Wheat Free Kale & Herb Pesto
This vibrant green pesto is packed with blanched kale, fresh basil, and parsley, making it one of those sauces that tastes like it took serious effort but comes together in minutes with a food processor. The quick blanch-and-ice-bath technique keeps the kale brilliantly green and mellows any bitterness, so the final result is bright, herbaceous, and deeply satisfying. A hit of lemon juice lifts everything, while turmeric adds a subtle warmth and gorgeous golden undertone that sets this apart from a standard basil pesto. Optional fresh ginger nudges it even further into something a little unexpected and addictive. Because every ingredient here is naturally free from wheat and gluten-containing grains, there's no swapping or substituting required — this is just genuinely clean, whole-food cooking. Store-bought pestos can be surprisingly tricky to vet for hidden additives or shared-facility warnings, so making your own at home puts you fully in control. Spoon it over pasta, swirl it into soups, spread it on rice cakes, or use it as a dipping sauce — the thick, spoonable texture holds up beautifully across all of them. It's the kind of versatile, crowd-pleasing sauce worth keeping in your fridge all week.
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Learn more →Ingredients
6 servings
- 2 cups curly or lacinato kale, stems removed, leaves roughly torn
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves, packed
- ¼ cup fresh parsley leaves
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
- 2 tbsp lemon juice (from about 1 lemon)
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt, or to taste
- ¼ tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, finely grated (optional)
Instructions
- 1
Bring a small skillet of water to a boil over high heat. Add the kale leaves and blanch for 30 seconds, until bright green and just wilted. Drain immediately and transfer to a bowl of ice water for 1 minute to stop the cooking, then squeeze out as much water as possible with your hands.
- 2
Combine the blanched kale, basil, parsley, garlic, lemon juice, turmeric, and ginger (if using) in a food processor. Pulse 8–10 times until the mixture is coarsely chopped and the garlic is broken down.
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