Easy Healthy Pesto Sauce
- Keto Upgrade
- Jul 25
- 4 min read
Updated: Aug 1
When I went keto and started trying to eliminate seed oils, it always bugged me that there was no premade pesto on the market that had a healthier oil. So I figured some others may want an easy recipe to make a delicious pesto at home.
The recipe is simple and can be made to taste in many different ways, there are just a few tips and tricks to making a delicious pesto.
The two main ingredients in pesto are basil and oil, if you don't have basil growing in a garden already, I suggest buying a small plant from the store. It is a dollar or 2 more than buying a small package but you get a lot more and you can see how the basil looks. I have bought the small packages and they look fine on the outside but then are wilted and not nice on the inside. Plus you have to use it right away because they don't last long in those packages. A plant you can take care of for a few months and as long as you continue to harvest the basil it will continue to grow for a bit. Plus you want more than one package of basil if you want a substantial amount of pesto sauce.
For the oil I prefer to mix extra virgin olive oil and avocado oil because I don't prefer a strong extra virgin olive oil taste in my pesto. But this is totally to taste, if you love extra virgin olive oil you can use all EVOO.
The last ingredients are the flavor components. Some kind of nut, cheese and garlic. You can use any kind of nut you love the flavor of, walnut, almonds and pine nuts are the most common nuts used. But pine nuts are the traditional nut (seed) used in pesto. For the cheese you can go as basic as shaker parmesan, or as fancy as Parmigiano Reggiano. For the garlic, I prefer to use roasted as it gives a sweeter flavor and takes away the raw bite you can get from the raw garlic. This ensures it's not overpowering if you use it as a dressing for a Caprese or a cold pasta salad. But raw garlic is what usually is used for pesto, either will work.
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Pesto- Check out the video for tips and tricks- https://youtu.be/q-PMOFBFvXw
2 Cups Fresh Basil
1/4 Cup Pine Nuts (More to taste, any nut you prefer)
1/4 Cup Parmesan (To taste, can use Parmigiano Reggiano or Romano)
Several Cloves of Roasted Garlic or 1 Clove Raw Garlic (to taste)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil and/or Avocado Oil Enough to make it as saucy as you like
Salt and Pepper to taste
Can also add baby spinach to stretch the pesto
Instructions:
Place basil into a blender or small food processor, add nuts, parmesan and garlic
Swirl a few times around with the oil and a pinch of salt and pepper and give a few pulses of the blender
Scrap down and add more oil if needed and blend
Taste for seasoning, add more oil if needed and blend until smooth
Use in cold dishes or add to sautéed vegetables and/or protein and low carb pasta
Store leftovers in a jar or other air tight container in the refrigerator for over a month
Macros: The only thing with substantial carbs is if you use a lot of roasted garlic, these are macros with 1 clove fresh garlic and no spinach- makes about 1 Cup
1313 Calories
139g Fat
8g Total Carbs
2g Fiber
16g Protein
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