This simple and Easy Vegan Pesto recipe is fresh, oil-free, just 6 ingredients and takes just a few minutes to prepare. Healthy and wholesome with lots of fresh basil and pine nuts!
EASY VEGAN PESTO
I have always loved pesto. I love it even more with it is a healthy pesto, as well as being extremely simple and easy to make with only a few ingredients. This easy vegan pesto is oil-free, unlike traditional pesto, which has crazy amounts of oil.
This recipe comes from Emily Von Euw and her cookbook, The Rawsome Vegan Cookbook. As Emily describes it, “A balance of Raw and Lightly-cooked, Gluten-free, Plant-based Meal for Healthy Living”.
Emily’s blog, This Rawsome Vegan Life, is extremely successful and even though she is known for raw food, I love that this book has a ton of cooked recipes. I do not follow a raw diet, so this fits more into my daily lifestyle and eating. Emily is also known for her simplicity, which you all know I love and focus on as well with my own recipes.
Her book contains over 80 recipes, all accompanied with a beautiful photo, and very easy meals. They are all heavily focused on the simplicity and beauty of veggies. The meals are light, not heavy, so they won’t weigh you down. There are a ton of completely raw recipes and also a lot of lightly-cooked recipes. If you check out Emily on Instagram, you can get a pretty good idea of the type of food you would see in her cookbook! Light, fresh, easy and simple.
I was immediately drawn to this oil-free vegan pesto that I’m sharing with you today because I loved how easy it was and I LOVE basil. Oh, and I LOVE pasta and wanted something more on the filling side. This has a strong flavor from all of the fresh basil and bold flavor of pine nuts.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED
- Fresh basil
- Pine nuts
- Garlic
- Pasta: I used gluten-free penne, but use whatever you like.
- Grape tomatoes
- Nutritional yeast
- Lemon juice
HOW TO MAKE VEGAN PESTO OIL FREE
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Cut all the tomatoes in half and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until they are bubbling and slightly wrinkled.
Step 2: Cook pasta according to the package directions.
Step 3: To make the pesto: blend all the ingredients until you reach the desired consistency. I wanted mine completely smooth. As noted above, I also added lemon juice and nutritional yeast. Add more salt if needed
Step 4: Toss pasta with the pesto and serve with the roasted tomatoes.
MORE VEGAN OIL FREE SAUCES
- Vegan Chimichurri Sauce
- Poblano Pepper Cream Sauce
- Texas BBQ Sauce
- Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
- Vegan Lemon Sauce
- Best Vegan Alfredo Sauce
- Creamy Chili Sauce with Pasta
Emily is allowing me to share this beautiful recipe for her cookbook with you all today! You can purchase a copy of her cookbook here!
Easy Vegan Pesto (Oil-free!)
Ingredients
- 1 dry pint (275g) grape tomatoes
- 2 cups (232g) uncooked whole grain, gluten-free penne pasta
- 2 cups (48g) lightly packed basil leaves
- 1/4 cup (60g) water
- 1/2 cup pine nuts
- 1 garlic clove
- 1/4 teaspoon himalayan salt
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1/2 a lemon, or as much as you'd like, to taste
- I use this scale.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Cut all the tomatoes in half and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until they are bubbling and slightly wrinkled.
- Cook the pasta according the package directions.
- To make the pesto: blend all the ingredients until you reach the desired consistency. I wanted mine completely smooth. As noted above, I also added lemon juice and nutritional yeast. Add more salt if needed.
- Toss the pesto with the cooked pasta and garnish with extra basil and serve with the roasted tomatoes.
Notes
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Oooh… I love Emily’s recipes and photography heaps. I think you’ve done her recipe justice — beautiful dish <3
I am so loving this book too. I don’t follow a raw diet, but I sure love to incorporate raw foods – this is the best of both!
Love the tomatoes with the pesto, I’d never think of it but totally want to try it. You make it look absolutely delicious! 🙂
My fave raw dessert is anything blended with nuts and dates. Like quality cocoa powder, sea salt, Oats and cinnamon.
I am very excited about this! I’ve been following Emily for years and they have grown to be such an amazing person! I couldn’t be happier or prouder and own their 2 other cookbooks!
Adding this penne pesto to the queue for recipes to make! My favorite raw recipe is a creamy vegan caesar dressing. Just throw a handful of ingredients in the blender – so easy but so flavorful!
Yum, this cookbook sounds great! I am totally with you, I prefer cookbooks that have meals for the whole family, rather than desserts and snacks etc 🙂 Love the sound of this pasta, yum! My favourite thing to eat raw is salads, simple but delicious
Salads are my favorite!:)
I love Emily’s recipes. They always look so beautiful and tasty! 🙂
Congrats to Emily on her new book. I absolutely love pesto. Thanks for the delicious recipe! 🙂
I’d have to say that smoothies would be my favorite. =)
Raw Desserts, esp raw carrot cake!!
I love raw desserts. I don’t make them very often, but I’m a fan of raw cashew-based cheesecakes.
Thank you so much Hauke! That is just a decor fabric, not a legit table napkin, haha!
My favorite recipes are baked ones & raw desserts because baking is a skill that I just cannot wrap my head around. It still feels like magic to me! I don’t need recipes to cook & am a full house of inspiration upon opening the fridge for dinner, but baking still stumps me! (Mostly because I don’t measure anything…. maybe that has something to do with it :P)
Really easy and tastes great! I definitely recommend the lemon juice and nutritional yeast addition!
Awesome Lis! Yes, I agree. Her base recipe is good but I prefer more flavor so that’s why I recommended those additions!
Thank you for posting this no oil pesto recipe! My basil plant is now a Bush and anxious to make my own pesto without all that oil other recipes call for.
Oh yay, hope you love it!
Any idea on the calories ect
Perfect! My family loved it.
Awesome Kari!
The pesto is so flavorful I could eat it everyday!
As always, this recipe was simple, tasty, and healthy.