Simple Spinach and Pine Nut Pesto

This simple Spinach and Pine Nut Pesto recipe can be made quickly with fresh spinach, toasted pine nuts, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and parmesan.  Delicious tossed with pasta or over grilled chicken.

Pesto is one of those foods that can really pack a flavor-punch.  It’s made with simple, pure ingredients in just a matter of minutes.  For my simple spinach pesto I use fresh spinach, garlic, olive oil, toasted pine nuts and splash of lemon juice and parmesan cheese.   It’s so full of flavor and smells amazing as it comes together!

Why This Recipe Works

• Jarred pesto can be purchased in grocery stores but it’s so easy to make at home too. Pesto made from scratch is so much more delicious than any store-bought version. Plus, you get to control the ingredient amounts and there are no added preservatives or artificial ingredients.
• Pesto is an uncooked sauce that is often made from fresh basil leaves or fresh spinach. I almost always have spinach in my refrigerator and homemade pesto is a great way to use up any slightly wilted spinach.
• Pesto is great when tossed with pasta, spread on sandwiches, used as a topping for a burger or grilled chicken, or even as a dip with chips.  Seriously endless possibilities.

Ingredient Notes

See the recipe box below for ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions.

• Spinach
• Pine nuts
• Garlic
• Lemon juice
• Olive oil
• Parmesan
• Salt

How To Make This Recipe

1. Combine spinach, pine nuts, garlic and lemon juice in a food processor. Lightly pulse. With the machine running, gradually add olive oil, blending until the mixture is creamy.
2. Add the parmesan and pulse.
3. Season with salt to taste.

Expert Tips

• You don’t have to use pine nuts in this recipe (although I highly recommend it). Feel free to use walnuts, cashews, almonds, or pecans instead.
• If you want to make basil pesto, use the same amount of fresh basil instead of spinach.
• You can add fresh kale, parsley, and cilantro to this recipe if you’d like. Just use the recommended amount of 4 cups total.
• I use a food processor when I make pesto, but you can also use a blender.

Frequently Asked Questions

Serving Suggestions

• Replace pizza sauce: Consider using pesto instead of tomato sauce on homemade pizzas.
• Spread on a sandwich: Either use as is or mix with a little mayonnaise and spread on french bread, sandwich bread, pita bread or flat bread.
• Use as a salad dressing: Thin the pesto out a little if you’d like and drizzle over salad greens or chicken salad for a delicious dressing.
• Enjoy for breakfast: Drizzle a little pesto over scrambled eggs or make a breakfast grilled cheese by layering the bread with cheese, cooked eggs, and plenty of pesto.
• Mix into dips: Stir pesto into softened cream cheese for a tasty dip to use with vegetables or tortilla chips.
• Toss with vegetables: Use a bit of pesto to garnish your vegetables.
• Use with meat: Pesto goes very well with grilled steak, pork chops or even shrimp and fish.
• Add to pasta: Toss with you favorite pasta to make a delicious pesto pasta.

Ways To Use Leftover Ingredients

If you have any ingredients left over from this simple pesto recipe, you might like to consider using them in any of these single serving recipes:

• Spinach: Hot Spinach Dip, Crustless Spinach Quiche, Tortellini Soup
• Pine nuts: Sausage Dressing, Hummus, Spinach and Orzo Salad
• Lemon juice: Baba Ganoush, Lemon Curd, Alfredo Sauce
• Parmesan cheese: Parmesan Crisps, Eggplant Parmesan, Chicken Parmesan Tenders

Keeping it simple, and remembering that “simple is often best”.

If you’re looking for a small batch of Spinach and Pine Nut Pesto, you can find that recipe as well as many other single serving recipes by visiting our One Dish Kitchen site. 

Enjoy!