BHA & BHT Free Mint & Herb Pesto
Bright, herby, and alive with fresh flavor, this triple-herb pesto is the kind of sauce that makes everything it touches taste more vibrant. Mint joins forces with basil and flat-leaf parsley for a blend that's more complex and aromatic than a classic single-herb version, with lemon zest and a squeeze of juice cutting through the richness of the olive oil. For anyone avoiding synthetic preservatives like BHA and BHT, store-bought pesto and jarred sauces can be a minefield ā but this one is built entirely from whole, fresh ingredients with nothing hidden in the label. The food processor does the heavy lifting, bringing everything together in just a few pulses into a coarse, spoonable paste that feels genuinely homemade. Extra-virgin olive oil is the only fat here, giving the pesto a clean, grassy backbone that lets the herbs shine. It's endlessly versatile ā toss it with pasta, spread it on grilled bread, swirl it into soups, or use it as a marinade. Make a batch, press plastic wrap directly onto the surface, and it keeps beautifully for whenever you need a fast hit of fresh flavor.
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Learn more āIngredients
6 servings
- 1 cup fresh mint leaves, packed
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves, packed
- Ā½ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, packed
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- Ā½ tsp fine sea salt
- Ā½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
- 1
Add the mint, basil, parsley, garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, and salt to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse 8ā10 times until the herbs are coarsely chopped and the garlic is broken down.
- 2
With the processor running, pour the olive oil through the feed tube in a slow, steady stream until the pesto comes together into a coarse, spoonable paste ā about 20ā30 seconds. Stop and scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula, then pulse once or twice more to incorporate any remaining herb pieces.
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