Honey Free Spinach & Avocado Pesto

Total time10 min

Prep time10 min

Cook time0 min

5.0

(23)

This vibrant green sauce is everything a great pesto should be — bright, creamy, and packed with fresh flavor from baby spinach, basil, and ripe avocado. The avocado does double duty here, replacing the usual heavy cheese base with a silky richness that clings beautifully to pasta, grain bowls, or crusty bread. Lemon juice keeps the whole thing lively and helps slow the browning that avocado-based sauces are prone to, while the optional fresh ginger adds a subtle warmth that makes the flavor genuinely interesting. Many store-bought pestos and condiments sneak in sweeteners you might not expect, so blending your own from scratch means you know exactly what's in the jar. The food processor does most of the heavy lifting — a few pulses, a slow drizzle of olive oil, and a splash of water to dial in the consistency, and you're done. That tip about pressing plastic wrap directly onto the surface before sealing is a small move that makes a real difference in keeping the color gorgeous. Make a batch on the weekend and you'll find yourself reaching for it all week long.

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Ingredients

6 servings

2 cups packed baby spinach
1 ripe avocado, pitted and scooped
1 cup fresh basil leaves, loosely packed
2 cloves garlic, peeled
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
¼ tsp fine sea salt, plus more to taste
2–4 tbsp water, as needed to thin
1 tsp fresh ginger, finely grated (optional)

Instructions

1
Add the baby spinach, avocado, basil, garlic, lemon juice, salt, and ginger (if using) to the bowl of a food processor or blender.
2
Pulse 8–10 times until the mixture is roughly broken down and no large pieces remain.

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