This Avocado Pesto Sauce is like a mixture of guacamole and pesto and it goes well on so many things! Full of good fats and lots of flavor!
You guys, this Avocado Pesto Recipe is like heaven in your mouth 🙂 Seriously! After I made this Avocado Pesto Sauce, Eli grabbed the food processor off the counter and started eating it with a spoon. I do have a pasta recipe to share that uses this avocado pesto on Thursday, but it really is spoon worthy!
Now, I have to say that this is NOT a low fat recipe. It contains avocados, cashews and olive oil (which can be subbed for water). But, these are all healthy fats so it’s not quite as bad as it sounds. You still don’t want to go overboard and eat the entire batch in one sitting (which is easy to do!) but they’re all heart healthy fats that can help lower bad cholesterol.
How to Make Avocado Pesto Sauce:
- This is one of the easiest and quickest recipes ever! All you do is throw all your ingredients into a blender and blend until creamy. You really can’t mess it up too much 🙂
- Although this is an Avocado Basil Pesto Recipe, you could sub any other herb you like for the basil. I’m thinking that cilantro would be a really great alternative!
- Picking the Perfect Avocado: You want to make sure you have the perfect avocados for this recipe. You want to find an avocado that is dark green and firm to the touch but has a little bit of give when you push on it. An under-ripe avocado will be really hard and kind of bitter tasting and an over-ripe avocado will be mushy to the touch with brown spots on the inside and will taste kind of old and moldy.
What to use this Avocado Pesto Sauce Recipe on:
- I originally used this sauce in these Avocado Pesto Quesadillas and it was really great! The only caution I have is that warm avocado doesn’t taste very good so I would avoid cooking the pesto (I.e. baking on a pizza or putting on really hot pasta) but it seemed to work well on the quesadillas since you don’t cook them for very long.
- Zoodles or other veggie noodles are so great to use with this avocado basil pesto! I would recommend veggie noodles that can be eaten raw or don’t require too much cooking, like zoodles or cucumber noodles. I have an Avocado Pesto Pasta recipe using zoodles and regular pasta coming on Thursday!
- This would be great on regular pasta as well, but as I said above, I’d let the noodles cool a little bit before adding it so the heat from the pasta doesn’t give the avocado a strange taste.
- I have a Guacamole Pita Pizza recipe that would be amazing with avocado pesto subbed for the regular guacamole!
- This pesto would be really great on avocado toast instead of just regular old avocado!
Recipe tips for Avocado Pesto Sauce:
- I used cashews but you can use any nut you like. Nuts can either be raw or roasted, it’s up to you. I used roasted cashews.
- I make a Vegan Avocado Pesto Recipe by not adding any parmesan cheese but you could add some if you wanted. I feel that it’s creamy enough with the avocado and the cashews but if you want the flavor from the parmesan, go for it!
- For the liquid in the recipe you could use either olive oil (or avocado oil) or water. The water will obviously add less fat to the recipe but the oil will give I a richer flavor. I’ve made it with both and enjoy it either way.
- You don’t want to store this Avocado Basil Pesto in the refrigerator for too long because it will turn brown. I’d recommend using it immediately but if you have to store it in the refrigerator you can place plastic warp over it to where the plastic wrap is touching the top of the pesto and that will keep it from turning brown as quickly.
Avocado Pesto
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 1 cup 1x
Description
This Vegan Avocado Pesto Sauce is so creamy and delicious! Add it to your favorite pasta for a quick and easy dinner recipe!
Ingredients
- 1 large avocado, pitted and scooped out
- 1 handful basil leaves, about 1/2 cup
- 1/4 cup chopped cashews
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoons olive oil or water
Instructions
- Add all ingredients into a food processor and blend until creamy.
- I suggest enjoying immediately but you can also store it in the refrigerator with plastic wrap pressed against the top to stop from browning.
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Category: Condiment, Sauce
- Method: Food Processor
- Cuisine: American
So good right….one of my favourites too.
So good!