Dairy Free Turmeric-Ginger Parsley Lemon Pesto
This vibrant, herb-forward pesto is a bold twist on the classic, swapping basil for fresh flat-leaf parsley and leaning into bright lemon, warming ginger, and earthy turmeric for a sauce that genuinely stops you in your tracks. Traditional pesto often calls for parmesan or pecorino, but this version skips the cheese entirely and still delivers incredible depth — the walnuts bring a creamy richness that holds everything together beautifully. Every single ingredient here is naturally free of dairy, so there's no substituting or second-guessing involved; it just works from the ground up. The food processor does all the heavy lifting, and the whole thing comes together in minutes with a slow stream of good olive oil pulling it into a thick, spoonable paste. Toss it with pasta, spread it on crusty bread, drizzle it over roasted vegetables, or use it as a marinade — it's genuinely one of those sauces you'll want to put on everything. The turmeric gives it a gorgeous golden-green hue that looks stunning on the plate, and the lemon zest keeps the flavor sharp and lively rather than muddy. Make a jar on Sunday and you'll be reaching for it all week long.
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Learn more →Ingredients
6 servings
- 2 cups fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves and tender stems, loosely packed
- ⅓ cup raw walnuts
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice (from about 1 large lemon)
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- ½ tsp salt, plus more to taste
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1–2 tbsp water, as needed to thin (optional)
Instructions
- 1
Add the parsley, walnuts, garlic, ginger, turmeric, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, and black pepper to a food processor. Pulse 8–10 times until the mixture is coarsely chopped and the ingredients are roughly combined.
- 2
With the processor running, stream in the olive oil in a slow, steady pour until the pesto comes together into a thick, slightly textured paste, about 20–30 seconds. Stop and scrape down the sides once midway through.
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