Making and freezing basil pesto in a great way to preserve the fresh flavors of summer. Healthy and versatile – pesto is perfect brushed on grilled meats, tossed with steamed veggies or stirred into soup.
Homemade basil pesto is one of my favorite recipes to prepare in bulk during the summer. It takes just minutes to prepare, is extremely versatile and is ideal for freezing. Since basil can be pricey during cooler months of the year, having frozen pesto on hand in the freezer is like having money in the bank.
Chances are, you are either growing basil in your backyard or live near a farmer who is selling it for pennies. Making and freezing pesto is the perfect use for an abundance of fragrant fresh herbs.
For a simple guide on washing and storing dark leafy greens (including basil!) be sure to check out my tips and video tutorial. It’s the best way to make fresh greens such as romaine, kale or Swiss chard last longer in the fridge.
If you don’t have every ingredient listed, get creative and use what you have on hand with this easy swap-out guide:
- Basil can be replaced spinach, parsley, arugula or cilantro.
- Parmesan can be replaced with pecorino, romano or Grana Padano cheese.
- Pine nuts can be replaced with walnuts, pistachios or cashews.
Fresh lemon juice and zest brightens up the flavor and adds a great acidic balance to the olive oil, cheese and nuts. Toasting the pine nuts takes less than 10 minutes and provides a deep, rich flavor that you simply don’t get with raw pine nuts.
Pesto is packed with health benefits including heart-healthy mono-unsaturated fatty acids from the olive oil, iron from the leafy greens and vitamin C from the lemon. Added bonus? Iron helps boost the absorption of vitamin c so consuming them together is a win win.
How long can you keep homemade pesto for?
5-7 days in the refrigerator
How long does frozen pesto keep for?
3 Months
Do I have to use olive oil to make pesto?
Olive oil prevents oxidation and slows the pesto from turning brown. I’ve never tried not using oil
How To Make And Freeze Basil Pesto
Ingredients
- 4 cups fresh basil
- 1 cup grated parmesan
- 1/2 cup pine nuts toasted
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 lemon juice and zest of
- 1 cup olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- To toast pine nuts, place on a baking sheet in an even layer and bake at 350 for 6-7 minutes until browned.
- In a large food processor, pulse together basil, parmesan, pine nuts, garlic, lemon juice and zest.
- Slowly drizzle in the olive oil and puree until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Recipe Notes:
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Delicious recipe but I went a little lighter on the lemon juice. I don’t have ice trays.. can I put it in mini muffin tin?
Great idea!
If frozen in an ice cube tray how much will it be defrosted?
Just 30 minutes I’d say!
Hi Liz! Thank you for this delicious recipe. I was calculating the pesto calories however as per my calculation 2 tbsp has 157 calories, 1.8 g carbs, 16.2 g fat (since you added 1 cup olive oil) and 2.3 g prot… correct me if I am wrong :) thanks again!
Ok I just re-did the calculations and I get 119 per two table spoons!
You say it is 169 calories per serve but don’t say how many servings your recipe makes.
Just revised the nutrition facts to include serving size!! It’s grately lower now. :)
The whole lemon and zest was too much lemon for me so I added more garlic and pine nuts. Seemed to even it out a bit. Just putt in the freezer!
Sounds good!!
Made pumpkin ravioli with the pesto last night!! Delish!!!
Sounds incredible!!
I love Pesto, however my daughter has a nut allergy. Do you have any suggestions other than the ones you posted for swapping them out for something else?
I bet it would be delicious if you leave out the nuts!
Pumpkin or Sunflower seeds?
I have never used either actually – only pine nuts or walnuts!
I’ve made it with pecans it’s awesome:)
What a great idea!
I use roasted drained chickpeas because of my children’s nut allergy.
Great idea!
Great recipe but it is taking more then 2 hours to freeze. It may take longer to freeze then 2 hours. It tastes good,also I did not use the lemon juice or Zest it still turned out great. Al if you do not have a food processor you will need one a blender will not work. Love this it is worth all the work.
Yes I agree it is worth the work! So glad you love it!
I try not to use oil or consume oil of any kind in my food. Do I HAVE to use olive oil when making your pesto?
I’m not sure how you could make pesto without oil but if you try it please let me know!
To make pesto w/o oil or cheese, for freezing: Just use the same proportions of fresh basil, garlic and lemon juice that you normally use for your pesto and pound, crush or blend in a food processor then freeze in half pint batches. When ready to use defrost, add cheese and oil and mix by hand and add to your recipe.
