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This Spinach Pesto Recipe is made with fresh ingredients including basil, garlic and lemon juice! Perfect for pasta, soup and much more!
This Spinach Pesto Recipe is basically like the pinnacle of basil usage. It’s the be all end all. If you have a good amount of basil hanging around your fridge, odds are you will turn it into pesto. At least, I had a bunch of basil loitering in my crisper that pretty much asked me to mingle with some garlic, parmesan and pine nuts. And so I obliged, made some pesto and threw in a few extra friends to keep things interesting.
Spinach Pesto Recipe
You’re only 7 ingredients away from delicious Spinach Pesto with Garlic! Here’s what you need:
- Basil Leaves – the main ingredient to any pesto recipe!
- Baby Spinach – I love adding spinach because it’s like getting bonus vitamins and minerals without noticing.
- Garlic – I also love the kick you get from fresh garlic. You have to be careful though with the garlic because too much is a little unbearable, plus no one will want to kiss you for days.
- Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese – I also used really good Parmigiano Reggiano. What a difference there is between imported Italian cheese versus the parmesan cheese in a can. Please use the good stuff!
- Lemon Juice – I added the lemon juice so it would stay green.
- Salt & Pepper – to taste!
- Light Olive Oil – this helps bring everything together and gives it a nice smooth texture.
How to Make Spinach Pesto
- Place all ingredients except for olive oil into the food processor bowl.
- Lock lid in place and turn the machine on. Stream olive oil into mixture until desired consistency is reached.
- Serve with pasta, on pizza, on sandwiches, etc.
- Store Spinach Pesto an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three weeks.
How to Use Pesto
You can also add this spinach pesto as an ingredient to other recipes for a little added flavor boost.
Check out these recipes for more inspiration:
- Light Creamy Pesto Ravioli {from Barbara Bakes}
- Spring Pesto Soup {from Apron Strings}
- Oil-Free Pesto {from Eat Live Run}
- Crispy Shrimp Pasta with Arugula Pesto Cream Sauce {from How Sweet It Is}
- Grilled Tofu Stacks with Pesto & Grilled Vegetables {from Cookin’ Canuck}
- Roasted Red Pepper Pesto Penne {from Picky Palate}
- Pesto-Tomato Stuffed Mushrooms {from Recipe Girl}
You all need Pesto in your life. Promise!
More Pesto Recipes to Try!
- Baked Pesto Chicken & Rice Casserole
- Creamy Pesto Alfredo Chicken Pasta
- Vegetarian Quesadilla Recipe with Pesto
- Pesto Pasta Recipe
Make sure to save this AMAZING Spinach Pesto Recipe by pinning or printing this recipe.
Printable recipe card below, enjoy!
Spinach Pesto Recipe with Garlic
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh basil leaves really pack them in!
- 1 big handful fresh baby spinach
- 1 small clove garlic minced
- 1 cup parmigiano reggiano cheese freshly grated, I use a microplane
- 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice 1/2 lemon, juiced
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup light olive oil or how ever much you need to get the desired consistency
Instructions
- Place all ingredients except for olive oil into food processor bowl.
- Lock lid in place and turn the machine on. Stream olive oil into mixture until desired consistency is reached.
- Serve with pasta, on pizza, on sandwiches, etc.
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Made this pesto and served it over tortellini pasta with some shredded chicken. Absolutely delicious! I have lots of fresh basil growing, so I can’t wait to make this, again! Thanks for the recipe, Lauren! 😉
– Are those Hawaiin Bread Sliders I see?? YUM! Have you ever tried to make Hawaiin Bread? I didn’t know if you had a recipe you like to go to. I’m tkhiinng of experimenting soon.August 26, 2010 1:58 pm[]Annie Reply:August 26th, 2010 at 5:04 pmMine are just regular slider buns. I haven’t made Hawaiian bread yet but I have a recipe saved to try.[]
I do indeed need pesto in my life! I even keep pesto in my freezer for quick meal preparation.
I’m a vegetarian so I am so excited to try these recipes. I love cooking with fresh herbs like basil..and pesto, mushrooms and spinach are part of my daily diet. In the summer even more pronounced. Thanks so much for these amazing ideas!
Thanks for commenting, Lisa! Glad you’re finding my vegetarian recipes!
Would love this on pasta with some veggies!
Love this! Pesto is such a nice addition to breads and pastas. Yum!
Hey, I just saw your recipe for the brownie ice cream on Tasty Kitchen, and I can’t wait to try it. Your blog looks great, thanks for sharing 🙂
Thanks Codee! I was pretty thrilled to see my recipe on tasty kitchen!
I love pesto too. I’m usually lazy and buy pre-made. I’ll have to give your recipe a try. It looks fabulous.
I usually get the pre-made stuff too because it’s easy but I had just so much basil that I had to make my own!
I love this idea of getting all the minerals and goodness of spinach into a pesto that may just well be an excellent way of getting my husband to eat more greens! Somehow pesto is always an exception!
This looks so gorgeously green! I have some basil growing on my terrace right now…I am waiting for it to grow a lot so that I can make some pesto! I love it over pasta or over chicken…or even slathered on some delicious bread 🙂
I love pesto on just about anything too! It can’t grow fast enough for me!
I heart pesto so much. DELISH!
I love fresh basil. So much so that I rarely have enough to warrent a whole recipe. I love the idea of adding spinach; I always thought it was for some additional bulk but the nutrients. Go figure I never thought of that reasoning. I promise myself to add this to my list for the summer.
I always focus on the healthier parts of the recipe as opposed to the not so good parts {like a cup of cheese and 1/2 cup olive oil!}