You know those nights where you’re exhausted, maybe because you worked hard all day, or maybe because you watched an entire season of a new show on Netflix, (no judgement). You’re tired, you’re hungry, you’re lazy, and all you want is an enormous bowl of basil-y, garlic-y, cashew-y, vegan pasta. Well what an extreeme coincidence, because I have just the thing for you! (I know, you didn’t see that coming at all).
I love making pesto, because it’s incredibly easy, and everyone seems to think you’re all fancy pants in the kitchen. When really, all you have to do is just shove some things in a food processor, and boil some pasta. It’s like if sweat pants were fancy.
Traditionally, pesto has a mound of cheese in it (but bleh, clearly), and it’s made with pine nuts. Now, there isn’t anything non-vegan about pine nuts, but personally I am just not a huge fan. They are pretty pricey, they spoil easily, and I never have them on hand… which doesn’t really work for the lazy part of the meal preparation. So, I swapped out pine nuts with cashews, lots of ’em. I love the creamy, dreamy, soft flavour it provides. If you don’t have cashews, walnuts work well too.
To make this dish, simply boil water for pasta (yeah it starts that easy), toss all the ingredients for the pesto into a food processor, and pulse until you have a slightly textured paste. Cook your pasta, then toss the hot pasta with the pesto. Done. (It ends that easy too). Top with a little basil leaf or two, and now you are talking some serious fancy pants-ness.
- 1 Bunch of Basil (about 1 Cup. Save some extra leaves for garnish)
- ¾ Cup Cashews (raw or roasted)
- ¼ Cup Olive Oil
- 2 Cloves Garlic
- 2 Tablespoons Nutritional Yeast
- 2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
- ¼ teaspoon Salt (or to taste)
- Couple Grinds of Pepper
- 1 Pound dried pasta (around 4 cups)
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and then cook the pasta according to the package directions.
- Peel the garlic, and juice the lemon.
- Toss everything (basil, cashews, olive oil, garlic, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, salt and pepper), into a food processor.
- Pulse until everything is ground into a paste, but it still has a bit of texture. You will probably have to stop and scrape down the sides.
- When the pasta is cooked, drain, and then put it back in the pot. Add the pesto to the pot with the pasta and toss until well combined. Serve immediately.
Featured Ingredient: Basil. 128 Days, 58 Recipes to go!
Bon Appetegan
Sam.
I found your website and recipe looking for a cashew based pesto pasta……ohhh, it was a 10!! I added a but of nut milk to it, and my husband loved it, too. Thank you for sharing this. Of course, I’m glad I didn’t see the nutritional info until after I had my ONE serving.
So happy you loved it so much, Amy! Haha, I have some lighter pesto recipes here. Pesto is pretty oily so that’s where the calories come from!
I made this last night with some slight modifications. Doubled the garlic, two cups of steamed broccoli florets and 1/4 cup of almond milk.
Absolutely amazing.
Woohoo! So happy you loved it, Deborah!
Wondering what would happen if the oil was omitted. Can it be replaced with something else?
I bet you if you replaced the oil with avocado it would be pretty scrumptious. 🙂 Hope that helps!
Oh my gosh–I can’t rave enough about this dish. The pesto is flawless. I did 1/8c olive oil and 1/8c almond milk to cut down on the oil and it turned out amazing. We’re going to make it again tomorrow (snow day over here in upstate New York, woohoo!) and add roasted tempeh. Did I mention how delicious it is to be vegan? Thanks, Samantha!
Yay! So happy you loved it, Brittany! It is delicious to be vegan 😀
I’ve just whipped this up to feed the troops and OH. MY. FRICK. It’s good. It’s so damn good.
Woohoo! So glad you loved it, Candice 🙂
SO GOOD! & so easy to make!! Amazing recipe, thank you! 🙂
Woohoo! So happy you enjoyed it!
DELICIOUS!!!
Yay!!
Great recipe AND enironmentally friendly because it uses cashews instead of pine nuts…Steph did you know that excessive human demand for pine nuts is causing a disaster for the Mediterranean pine forest ecosystem!
