This basil pesto is thick, garlicky and bright with fresh lemon. You can spoon it over cooked chicken or vegetables, or measure a little into a salad dressing. The pine nuts give it body, and the Parmesan adds a salty finish. Everything goes into the food processor cold, with the olive oil added in portions until the leaves and nuts come together.
As a working, homeschooling mom of six, I appreciate a small preparation that can help with more than one meal. Our family began GAPS in July 2024, and keeping the components of a meal manageable matters alongside school and second shift. With pesto, you can make the sauce separately, put away the portion you need, and return to the main dish without another bowl of ingredients waiting beside it.
This version uses two cups of basil, half a cup each of pine nuts and olive oil, four cloves of garlic, and the zest and juice of one lemon. Half a cup of grated raw Parmesan is optional. It belongs on Full GAPS after the ingredients fit your own progression. The recipe card makes one batch; the finished volume depends on how you measure the leaves and how finely you process them.
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh basil leaves, measured before processing
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled
- ½ cup raw cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ cup grated raw Parmesan, optional
- ½ cup pine nuts, in a form you have already introduced
- Zest and juice of 1 fresh lemon
- Natural sea salt and black pepper, to taste
Pick the basil leaves from any tough stalks. Wash them if needed and dry them before measuring. Water left on the leaves makes it harder to judge the sauce as you add the oil. Two cups means the leafy ingredient before chopping, rather than two cups of compressed pesto from the processor.
The garlic is raw, so its flavor stays quite noticeable. Four cloves belong to this two-cup basil batch. Peel them first and trim away any hard stem ends. Cutting particularly large cloves into smaller pieces helps the processor catch them among the leaves.
Measure the olive oil into a cup before you begin. Use that same half cup throughout the method. You are adding it gradually, rather than adding half a cup at the beginning and another unmeasured pour later. Choose an oil whose flavor you enjoy in a raw dressing because you will taste it here.
Grate the Parmesan before measuring it. If you are leaving it out, simply omit it; the pine nuts remain part of the recipe. A cheese-free batch will taste less salty and have a slightly different texture. Taste the finished pesto before deciding how much salt to add.
The lemon contributes both zest and juice. Wash the outside, remove the colored zest, and then juice it, keeping the seeds out. Avoid grating deeply into the white pith. Lemon sizes vary, which is one reason to taste this batch rather than expect every jar to have exactly the same sharpness.
Recommended Equipment
I use the food-processor attachment on my Ninja BN801 for a preparation like this. It is the eight-cup Precision Processor bowl with its chopping blade, not the large drink pitcher or the single-serve cup. A food processor suitable for this quantity is the practical reader option too.
Have a measuring cup, a fine grater for the lemon and cheese, a knife, and a spatula ready. Use the spatula only after the motor has stopped and the lid is safely removed. You will also need a clean covered container for the finished sauce.
Keep the lid locked whenever you pulse. For this Ninja method, stop the machine before opening it to add another portion of oil or scrape down the sides. There is no need to improvise a way to pour through a closed lid while the blade is moving.
How To Make Basil Pesto
- Prepare and measure the basil, peeled garlic, pine nuts, optional grated Parmesan, and lemon zest and juice. Measure the half cup of olive oil separately.
- Fit the chopping blade into the processor bowl as directed by its manufacturer. Add the basil, garlic, pine nuts, optional Parmesan, lemon zest and juice, and a small portion of the measured oil. Lock the lid.
- Pulse briefly until the leaves collapse and the larger pieces begin to break up. Stop the motor, remove the lid safely, and scrape down the sides if needed.
- Add more of the measured oil, lock the lid, and pulse again. Repeat with the remaining measured oil until the pesto is evenly combined and spoonable. Stop between additions and keep the mixture cool.
- Taste and mix in sea salt and pepper as wanted. Transfer the pesto to a clean covered container and refrigerate promptly, or measure the portion you need for the meal.
At the beginning, the leaves can sit loosely above the denser ingredients. Short pulses help bring them down without running the machine continuously. After the first few pulses, look for a smaller, damp-looking mixture rather than a bowl still full of separate leaves.
As the oil goes in, the chopped ingredients should move together. Stop with small flecks of basil and nuts still visible if that is the texture you enjoy. You do not need to turn it into a completely smooth liquid. A spoonful should hold together while still being easy to spread or stir.
Scraping the sides is more useful than continuing to run a blade beneath ingredients stuck above it. Stop first, collect the mixture toward the center, replace the lid, and pulse again. Keep the spatula away from the blade assembly and follow your machine’s handling instructions.
