Coconut Free Basil & Olive Pesto
Bright, herby, and punchy with briny green olive flavor, this pesto is a serious upgrade from anything you'd find in a jar at the grocery store. Traditional pesto recipes often sneak in pine nuts or other tree nuts, but this version skips them entirely in favor of pitted green olives, which add a savory, salty depth that's genuinely addictive. Fresh lemon juice and zest keep everything lively and vibrant, while a generous pour of extra-virgin olive oil brings it all together into a silky, spoonable sauce. The food processor does the heavy lifting ā a few pulses and a slow drizzle of oil is all it takes to land on that perfect, slightly textured consistency. Optional parsley adds a fresh, grassy note if you want to round out the flavor even further. Toss it with pasta, spread it on crusty bread, or use it as a dipping sauce ā this pesto is endlessly versatile and comes together in minutes with nothing but clean, straightforward ingredients.
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Learn more āIngredients
6 servings
- 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
- ā cup pitted green olives
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- Ā½ tsp lemon zest
- Ā½ tsp fine sea salt, plus more to taste
- Ā½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1ā2 tbsp fresh parsley leaves (optional)
Instructions
- 1
Combine the basil leaves, green olives, garlic, lemon juice, lemon zest, and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse 8ā10 times until the mixture is coarsely chopped and the garlic is broken down.
- 2
With the processor running, pour the olive oil in a slow, steady stream through the feed tube, processing until the pesto is smooth with a few flecks of texture remaining ā about 20ā30 seconds. Stop and scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula, then pulse once or twice more to incorporate.
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