Oh I wasn’t even aware of that, but love that it’s more environmentally friendly! Thanks for letting us know Kate. Also, glad you enjoyed the recipe 🙂
Well, I didn’t get the results others are raving about. I used raw organic cashews and followed the recipe exactly. I found the cashews overpowered the flavor of the basil. I was leery of a vegan pesto recipe that didn’t call for nutritional yeast. It was missing that slight pungency that you would get from NY or traditionally parm chz. I was so bummed to waste all these ingredients and still end up going to the store. I say, if you want pesto, you gotta spring for the 1/3 c of pine nuts…otherwise it’s just a bastardized version of a delicious sauce. Thanks anyway. May I recommend this pesto recipe…never fails
http://minimalistbaker.com/vegan-pesto-parmesan-breadsticks/
Sorry you didn’t enjoy the recipe Steph, but it doesn’t appear that you followed the recipe exactly as written, because the recipe does indeed call for nutritional yeast (5th ingredient in the list). I love the taste of cashews, but everyones palettes are different. Cheers!
Holy Moly! I must have been off my meds. Wow, what an oversight. I doooo love cashews, actually I make a great mock alfredo with ’em. Sorry for the confusion. Cheers!
Haha, not a problem at all! Cheers to you 🙂
Oooh that comes up with STRAWBERRY COCONUT GRANOLA for me…. whoops?
Great recipe! I had a huge bunch of basil that I got at the market and no pine nuts in the house. Thanks for this delicious alternative
You’re very welcome Julia, so happy you enjoyed it!
Do you know if it would be okay to use soaked cashews? I have some I need to use up!
thanks!
I think that would be just fine, it might just be a little runnier than normal, but I doubt very much. Enjoy!
This is absolutely delicious!! Best Pesto I’ve ever had (which is saying a lot as I’ve had pretty much every type available AND I have never made it myself until now). Absolutely delicious!!
Wow!! That’s so awesome and I am so flattered. So very happy you enjoyed it Emily!
This looks awesome! I don’t have a food processor but do have a Vitamix. Do you think that will work or should I invest in a food processor sometime?
Hi Kristi,
I think that will work. You might have to stop to scrape down the sides every now and then to help it blend. I’m a fan of having both a food processor and blender. I find food processors do a better job of blending dryer or thicker things, such as nut butters, and thick sauces or dips. Blenders are better at more liquid things and can help you get very creamy and smooth textures. This is the modern version of the food processor I have if you are interested. 🙂
Hi Samantha!
This is my first time visiting your blog and I love it! I scrolled through and saw this recipe and just couldn’t resist. I’m not a vegan, but pasta IS my favorite. And you’re right – pesto sauces do usually have cheese. I had no idea that cashews could be a creamy substitute and make the sauce just a creamy. Amazing tip! I have to try that! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Mary
Awww shucks, thank you Mary! Pasta, or really any kind of noodle is my favourite too!! Cashews are like a vegans best friend, they do magical things to dishes. You can literally make cream from them like in my Creamy Vegan Sun-dried Tomato Pasta.I hope you enjoy the pasta Mary!
LOVE! I actually made this just the other night but I enjoy seeing your recipe – always room for improvement I say! I like to roast cherry tomatoes and top my pesto pasta off with them – they’re pretty against the green. This fall I made vegan cashew freezer pesto (yes, of course, it’s all gone already!) and I believe I said oh-my-God this is the best pesto I’ve ever had! Keep these delicious recipes coming Sam!
Thank you Kathy! Will do! Oh roasted cherry tomatoes are for sure yum. So are some thinly sliced sun dried tomatoes to add a little chew. I’m jealous of people with freezer space. My freezer is barely big enough to hold some frozen peas and a couple frozen bananas. One day…
Pasta with pesto is my all-time favorite meal. I could it eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day for the rest of my life and die happy. 🙂 I love the idea of adding cashews to the sauce!
I guess I really hit the spot for you with this one, Meredith! So fun discovering what recipes people really connect with, and which ones they don’t. …well the not connecting recipes aren’t as much fun. Anyways, yay! Pesto! haha.