This is the only pesto recipe you'll ever need! Seriously. I've been making and sharing this spinach pesto recipe for my entire adult life, and it never disappoints! Simple, classic and absolutely delicious...all made in our Vitamix!
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This spinach pesto recipe is influenced by my mom's 1970-something edition of Better Home Recipe Binder. I'm telling you...this recipe book guided my early cooking all the way through today. I'm definitely not trying to reinvent the wheel here, but this has become my go-to pesto for life.
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💚 Why is This Spinach Pesto the Best?
- Healthier than other pestos - spinach adds extra nutrients, for sure!
- Easy & fast - takes less than 10 minutes with hardly any prep and just our Vitamix. Only one step!
- Great for kids - in my experience kids love this spinach pesto recipe and are eager to help make it!
- So flexible - loads of substitute options!
- So many uses! Pesto can be used on a pizza, on top of your favorite protein, or as a spread on sandwiches.
Note: If you love homemade pizza, try our Homemade Whole Wheat Pepperoni Pizza and swap the marinara for this spinach pesto!
🛒 Ingredients
Notes & Substitutions
Greens - I do equal parts spinach, basil and parsley, but you can play with this ratio. Kale and arugula also work as substitute greens.
Nuts - Pine nuts are the typical choice, but walnuts, cashews, almonds, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds work too!
Cheese - I always use the good ol' Kraft parmesan standby "shaky cheese" (or generic version), but any parmesan or pecorino will work. Sub with nutritional yeast to make the pesto vegan.
Olive oil - Use a great olive oil if you can, preferably EVOO, either Italian or Spanish, stored in a dark glass bottle. I really love Carapelli olive oil (note - a different oil is pictured above because I ran out of Carapelli at the time).
👩🍳 How to Make This Spinach Pesto Recipe
Combine ingredients and blend!
Making this spinach pesto recipe couldn't be easier. Just put everything in a food processor, blender or Vitamix, and blend. Add olive oil and water slowly as you blend. And pause the machine a few times to scrape down the sides of container with a spatula. Voilà, Vitamix Pesto!
Add the greens.
Add parmesan.
Now blend! Presto, Pesto!
Making Spinach Pesto with Kids
Prep: kids can help to snip any of the greens apart using these fun Kuhn Rikon duck snippers.
Counting/measuring! A tiny math lesson you can sneak into this is explaining fractions (via measuring cup sizes). And because it's a very short lesson using tangible things, your kid might actually listen and be interested. Admittedly, mine was more interested in math when we were making cookies, haha.
Blending! Blending kind of seems like magic, right?! Once your child measures out each ingredient and pours into your food processor/blender/Vitamix, they can have the ultimate honor of pressing the 'Start' button!
✅ Expert Tips and Tricks
- Feel free to adjust the ingredients. Increase or decrease anything in this spinach pesto recipe according to your preferences or to taste as you're making the pesto. It's really hard to go wrong!
- Get a good olive oil. If you can splurge a bit on any one ingredient, choose a great olive oil, preferably EVOO, either Italian or Spanish, stored in a dark glass bottle. The amount is up to you; I just keep pouring it in (along with the water) until there's enough liquid for the pesto to blend evenly.
- There are loads of ingredient swap options. You can use almonds, walnuts or cashews instead of pine nuts. You can sub in more water for the oil, if you're looking to cut down on the fat content. For greens, you can use spinach, basil, parsley, arugula, kale or even mint.
- If you're making pesto pasta, set aside a cup of the pasta water after the pasta has been cooked; use this pasta water for the spinach pesto.
- Make it vegan by replacing the parmesan cheese with 2 Tablespoons of nutritional yeast.
🥄Serving
Our spinach pesto recipe will add so much flavor to various meals or snacks. Specifically, it can be used for:
- Pasta dishes- like in our Simple Pesto Pasta recipe .
- Spreading on bread- like bruschetta or garlic bread.
- Dips - for chips, crackers, veggies and more!
- Veggie bowls- mixed with quinoa and roasted veggies for the perfect healthy snack.
- Sandwiches- as spreads on caprese paninis or other lunch favorites.
- Drizzles- on kabobs, skirt steak, shrimp, salmon or other grilled proteins.
🧊 Storing and Freezing
Storing: Spinach pesto should last a week at most in the fridge, in an airtight container. If you add a thin layer of olive oil on top, the pesto will stay fresher.
Freezing: To freeze, pour pesto into an ice cube tray. Once frozen, pop the pesto ice cubes out, put in a sealed Ziplock bag, and store in freezer.
❓FAQs
Yes! You can make pesto with spinach...or basil, parsley, kale, arugula and even mint. Use up any greens or fresh herbs of yours that are about to go bad. It's hard to mess this up!
You don't need pine nuts to make this spinach pesto recipe. Walnuts, cashews, almonds, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds are all delicious in pesto, as well!
Pesto is normally made with all whole foods. To make your pesto healthier, you can replace some of the oil with water (pasta water if you're making pasta), use spinach as one of the greens, and swap some (or all) of the cheese with nutritional yeast.
If you add a thin layer of olive oil on top, the pesto will stay fresher for longer and will be less likely to brown while being stored!
🧶 Craft for this Recipe
Play Food Olive Oil Bottle! If your kids like to play restaurant or chef, this is the perfect craft. Take an empty glue bottle and turn into an adorable olive oil bottle! You'll feel better recycling the bottle and your kid will have a new item for the play pretend kitchen time!
🍽 If You Love Spinach...
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🌱 The Best Spinach Pesto Recipe
Equipment
- Vitamix or blender
Ingredients
- ½ cup spinach packed firmly
- ½ cup fresh basil leaves packed firmly
- ½ cup fresh parsley packed firmly
- ½ cup parmesan cheese finely grated
- ¼ cup pine nuts
- 1-2 cloves garlic quartered
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup olive oil add more, as needed
- ¼ - ½ cup water if you're making pasta, set aside some of the pasta water for this
Instructions
- Combine greens, cheese, nuts, garlic, salt and a small amount of the olive oil into a Vitamix or blender. Blend for a few intervals, stopping to scrape sides down with spatula in between. Turn machine on low and gradually add in remaining olive oil and water, increasing speed slowly. Again, stop to scrape the sides as needed.
Notes
Nutrition
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet. While we are not certified nutritionists, we work with a Wordpress-integrated nutrition API to calculate our recipes' ingredient values.
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