Homemade Pesto

Name: Homemade Pesto
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 10 min
Ingredients: 2 Cloves garlic; 150 ml extra virgin olive oil; 80 grams basil leaves; 50 grams finely grated parmesan cheese; 50 grams pine nuts

Steve DeaconDecember 1, 20183 min read

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Prep 5 mins

Cook 5 mins

Total 10 mins

Serves 2 jars

Calories 937 kcal

Table of Contents

Updated: July 12, 2026

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Homemade pesto is so simple to make and wonderfully delicious. The taste of Italy right in your own kitchen.

Pesto is such a versatile ingredient your fridge should never be without a jar. In a hurry? Then add a spoonful of homemade pesto to some pasta or gnocchi. Want to make a healthy lunch? Put a spoonful to a rocket and sun-dried tomato salad. Want to impress at dinner? Add a few breadcrumbs to the homemade pesto and use it as a crust on some baked salmon. Yummy!

But how to make it? It’s so easy. Just 5 ingredients and a food processor. Basil, pine nuts, parmesan cheese, garlic, and extra virgin olive oil.

I’ll show you how…

1. Get the ingredients together

As always, get all the ingredients together before any cooking. In fact, to make this healthy homemade pesto there is no real actual cooking involved. Just dry roasting the nuts and blending the ingredients together to make the pesto. You can then use it later for many different dishes depending on what you fancy on that evening.

bring together all raw ingredients. The basil, pine nuts, parmesan cheese, garlic, and extra virgin olive oil.

2. Dry roast the pine nuts

Firstly, add the pine nuts to a dry frying pan and heat through until they start to turn golden. This does not take long and they can easily burn so keep tossing the nuts.

3. Blend the ingredients

With the pine nuts dry roasted take these and the rest of the ingredients, less the extra virgin olive oil, and put them in a food processor. Note that I ten to remove the large stalks from the basil but this is optional.

The blitz all of the ingredients whilst adding the oil. What should result is a fine oil pesto sauce.

If you wish, you can now season to check the taste but I find the pine nuts have added salt anyway and any more seasoning is superfluous to requirements.

I always add the pesto to sealable little jars and the fresh homemade pesto will last 5-7 days in the fridge.

OK, that’s it for this one Foodie Friends. A quick post today but a wonderful fresh recipe. As said above, this is such a versatile dish. It can be used for many different recipes. Pasta, fish, lamb, salad etc. etc. I hope you enjoy!

As always, many thanks for reading and until next time…Steve.

The Yum Yum Club · Kitchen Tested Recipe

Homemade Pesto

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Ingredients

2 jars

2 Cloves garlic
150 ml extra virgin olive oil
80 grams basil leaves
50 grams finely grated parmesan cheese
50 grams pine nuts

Nutrition Facts

Per Serving: 1 jar

Calories 937

Total Fat 95.5g

Carbohydrates 9g

Protein 15.9g

Nutrition values are estimates calculated per serving from the ingredient list.

Instructions

1
Firstly, pull all of the ingredients together.
2
Next, dry roast the pine nuts until golden brown.
3
Once the pine nuts are dry roasted add all of the dry ingredients into a blender.
4
Add the extra virgin olive oil as the dry ingredients are blending.
5
Pour into sealable jars and keep in the fridge. Use within 5-7 days.

Kitchen Notes & Tips

Nutrition values are an estimate calculated from the ingredient list, not a lab analysis.

Steve Deacon

Founder & Writer

Hi, I'm Steve, founder of The Yum Yum Club. After years in the corporate rat race traveling the world, my wife Jen and I settled back in the UK to follow our true passion: great food and wine. Having worked in restaurant kitchens in my youth, I share honest home-cooked recipes, kitchen timing tips, and culinary discoveries.

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