Is your garden overflowing with fresh basil? Or maybe you have a farmer’s market near you? Either way, making pesto is quick, easy, delicious, and perfect to make ahead and freeze. I love making big batches of my Basil Pesto (make it and freeze it)! Dig through my freezer and I’m sure you’ll find multiple zip-locks bags full of pesto cubes. Yep, cubes! Doesn’t your pesto come in cubes? It will if you freeze it in ice cube trays!!
I just love going out into my little garden and picking fresh veggies. And basil is one of my favorites!
I’ve been using this Basil Pesto recipe for about a gazillion years now. Maybe, 15-20 years, but that’s still a lot of pesto! It’s basic, but I’ll continue to use it because I love it. I did recently make a Zesty Avocado Pesto that was out of this world delicious, but it won’t replace the basic.
Especially during basil growing season, I always make sure to have the other ingredients on hand: good olive oil, pine nuts, fresh garlic, salt, pepper, and fresh parmesan. Making pesto is as simple as combining all the ingredients in a food processor and letting it run for a few minutes. It’s seriously so simple, that there is no reason to ever buy pesto again!
After the pesto is made, simply fill an ice cube tray (or 2 or 3) full of pesto and place in the freezer. A few hours later, pop the frozen cubes of pesto out and place in freezer zip lock baggies. I continue to make the pesto all season long, as it seems I can never have enough on hand. We love pesto on hot pasta, on garlic bread, in cold pasta salads, in scrambled eggs, and on sandwiches. What is your favorite use for pesto??
Just look at those little frozen cubes of pesto goodness!! Take out a little or a lot and quickly add them to your favorite pesto meal!!!! There’s nothing better than Basil Pesto (make it and freeze it) available to use all year long!
When your garden is full of pesto, you’ll want to have this recipe on hand, so go ahead and Pin it!
Basil Pesto
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh picked basil leaves
- 3 large cloves garlic
- 3/4 cup pine nuts
- 3/4 cup good olive oil
- 3/4 cup fresh parmesan cheese not the stuff in the green can
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4-1/2 tsp fresh cracked pepper
Instructions
- Place basil, garlic, nuts, and olive oil in food processor fitted with a metal blade.
- Process until fairly smooth, wiping down sides once or twice if needed.
- Add cheese, salt, and pepper and give it a quick whirl to mix.
- Use immediately or freeze in ice cube trays.
- Once frozen, pop them out and place into freezer zip-lock bags (date the bag w/sharpie).
If you love pesto half as much as I do, you’ll want to try a few more of these recipes!
Dear Renee, homemade pesto is one of my favorite ways to enjoy summer basil. I have lots of basil this year. I love the idea of freezing it in the ice tray. xo, Catherine
I love homemade pesto and it’s such a wonderful idea to freeze it in cubes – that way you can enjoy pesto goodness every time! Love this!
I LOVE pesto! I often freeze it in 4oz jars, they stack nicely in my freezer. It’s perfect to pull out in the dead of winter!
How long does it “last” in the freezer? I’ve heard all sorts of answers. I’ve got my jars!
For me about six months or they can freezer burn
Nothing beats homemade pesto!
Great post! I love pesto!
Every year I say I am going to freeze my pesto like this, and I never do it! What is wrong with me?! I do freeze it, just in jars and containers. But this is perfect for when you just want a little bit, like for a sandwich. We have tons of basil…I need to get going on this now!
how long will it last in the fridge or freezer?
Great pesto recipe .. thank you. Another way to freeze it is on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. When you spread it out put another piece of parchment loosely on top. When it has frozen you can break it up into bits and freeze in ziploc bags. This way if a cube is more than you need you can decide what size you need.
Hi Renee,
Silly question, but still: when you use frozen pesto cubes for sandwiches or cold pasta, how long do you thaw the cubes in the fridge? Thank you!
I want to thank you so much for this recipe – it was simple to follow and tastes amazing! I made about 6 batches before my basil froze this fall and it’s been a delightful reminder of summer now that we have snow on the ground. Thank you!!
Easy Peasy. We had purchased fresh basil at the store to make basil chicken and had a lot of the fresh basil left over. Your recipe was perfect! Made it just now and put it in the ice cube tray and now it’s in the freezer. :-). Gave a husband a taste before it when into the tray and he said perfect! I can’t wait to use the pesto later in the year. Thanks for your recipe!
My recipe rating should be 5 stars! I don’t know why it only showed 3 stars. I hope you can fix it!
My husband is allergic to pine nuts. What other nut would work to substitute? Got lots of basil so would love to try this.
I like using walnuts instead of pine nuts
I made mine with a little bit of bread crumbs to replace the nuts since I can’t have nuts. Came out great!
I made mine with a little bit of bread crumbs to replace the nuts since I can’t have nuts. Came out great!
I’ve been doing this for several years now, using ice cube trays and it’s great! I love to use walnuts as they are a much better fat and less expensive than pine nuts.
Love the recipe but I don’t put the cheese since it can ruin the process
Carl, I thought that too, at first, but it doesn’t. My pesto turns out great when I add the cheese into the recipe before freezing.
Made this and yum. So much basil from the garden, substituted walnuts for pine nuts and was just as good.
Is there a trick to getting them out of the ice cube tray? Mine won’t budge. Also, another great way to use it is on top of a baked potato.