This pesto is not cooked. Keep the olive oil raw and stop before prolonged processing warms the mixture. Once the texture looks right, taste it with a clean spoon. The optional cheese already brings salt, so season after it has been mixed through.
Where It Fits On Full GAPS
This is a Full GAPS sauce for someone who has introduced the nuts, raw garlic, basil, lemon and olive oil. With Parmesan included, natural hard cheese also needs to fit your dairy progression. It is not a sauce to move into an early Intro stage simply because it is blended.
GAPS introduces nuts according to preparation and tolerance, with baked nut foods before raw nuts for people following that progression. The pine nuts here remain raw. Being ready for a little almond-flour baking does not automatically mean that a generous serving of raw nut pesto is your next meal.
Leaving out the optional Parmesan gives you a dairy-free batch. The recipe is already egg-free. It still contains pine nuts and other plant ingredients, so it is neither a nut-free sauce nor a No-Plant GAPS option. Those distinctions help you choose a sauce without quietly changing what is in the jar.
If raw nuts or garlic are not part of your meals yet, save this recipe for later. Choose a preparation that fits the stage you are following rather than trying to make this exact pesto into an earlier-stage food. The GAPS food list and stage guide explains how those choices fit the wider diet.
Storage And Serving
Spoon pesto onto food when you are ready to serve so its olive oil stays raw. With a larger meal, take out the portion you need rather than putting the whole container beside the stove. A small spoonful can be spread over cooked meat or stirred into an already finished dressing.
For any recipe calling for a quarter cup of pesto, measure a quarter cup of this completed sauce. The amount of basil that went into the processor is a different measure. Keep the remaining sauce separate instead of adding the whole batch to a recipe that only needs a little.
Keep the pesto covered in the refrigerator and use it within three days. For longer storage, freeze it. The National Center for Home Food Preservation’s pesto guidance gives that refrigerator limit and recommends leaving half an inch of headspace when freezing pesto in freezer-safe glass jars.
Label the container with its preparation date. A small freezer container can be easier to use than repeatedly thawing a large amount. Thaw the portion you need in the refrigerator and stir it before serving. Keep the sauce refrigerated while you prepare the rest of the meal.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I Make It Without Parmesan?
Yes. The half cup of Parmesan is optional in this formula. Omit it without replacing it with another cheese or adding extra nuts. Taste for salt after processing because a cheese-free batch will need its own seasoning.
Why Is My Pesto Still Coarse?
Stop and scrape down the sides, then pulse again with the remaining measured oil. Check for a garlic piece above the blade or leaves caught around the bowl. Some texture is welcome; the aim is an evenly combined sauce rather than completely smooth green oil.
Can I Double The Recipe?
The card’s 2× setting doubles every measured ingredient. That means four cups of basil and eight garlic cloves, with one cup each of oil, pine nuts and optional Parmesan, plus two lemons. Check your processor’s working capacity before loading it. Separate processing batches can be easier to combine evenly.
How Much Does One Batch Make?
The card records one batch because leaf packing, the optional cheese and processing change the finished volume. If another recipe calls for a specific amount, measure it from the completed pesto rather than assuming the entire batch is that portion.
More Homemade Sauces
For a different garlic sauce, try traditional egg-free garlic aioli or garlic aioli made with homemade mayonnaise. Each has its own ingredients and Full GAPS considerations.
My planned Sauces, Dressings & Condiments Cookbook brings these smaller preparations together with ways to use them in family meals. Follow the WFLI cookbook catalog for its release.
Basil Pesto Recipe
Basil Pesto With Parmesan And Pine Nuts For Full GAPS
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Prepare and measure the basil, peeled garlic, pine nuts, optional grated Parmesan, and lemon zest and juice. Measure the half cup of olive oil separately.
- Fit the chopping blade into the processor bowl according to its manufacturer. Add the basil, garlic, pine nuts, optional Parmesan, lemon zest and juice, and a small portion of the measured oil. Lock the lid.
- Pulse briefly until the leaves collapse and the larger pieces begin breaking up. Stop the motor, remove the lid safely, and scrape down the sides if needed.
- Add more of the measured oil, lock the lid, and pulse again. Repeat with the remaining measured oil until evenly combined and spoonable. Stop the motor between additions and keep the mixture cool.
- Taste and mix in salt and pepper as wanted. Transfer to a clean covered container and refrigerate promptly, or measure the portion needed for the meal.
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