This Walnut Pesto with Arugula and Spinach takes just 5 minutes to make, is dairy-free and incredibly delicious. You’ll love the peppery, savory taste of the arugula, the bright green color of the arugula and the fresh and vibrant it adds to all your favorite dishes.
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Vegan Walnut Pesto with Arugula is a delicious alternative to traditional pesto…it’s flavorful and fun, inexpensive and nutritious. The combination of peppery arugula, toasted walnuts and briny capers gives this vegan pesto a super satisfying umami flavor.
What is Pesto?
Most people think of the traditional basil, pecorino, pine nuts, garlic and olive oil when they think of pesto. Making a paste from herbs, nuts, cheese and oil has been around since ancient times and its origins can be traced to other cultures besides Italian.
I’m no stranger to making pesto, but I do like to change it up a bit—read: make it more healthy—and who doesn’t like a dip/spread/sauce that’s loaded with nutrients?
During the summer when I’m able to grow fresh basil I often make large batches of Vegan Basil Pesto, but there are so many other tasty ways to make pesto, including carrot greens pesto...I mean, why waste the carrot tops when you can turn them into something so yummy?
I love this recipe for walnut arugula pesto because the ingredients are less expensive, more nutrient dense and easy to find….and the end result is incredibly tasty…maybe my favorite pesto yet! Especially good for making pesto pasta salad.
I am so pleased with the way this pesto recipe came out. It tastes light and fresh—the way spring feels—-and yet its sturdy enough to hold up when heated as a sauce and makes an awesome spread on toast or crackers. Multi-purpose for sure and a great way to get in those healthy spring greens!
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Arugula: not only do I love it for it’s savory, peppery taste, but it’s loaded with goodness and low in calories making it an awesome nutrient dense choice. Plus, arugula is much more affordable than basil, especially if you’re looking for a larger quantity.
- Capers: A great choice when you’re making vegan pesto because it adds the perfect punch of umami….you won’t even miss the cheese!
- Nutritional yeast: A simple way to really boost a dairy-free recipe. I don’t like to use processed fake cheese products, but if you’ve got 5-minutes, you can make my recipe for dairy-free parmesan cheese and add it in here instead of the straight nutritional yeast.
- Walnuts: Extra flavor when you toast them, plus they add in some plant-based protein and omega 3s. Also, walnuts are less expensive than pine nuts….so there’s another plug for this non-traditional, but incredibly tasty pesto.
How to make Walnut Pesto
I like to toast the walnuts before blending them into the pesto. Use a dry pan and shake the pan over medium-high heat. The natural oils from the walnuts will assure they don’t stick in the pan and you’ll experience a delicious aroma as they get toasty.
Place all ingredients into the bowl of a food processor.
Process until everything is well incorporated. Pour in ¼ cup water and then process again.
Taste for seasoning, adding more salt, pepper or lemon juice as desired. I like to sprinkle on some crushed red pepper for a bit of heat.
Debra’s Pro Tips
- Grate the garlic and zest the lemon right over the processor bowl to save time and dishes.
- Buy your nuts raw for more versatility. You can easily toast them yourself. Store them in the freezer, they’ll last longer.
Use your Walnut Pesto to make a pasta salad
- Make pasta according to directions. If you’re using gluten-free pasta, start testing it at 6 minutes. It turns gummy if overcooked.
- Set aside 1 cup of cooking water.
- Place 1 cup of walnut arugula pesto into the bottom of a bowl. Mix with ½ cup of the pasta water until a creamy sauce emerges.
- Drain cooked pasta and toss with the pesto sauce.
- Add colorful raw veggies like shredded carrots, chopped cabbage or bell peppers. Throw in some edamame beans for some plant based protein.
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Walnut Pesto with Arugula
Equipment
Ingredients
- 5 oz arugula approximately 4 cups
- 1 cup spinach tightly packed
- ½ cup walnuts dry toasted
- ¼ cup hemp seeds
- 2 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 2 tablespoon capers drained
- 1 lemon zested and juiced
- 3 cloves garlic finely grated
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
Instructions
- Toast walnuts in a dry pan over medium heat. Shake the pan to keep them from burning. It will take 2-3 for the oils to release, the aroma to intensify and the color to darken.
- Place arugula, spinach, toasted walnuts, hemp seeds, nutritional yeast, capers, olive oil sea salt and white pepper in the bowl of a food processor or blender.
- Use a microplane grater to zest the lemon and grate the garlic directly over the processor bowl. Then squeeze the lemon onto the other ingredients.
- Process until everything is well incorporated. Scrape down sides, add up to ¼ cup water, 1 tablespoon at a time, scraping down sides after each addition, until desired consistency is achieved.
- Sprinkle on some crushed red pepper for a little heat!
Notes
Nutrition
Note
The nutrition calculations were done using online tools. To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in any given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients you used. You are ultimately responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information is accurate, complete and useful.
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