15+ Delicious Vegan Recipes with Pesto (2024)

FAQs

What is not vegan about pesto? ›

Most pesto is not considered vegan for the sole reason that basic recipes call for some kind of hard cheese like Parmesan or pecorino, which is not suitable for vegans. Some authentic Parmesan is even made using rennet, an enzyme found in the lining of a goat or calf's stomach.

Salad Dressing: Mix it with some olive oil and lemon juice to create a salad dressing. Sauce for Meat and Seafood: Brush it on grilled chicken, fish, or shrimp for an added burst of flavor. Soup: Stir a spoonful of pesto into hot soup for a creamy and flavorful finish. Baked Goods: Mix it into dough for pest.

Unopened, pesto will last in the fridge for about two weeks. If you've already opened it, you can keep it in a sealed container in the fridge for up to four days. You can also freeze pesto for up to three months.

With the rise of plant-based eating, more and more vegan pestos are hitting the market, some of which taste surprisingly like the real thing. Rather than simply omitting the cheese, they often contain tofu or nutritional yeast, which naturally has a cheesy, umami flavour and is packed full of vitamins.

A. While pesto has impressive amounts of nutrition, it's still not the healthiest sauce. It would be best to eat it in moderation because pesto contains fats and calories from olive oil and nuts. Moreover, it is higher in fat and calories than most tomato-based sauces.

The reason is because classic basil pesto contains pecorino and Parmigiano-Reggiano, which are both made from milk curdled in animal rennet. That means that most of the pesto sauces you see on supermarket shelves are not vegetarian.

Italian Tradition

Pesto is the perfect sauce to enjoy with a dish of trofie (the traditional Ligurian short pasta), lasagna, potato gnocchi or as a topping for a bowl of minestrone. It can be mixed into tomato sauce to enhance the flavor of pasta dishes or used with fish fillets to make them more appetizing.

Pesto will last in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. If you've stored it in the freezer, it will last for 6 months. When you're ready to use frozen pesto, thaw it overnight in the fridge or place the container of pesto in a bowl of warm water for a quicker thawing time. Do not try to thaw frozen pesto by microwaving it!

You can freeze pesto in ice cube trays or in glass jars or other freezer-safe containers. Different methods will yield slightly different results; what works for you will depend on how you plan on storing and using your pesto. Pesto will keep in the freezer for up to six months.

Opened: It is recommended to consume within 7 to 14 days [3].

Why is pesto so expensive? ›

Its scarcity, plus the fact that the plants are picked roots, soil, and all to ensure that only juvenile leaves make it into pesto, makes it extraordinarily expensive and something that only premium, artisan pesto makers can justify using.

Pesto is made with Parmigiano Reggiano which is made with rennet. Rennet is an animal byproduct. Some vegetarians are willing to overlook this. Some are not.

Hummus is a vegan staple that allows you to have some versatility in your diet. It's an immensely popular food amongst vegans so you may have found a new favourite yourself. It's available in a wide range of flavours and is very versatile in the kitchen so you can experiment with it if you wish to.

Beer and Wine

Isinglass, a gelatin-based substance derived from fish, is used as a clarifying agent in some beer and wine. Other non-vegan ingredients sometimes used are casein (from milk) and egg whites.

Unfortunately, most supermarket pesto brands aren't vegetarian. Parmesan, a key ingredient in pesto, contains rennet which is an enzyme found in the stomach of a goat or calf. It's not just Parmesan. Pecorino Romano, Manchego, Gruyère and Gorgonzola all contain rennet.

🧀Parmesan cheese is traditionally made with animal rennet, so most store bought pesto and restaurant used pesto will contain animal rennet.

Is there any downside to eating pesto? If you are allergic to pignoli (pinenuts) or walnuts the most common allergy inducing components of pesto, then there is a definite downside but there are many nut free pesto recipes. Pesto has a high fat (olive oil) content (if you are on a low fat diet).