesto

Then pulse, pulse, pulse all the ingredients in your food processor while drizzling the olive oil in until pesto is smooth. (you may have to scrape down the sides once or twice)

Spinach Basil Pesto

‘Voila! 5 minutes later you have a gorgeous bright green pesto that puts any store-bought pesto to shame. I mean, who could resist these beautiful bright colors?? 

Spinach Basil Pesto

Pesto brightens up any day right?

Spinach Basil Pesto

Spinach Basil Pesto11

Spinach Basil Pesto
Save To Recipe Box Saved!
Print Pin

Spinach Basil Pesto

Smooth and creamy homemade pesto with lots of fresh spinach, basil, and Parmesan cheese. Easy recipe and ready in less than 5 minutes!
Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves
  • 1 cup loosely packed fresh spinach leaves
  • 1/2 cup pine nuts or walnuts
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup olive oil

Instructions

  • Place basil, spinach, pine nuts, Parmesan, garlic, and salt in a food processor. Process mixture, while slowly drizzling olive oil through top. Pulse pesto until smooth and creamy. Store in refrigerator until ready to use.

Notes

Store pesto in refrigerator up to 5 days. Pesto may also be frozen up to 2 months.
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment and rating below. Feel free to share a picture on Instagram and tag @wholeandheavenlyoven or hashtag it #wholeandheavenlyoven

Check out my other fresh and colorful recipes!

Chocolate-Glazed Banana Pound Cake

Chocolate-Glazed Banana Pound Cake

 

Iced Lemon Blueberry Muffins

Iced Lemon Blueberry Muffins

 

Peanut Butter Sandwiches With Chocolate Ganache Filling

Peanut Butter Sandwiches With Chocolate Ganache Filling

 

Blueberry Cornmeal Pancakes

Blueberry Cornmeal Pancakes

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Reddit
  • Yummly

Filed Under: All Posts, Appetizers, Recipes Tagged With: basil, cheese, condiments, fresh, garlic, Parmesan cheese, pesto, pine nuts, spinach, spring

Comments

  1. What Jessica Baked Next... says

    February 12, 2014 at 8:51 am

    Looks really delicious- never tried using spinach to make pesto! 🙂

    Reply
    • Sarah says

      February 12, 2014 at 9:02 am

      Thanks, Jessica! The spinach really does add a fantastic flavor to the pesto—it doesn’t even taste healthy! 😉

      Reply
  2. Allie | Baking a Moment says

    February 13, 2014 at 4:37 pm

    Love fresh pesto, especially on pizza! That’s totally my favorite. Yours is so pretty, I felt my spirits lift just seeing it on my screen!

    Reply
    • Sarah says

      February 13, 2014 at 5:38 pm

      Glad to know I’m not the only one who loves pesto on my pizza! Thanks so much, Allie!

      Reply
  3. Gloria // Simply Gloria says

    February 15, 2014 at 1:03 pm

    I love homemade pesto! I haven’t even made it in years. I’m needing to get on top of things and make this. Love how you styled the whole thing!

    Reply
    • Sarah says

      February 16, 2014 at 7:27 pm

      You’ve gotta try this pesto, Gloria! Soo worth the 5 minutes it takes! 😀

      Reply
  4. Heather {Woods of Bell Trees} says

    February 17, 2014 at 4:49 am

    Yes pesto brightens up the day for sure! Green never looked so yummy! I love that little white bowl that the pesto is in, too cute!

    Reply
    • Sarah says

      February 17, 2014 at 2:26 pm

      You’re too sweet, Heather! Thanks for stopping by! 😀

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Hey, I'm Sarah! The sweets-obsessed girl behind the blog. I believe a healthy lifestyle should be a balance between healthy AND indulgent food and I want to show you how! Read More >>

Subscribe By Email

To get all the latest delicious recipes
straight to your inbox

Looking for something delicious?

Recent Posts

  • Sheet Pan Lemon Dill Salmon with Baby Bok Choy

    Sheet Pan Lemon Dill Salmon with Baby Bok Choy

    April 19, 2021
  • Goat Cheese Grits with Garlic Butter Mushrooms and Spinach

    Goat Cheese Grits with Garlic Butter Mushrooms and Spinach

    April 15, 2021
  • Air Fryer Orange Chicken

    Air Fryer Orange Chicken

    April 12, 2021
  • Green Goddess Chicken Salad

    Green Goddess Chicken Salad

    April 8, 2021
  • Creamy Lemon Orzo with Smoked Salmon and Asparagus

    Creamy Lemon Orzo with Smoked Salmon and Asparagus

    April 5, 2021

archives

categories

search

Copyright ©2021, Whole and Heavenly Oven. All Rights Reserved. Custom design by Pixel Me Designs

Subscribe By Email

To get all the latest delicious recipes
straight to your inbox

[close]
Brought to you by
Displet