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Is Pesto Vegan? Healthy Substitutes For Recipes In 2024
Updated on
- Written by Jennifer Olejarz, Nutritionist & Health Coach
Medically reviewed by
Kathy Shattler, MS, RDN
Pesto is one of the most iconic sauces out there, helping even the most unlikely cook create a delicious pasta dinner.
But while its beautiful green color makes it look plant-based, there are other hidden ingredients in pesto that vegans need to know about.
So, is pesto vegan? Read on to learn how to make pesto fit into a vegan diet.
Is Pesto Vegan-Friendly?
No, traditional pesto is not vegan-friendly. It includes aged Parmigiano-Reggiano and/or Pecorino cheese made from cow milk.
Fortunately, you can buy vegan pesto made without cheese or make a vegan pesto recipe version yourself.
It’s incredibly anti-inflammatory and flavorful, so add it to meals like sandwiches, salads, soups, dips, grain, tofu, and vegetable dishes.
Are All Pestos Vegan?
No, not all pestos are vegan. Traditional basil pesto includes cheese made from cows and is not vegan-friendly. It usually contains Italian Parmesan and Pecorino cheese.
If you want vegan pesto, you must buy one specifically marked as vegan or make it yourself without dairy cheese.
You can also get creative and add other nutrient-dense vegan ingredients like:
- Spinach.
- Arugula.
- Cilantro.
- Parsley.
- Kale.
- Nuts and seeds like walnuts, almonds, cashew nuts, hemp seeds, or sunflower seeds.
Vegan Ways To Use Pesto
This sauce is packed full of antioxidants and flavor, making it something you should add to your diet. Here are some dishes you could add it to:
- Roasted vegetables.
- Sandwiches or wraps.
- Salad dressings.
- Bruschetta topping.
- Hummus-pesto dip with crackers and veggies.
- Stir-fry seasoning.
- Drizzled on top of grains like quinoa, rice, or farro.
- Vegetable soups.
- Grilled tempeh or tofu.
- Pizza sauce base instead of a tomato base or drizzled on top for added flavor.
- Pasta, whether as the base or with a creamy vegan cashew sauce.
What Is Pesto?
Pesto[1] is that deliciously flavorful basil-based sauce we all know and love. It comes from Italy, like most of our favorite foods, and goes great with many dishes.
The traditional basil pesto recipe includes ingredients such as:
- Fresh basil leaves.
- Pine nuts.
- Garlic.
- Extra virgin olive oil.
- Aged Parmesan and/or Pecorino cheese.
- Salt and pepper.
How Is Pesto Made?
Making pesto is pretty simple, you just need a mortar to crush it — if you want to go with the traditional method. Otherwise, a modern food processor or blender will do.
Add fresh basil, garlic, pine nuts, and cheese, and crush it until it forms a nice coarse paste. Then pour olive oil into the mix and season it with salt and pepper.
Health Benefits Of Pesto
Besides the wonderful flavor hit, pesto boosts your health with these amazing benefits:
Antioxidant-Rich Ingredients
Pesto’s main ingredients are basil, garlic, and olive oil, packed with antioxidants. Antioxidants[2] help heal your body from the usual damage it faces from the wear and tear of daily life, including pollution, sunlight, and unhealthy foods.
Basil also has flavonoids[3] and phytonutrients, powerful natural compounds found in plants. They’re antioxidants that have anti-cancer, heart-protective, and immune-boosting properties.
Good Source Of Healthy Fatty Acids
Although it’s higher in fat than tomato-based sauces, it’s a healthy fat. With pesto, you get mono- and polyunsaturated fats from the olive oil and nuts. This makes them both extremely heart[4] and brain healthy.[5]
And if you make a vegan pesto sauce with walnuts[6] instead of cheese, you’ll get extra omega-3s[7] added to your day. This savory flavor of vegan-adapted classic pesto will boost your heart and brain health and add anti-inflammatory effects.
Possible Mood-Booster
Besides the sensory pleasure from its delicious taste and texture, pesto’s ingredients can help your mood. Its antioxidants can reduce stress, while healthy fats can aid mood, anxiety, and depression.[8] Generally, a healthy diet rich in whole vegan foods, like fruits and vegetables, with fats from plant sources can improve your mental health.[9]
Getting enough vitamins and minerals is one of the best ways to ensure balanced hormones and moods. However, many essential nutrients come from animal sources. You might want to consider fortified snacks like vegan meal replacement bars and get a vegan meal delivery service for nutrition variety. Finally, there are also green powders you can add to your smoothies to boost your nutrient intake.
Vegan Alternative Ingredients
Luckily, you can still enjoy pesto made with vegan ingredients. Here are some great alternatives you can use in place of cheese:
- Nutritional yeast: This is a popular vegan cheese replacement for cooking. It’s great because it can melt or blend easily, making it adaptable to most sauces. It gives that savory, slightly salty, and cheesy flavor we all know and love. Plus, it’s got a strong flavor, making it perfect to replace that potent aged Parmesan cheese flavor.
