This zucchini pesto takes traditional pesto ingredients, like basil, Parmesan, toasted nuts, garlic, and olive oil, and amplifies them with the creamy texture and summer freshness of zucchini. With a full pound of zucchini and a cup each of fresh spinach and basil, this pesto is packed with good-for-you seasonal produce that’s vibrant, nutrient-dense, and flavor loaded. Twirl into your favorite pasta, dollop onto grilled protein or veggies, or toss into your favorite sandwich or bowl for a touch of rich, herby flavor.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Fresh, summer seasonal produce amps up the deliciousness and freshness factor of this zucchini pesto.
- With an entire pound of zucchini and a cup of fresh spinach and basil, this sauce is healthy and nutrient-dense.
- This sauce is quick and easy and comes together in 10 minutes tops!
- Zucchini makes this pesto delightfully and naturally creamy without any heaviness from cream.
- Super versatile sauce that you can use to twirl into fresh pasta and grains, load onto grilled chicken, shrimp, or veggies, slather on sandwiches, burgers, burritos, or wraps, or toss into your favorite salad or grain bowl.
- Perfect way to use up excess summer zucchini.
Ingredients
- Zucchini – we love loading up on this summer veggie. It makes a surprisingly creamy pesto sauce while packing in a ton of nutrients. We recommend shredded and straining as much liquid from the zucchini as possible to result in a thicker, creamier sauce, rather than a watery sauce.
- Spinach – for a small boost of greens that load this sauce up with iron, potassium, magnesium and other vitamins and minerals.
- Basil – the key to any yummy pesto is a healthy amount of fresh basil. This herb packs in so much vibrant flavor.
- Garlic – for a little piquant kick of flavor.
- Walnuts – pan toast for extra nuttiness.
- Parmesan cheese – adds richness and saltiness to the pesto.
- Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) – to help emulsify the sauce and add depth and richness.
- Salt and pepper – to round out the flavors.
Tips for Making Zucchini Pesto
- Squeeze out excess moisture from the zucchini to keep the pesto creamy but not too watery. We like to use a clean dish cloth or paper towel to gently squeeze out the water and pat the shredded zucchini before using.
- Pan toast the walnuts for extra rich, buttery flavor.
- Use a high quality olive oil for more depth. High quality olive oils add a slightly peppery and nuttier richness to pesto, while cheaper olive oils tend to be more bitter and less flavorful.
- Use fresh produce for extra vibrant pesto. This probably goes without saying, but use fresh zucchini, spinach, basil, and garlic for the best results, rather than frozen veggies, dried herbs, or bottled and preserved garlic.
How to Make Zucchini Pesto
In a small, dry frying pan, toast the walnuts over medium-low heat for a few minutes, or until fragrant and lightly browned. Set aside to cool.
Shred the zucchini. Use a clean dish towel or paper towel to squeeze out as much excess moisture form the zucchini as possible.
In a large food processor, combine the strained zucchini, garlic, spinach, basil, toasted walnuts, and Parmesan cheese. Process about 1 minute, or until smooth. With the processor running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil and blend another 15-30 seconds. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Serve and enjoy!
How to Store
Store leftover zucchini pesto in an airtight jar in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. After that, the ingredients start to significantly oxidize and brown.
Freeze leftover pesto using an ice cube tray for smaller servings or a small baking sheet for easier to store portions. Transfer frozen pesto to a medium freezer Ziploc bag or freezer safe container for up to 4 months. We do not typically keep frozen pesto beyond that time since it is high in water content and tends to become icy and freezer burnt and the herbs lose their potency as well. Check out this easy guide to freezing pesto for more info.
Recipe Variations
- Nuts – we love toasted walnuts in this recipe, but pine nuts, cashews, or skinless blanched almonds are also delightful!
- Herbs – basil is the tried and true herb for pesto, but try adding fresh parsley, thyme, or oregano for a different flavor profile.
- Greens – spinach is a more mild green, but for a little more zip and peppery flavor, try arugula or kale.
- Cheese – Parmesan is a crowd pleaser, but Asiago or pecorino add a little something different to this pesto.
- Seeds – the recipe as written does not include any seeds, but try adding in toasted pumpkin seeds (pepitas) or sunflower seeds.
What to Pair With Zucchini Pesto
- Pasta – keep it simple by twirling this zesty zucchini pesto into a fresh bed of your favorite pasta, like linguine, fettuccine, spaghetti, pappardelle, or other pasta of choice. Use in our pesto pasta primavera, pesto risotto, or summer minestrone soup.
- Protein – pan-seared or grilled chicken, shrimp, steak, fish, meatballs or even burger patties are perfect for slathering with this pesto. Try our shrimp chimichurri, bison meatballs, turkey meatballs, juicy chicken burgers, easy turkey burgers, or Italian herb chicken. Or use in our pesto bruschetta chicken, pesto chicken scallopini, or pan seared pesto salmon.
- Grains – pasta is a fan favorite, but grains like white or brown rice, pearled couscous, farro, or quinoa are also easy companions for this pesto sauce.
- Bread – we love dipping homemade breadsticks, homemade white bread, dinner rolls, or garlic bread in this pesto. Try jazzing up crostini or bruschetta with a dollop of pesto.
Frequently Asked Questions
We recommend shredding the zucchini so that you can squeeze out as much excess moisture as possible and prevent a watery pesto. However, you can throw roughly chopped zucchini right into the food processor if you want and you’ll still end up with a lovely pesto sauce.
No need to cook the zucchini before food processing. However, if you want to cook the zucchini it will remove some of the water and add a jammy consistency and slightly sweeter, more mild flavor to the pesto than raw zucchini.
We do not recommend cooking zucchini pesto, as fresh basil and olive oil are heat sensitive and break down when heated, stripping the pesto of its vibrant green color and making it more bitter.
Yes. Freeze pesto in ice cube trays for smaller servings or in a freezer-safe container or Ziploc bag for 3-4 months. We do not recommend keeping frozen pesto longer than 4 months, as its high water content makes it prone to freezer burn and the fresh herbs tend to lose their potency.
Check out our other sauce recipes
- Kale pesto
- Pumpkin seed pesto
- Sun-dried tomato pesto
- Healthy marinara sauce
- Pomodoro sauce
- Roasted red pepper romesco
Zucchini Pesto
Equipment
- 1 large food processor
Ingredients
- 1 lb zucchini, shredded and strained (about 2 medium zucchinis)
- 2 medium garlic cloves
- 1 c packed spinach
- 1 c packed fresh basil
- ยผ c walnuts, toasted
- ยฝ c freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- ยผ c extra virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a small, dry frying pan, toast the walnuts over medium-low heat for a few minutes, or until fragrant and lightly browned. Set aside to cool.
- Shred the zucchini. Use a clean dish towel or paper towel to squeeze out as much excess moisture form the zucchini as possible.
- In a large food processor, combine the strained zucchini, garlic, spinach, basil, toasted walnuts, and Parmesan cheese. Process about 1 minute, or until smooth. With the processor running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil and blend another 15-30 seconds. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Serve and enjoy!
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