My daughter has a severe nut allergy. I’m growing fresh basil & wanting to make pesto. Anything I can use instead of pine nuts? Or just completely omit the nuts & hopefully still taste awesome? Thanks!
I’m pretty sure it would taste awesome without the nuts!! :)
Add 3 crushed cream crackers to give it some consistency
Interesting idea!
Made this and LOVE IT!! A total keeper! Thanks Liz!
Oh I’m so glad to hear that Laurie!!! Glad you enjoyed it!
I have to try this! :) Hope you’re well, Liz. xo
Liz,
I’ve never thought to add lemon zest to my pesto–great idea. I make mine thicker (usually because I’ve got so many leaves vs cheese and nuts) and use a small disher or cookie scoop to freeze it on trays. The act of freezing bursts the cell walls, and the pesto is . . . well not runny, but let’s say liquid . . . when thawed. (I have a shortage of ice cube trays and don’t like to tie them up, so I tried it this way with success.)
Thanks!
I’m so glad you liked the lemon zest addition. I’m jealous of your abundance of basil!!
I have never thought to freeze my pesto either! Also, due to a nut allergy in the fam, I use Pumpkin Seeds instead of Pine Nuts and it turns out great!
I love the pumpkin seed idea!! Need to try.
I love Pesto and put it on everything this time of year – so much so that I rarely have any left to freeze!
Honestly, we are almost through our frozen stash!! Time to make more!!
I LOVE freezing fresh herbs and busting them out in the winter!
Next I want to try freezing herbs in olive oil!! I don’t want summer flavors to end!
Love this tip to freeze!
Thanks Rachel!! It’s so fun having little pesto cubes in the freezer. :)
Love the idea of having pesto on hand during the winter by freezing it when ingredients are cheaper!
Me too!! I can’t stand buying $5 packets of basil in the winter. :)
Thank you, Liz for this recipe. It will come in handy this fall and winter.
My pleasure Liz! Have a great day!
Exactly what I plan to do this weekend. Our basil is going to seed so fast I’ve been plucking it like crazy; now to do something with all of that amazing abundance!
I have been using toasted walnuts of late in pesto; as much as I love pine nuts; their $20/lb price tag needs some adjusting before it can regain it’s place as the favored kitchen nut!
I love the idea of toasting walnuts!! Pine nuts are so dang expensive but we buy them at Costco in bulk and freeze the bag. It lasts us about 3 months-6 months.
I was just staring at my basil plant thinking “I need to make some pesto!” and poof.. here it is :) Looks great and I WILL be freezing my pest in ice cube trays!
That’s awesome!! It’s a sign you need to make pesto!!
It’s always wonderful to have summer-fresh pesto in the freezer during the long winter. Great post, Liz!
Thanks Dara! I agree. My goal is to freeze as much summer as I can before the baby arrives. :)
I totally freeze pesto the same way!! This is how I made my kids baby food too. Ice cube trays are so versatile! ha ha. We have several basil plants growing in our backyard here in Vegas. My 5 year old will pick leaves and eat them like they are chips or something. Crazy kiddo
I love eating the leaves like chips too – hahah!!
ALL of these years I’ve been making basil pesto and never considered freezing it! What a brilliant tip, Liz. This is so useful, especially since I can’t get enough of the stuff year-round and homemade tastes SO much better than store bought.
Yes freezing it is the best!!! So much tastier than those tiny bottles for $6 at the grocery store. :)
I laughed when I saw the title- this post couldn’t be more timely! We have a ton of basil in our garden. I made sunflower seed pesto a few days ago, and just harvested a whole colander full of basil this afternoon. It’s so nice to know that the basil cubes will be patiently waiting for me in the freezer come December :)
I love the idea of sunflower seed pesto!! So smart!
And….bookmarked!! I totally need a reminder because when I stare at my tower-o-basil, I freak out and pee my pants. Can’t wait to get my pesto on!
I hope you made pesto instead of peeing your pants!
i am making a batch of pesto and this came on a right time. thank you :)
Omgosh, what a great trick! I would never have thought of doing this. Thank you for sharing!
I just made pesto last week and our youngest put it in trays for the freezer. Like you said, “money in the bank”!! Great post, Liz!
It really is money in the bank!!! Thanks friend. :)
Thanks for the reminder that I need to try this! I love, love, love pesto, but have never tried the freezer method. Now I just need to go load up on basil and other yummy greens :-)
Yes you must freeze it!! You’ll be so glad you did!!