- Nuts and seeds: While traditional pesto includes pine nuts, you can experiment and add a blend of different nuts and seeds for extra flavor. Try cashews for creaminess, walnuts for boldness, or even hemp seeds for something different.
- Vegan cheese: With the rise of veganism, supermarkets are lined with many different imitation cheeses to choose from — many tasting just like the real thing. See if you can find a Parmesan cheese flavor or pick something sharp and strong to replicate it.
If you go to a vegan restaurant, you might even notice pesto dishes on the menu. There’s a vegan recipe for almost any traditional sauce or dish. But if you’re at a non-vegan restaurant and see pesto on the menu, remember that it’s not likely vegan.
Conclusion
Traditional basil pesto isn’t vegan. It includes the hard Italian cow cheese Parmigiano-Reggiano and Pecorino.
Fortunately, you can make a homemade vegan pesto using plant-based ingredients like nutritional yeast, nuts, seeds, and vegan cheese. You can add extra nutrient-dense ingredients like spinach, kale, walnuts, cashews, or cilantro.
Whether you’re vegan or not, pesto can be an incredibly flavorful addition to many dishes, like soups, sandwiches, salads, dips, and roasted vegetables. It’s extremely anti-inflammatory, making it a great physical and mental health-boosting sauce.
Frequently Asked Questions
It includes cheese, an animal product made from cows.
No, pesto is not usually vegetarian. It’s only vegan or vegetarian if you make it yourself with a vegan cheese substitute or buy a brand that doesn’t use cheese in the ingredients.
Vegan pesto is made from all the same ingredients as traditional pesto, minus cow cheese. It includes basil, garlic, olive oil, salt, pine nuts or other nuts, seeds, nutritional yeast, or vegan cheese.
No, traditional pesto is not vegan. You must buy a brand that labels their pesto as vegan or make a vegan version yourself.
+ 9 sources
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- Alessandra De Bruno, Gattuso, A., Romeo, R., Santacaterina, S. and Piscopo, A. (2022). Functional and Sustainable Application of Natural Antioxidant Extract Recovered from Olive Mill Wastewater on Shelf-Life Extension of ‘Basil Pesto’. [online] 12(21), pp.10965–10965. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/app122110965.
- Maria, A. and Cominacini, L. (2023). Potential Benefits of Antioxidant Phytochemicals on Endogenous Antioxidants Defences in Chronic Diseases. [online] 12(4), pp.890–890. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox12040890.
- Panche, A.N., Diwan, A.D. and Chandra, S. (2016). Flavonoids: an overview. [online] 5. doi:https://doi.org/10.1017/jns.2016.41.
- Liu, A., Ford, N.B., Hu, F.B., Zelman, K.M., Dariush Mozaffarian and Kris-Etherton, P.M. (2017). A healthy approach to dietary fats: understanding the science and taking action to reduce consumer confusion. [online] 16(1). doi:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12937-017-0271-4.
- Riviere, A., Nicos Georghiades, Beathard, K. and Riechman, S.E. (2021). Associations of Monounsaturated Fats to Visual Cognitive Performance Training in Older Adults. [online] 5, pp.920–920. doi:https://doi.org/10.1093/cdn/nzab049_033.
- Nogales-Bueno, J., Baca-Bocanegra, B., José Miguel Hernández-Hierro, Garcia, R., João Mota Barroso, Heredia, F.J. and Ana Elisa Rato (2021). Assessment of Total Fat and Fatty Acids in Walnuts Using Near-Infrared Hyperspectral Imaging. [online] 12. doi:https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2021.729880.
- Gordana Petrović-Oggiano, Jasmina Debeljak-Martacic, Slavica Ranković, Biljana Pokimica, Mirić, A., Glibetic, M. and Popović, T. (2020). The Effect of Walnut Consumption on n-3 Fatty Acid Profile of Healthy People Living in a Non-Mediterranean West Balkan Country, a Small Scale Randomized Study. [online] 12(1), pp.192–192. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12010192.
- Lindseth, G. and Petros, T.V. (2016). Neurobehavioral Effects of Consuming Dietary Fatty Acids. [online] 18(5), pp.573–581. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/1099800416657638.
- Justyna Godos, Currenti, W., Angelino, D., Mena, P., Castellano, S., Filippo Caraci, Galvano, F., Daniele Del Rio, Ferri, R. and Grosso, G. (2020). Diet and Mental Health: Review of the Recent Updates on Molecular Mechanisms. [online] 9(4), pp.346–346. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox9040346.
Written by:
Jennifer Olejarz, Nutritionist & Health Coach
Medically reviewed by:
Medically reviewed by:
