Classic Basil Pesto Sauce

This post covers how to make pesto sauce, how to store it, and more! If you’ve never made homemade pesto before, you’ve been missing out!

This a perfect summer recipe to use up all that basil in the garden! I swear basil multiplies overnight. I can’t keep ahead of it, but homemade pesto is one of my favorite ways to use it up!

Homemade Basil Pesto Sauce Recipe

I don’t know why, but I had never had pesto until college. At least I’m pretty sure I hadn’t. And I honestly don’t even remember who made it when I did finally have it. All I remember was that it was a basic pesto pasta and I loved it.

I’ll be the first to admit that I ate waaaaaay more than I should have. It was slightly nutty, cheesy, and super fresh. Could there be a better combo? We use pesto all the time now and we even make it a few different ways depending on how much of everything we have like our 15-Minute Pesto Pasta, pesto butter grilled cheese, creamy pesto chicken pizza,  or the bacon pesto grilled cheese sandwich contest I won with Tillamook. However, in the end this is our ultimate, absolute favorite classic pesto recipe.

A classic pesto recipe is easy enough to make, but storing is a bit tricky. I have two ways that I store it and a third that I’ve heard great things about but never tried it. But we can talk about storing it after we discuss the actual classic pesto recipe.

Basil Pesto Recipe Ingredients

This is such an easy pesto recipe! It requires minimal ingredients to whip up. Here’s what all goes into this homemade pesto sauce:

• Fresh Basil
• Garlic Cloves
• Pine Nuts
  • NOTE: The best substitutes for pine nuts are walnuts, almonds or cashews.
• Olive Oil
• Grated Parmesan Cheese
  • NOTE: The best substitute is pecorino romano cheese.
• Salt

The measurements for each can be found in the recipe card below.

How to Make Pesto Sauce

To start this homemade pesto recipe, I just heat up a skillet over medium heat, add both the garlic cloves and the pine nuts and let it cook until golden, shaking the pan occasionally. Then, I remove the nuts and allow the garlic to finish turning golden as well.

An added bonus is that the garlic slides right out of its skin when it’s toasted this way. I love that. So, yes you read right, toast the garlic in its thin skin and then remove after it’s golden.

Place everything except the cheese and salt in the bowl of a food processor or blender and pulse until smooth. Stir in the cheese and add salt to taste. Yes, making this classic pesto recipe is that easy. If you want to go totally authentic, you can use a mortar and pestle to blend the pesto together.

How to Freeze Fruit and Make Better Smoothies

Freezing fruit can provide an easy way to make delicious and nutritious smoothies. Learn how to properly freeze fruit and create better smoothies with these tips and tricks.

One thing that I’ve really been working hard on this year is having a healthier breakfast. I was always a die hard cereal girl which is totally fine, but I was missing out on a lot of nutrients that could help me have a better, more energized day.

So, I started drinking green smoothies with a little protein or doing breakfast parfaits with granola (or oatmeal but summer is generally more about the smoothies.), but I quickly realized three things which is why we are doing a post on how to freeze fruit and make better smoothies.

Smoothie Musts

So if I’m going to be having fruit smoothies for breakfast, I have some thoughts…

1. I need a little fruit in my smoothies to love them, otherwise it is too bland or bitter for me. Plus everyone needs a little fruit in their lives.
2. Making smoothies is expensive. I know a lot of people that eat the whole foods diet or are big on fresh produce swear it’s not bad, but it is expensive. So my solution was to start buying things on sale and freezing them because it allowed me to still incorporate fresh fruits into the smoothies, saved us money!
3. I like my smoothies thick like a shake and not thin like a juice, so using frozen fruit thickened up the texture of my shake without adding ice cubes.

I’ve compiled a list of fruits that freeze well, but the how-to is quite easy. The most important part about this, other than actually freezing is to buy fresh fruit when it’s on sale at the grocery store, and buy a lot. That way you can freeze fruit at it’s cheapest and overall save money versus buying frozen or fresh fruit that’s not on sale.

Is It Cheaper to Freeze Your Own Fruit for Smoothies?

Yes! I’m looking at a bag of frozen sliced bananas right now at Smith’s. It costs $2.99 for a 16 oz bag (or 1 lb). In comparison, fresh bananas cost $0.25/lb, so let’s say you buy 2 lbs of bananas since you will need to remove the peel. That will only be $0.50 for bananas and little bit of work peeling, slicing and properly freezing them.

Here’s another example for strawberries. A 10oz bag of frozen strawberries costs $2.99. You can get a 1 lb (or 16oz) carton of fresh strawberries for the same price, so you get almost 1/2 lb more of strawberries for the same price. You can get fresh strawberries for even cheaper than that when they are in season or on sale.

How to Freeze Fruit for Smoothies

Peel (if needed), remove stems, and rinse the fruit well, chop into small chunks or slices and dry with paper towels. Next, line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and lay the fruit out flat in a single layer, trying to keep a little space between each piece. Now place the tray in the freezer for 3 hours or up to 1 day. Remove the fruit and place in ziploc freezer bags, pressing out all the air and sealing shut. Now the fruit will keep for 6-9 months.