Vegan Kale Arugula Pesto
on May 18, 2020, Updated May 23, 2022
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No need for herbs in this vegan kale arugula pesto with lemon juice, walnuts and nutritional yeast. Use it on anything from pasta to pizza to roasted veggies.
I like to keep at least one hunk of Parmesan cheese in the fridge at all times.
The best way I’ve found to cut it and get super thin slices is to use a peeler.
Then I take those slivers and crumble them to finish off salads and pastas.
When I use my box grater on Parmesan, it’s for pesto.
The basil in my indoor hydroponic garden is just starting to really come in, but it’s not quite at the point of being enough to harvest for a full batch of pesto.
In the mean time I am reaching for other kinds of greens.
Parsley makes wonderful pesto, and you don’t always have to use something herby.
I love roasted tomato pesto, too.
For me, something counts as pesto if it involves a feature ingredient like herbs plus nuts, cheese and olive oil.
But that cheese component can come in other forms.
In this vegan kale arugula pesto, I swap out Parmesan and use nutritional yeast instead.
Nutritional yeast is yeast that’s grown to be food and not to leaven bread. During the process of manufacturing, the yeast is deactivated.
You usually can find it in the spice aisle at the grocery. Nutritional yeast is flaky and has a cheesy, nutty flavor.
How To Make Vegan Kale Arugula Pesto
This pesto is inspired by two of my favorite salad leaves: curly kale and arugula.
Kale makes up just over half the greens with arugula adding a peppery zip.
I start by mincing a few garlic cloves in a food processor.
Then I add the kale and arugula, lemon juice, walnuts, salt and pepper.
When everything is pretty well chopped, I pour olive oil through the feeder tube of the food processor with the motor running.
In less than a minute, my vegan kale arugula pesto is finished and ready to be stirred into or spread onto something.
Pesto Is For More Than Pasta
Pasta, with pizza as a close second, is the most obvious way to use pesto.
I also like this pesto brushed on roasted cauliflower right when it comes out of the oven.
You can stir pesto into a bowl of grains like quinoa, couscous or barley.
Vegan Kale Arugula Pesto
Ingredients
- 3 garlic cloves peeled
- 1-1/2 cups packed chopped kale
- 1 cup packed baby arugula
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
- 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/3 – 1/2 cup olive oil
Instructions
- Mince the garlic cloves in a food processor. Add the kale, arugula, lemon juice, walnuts, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper and finely chop. With the motor running, drizzle the olive oil through the feeder tube processing until the pesto is combined.
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Question – Do you think this pesto can be frozen? (This looks good & I have some arugula and kale that I want to use up) If not, how long will it last in the refrigerator? Thank you!
You can freeze pesto. I just made a batch today and put it half of it in a container in the freezer and the rest of it in the fridge. You can keep it in the fridge in a jar for 1-2 weeks.