Pack your next pasta night (or pizza night) with nutrition using this super simple Spinach Pesto recipe. It’s made without nuts, so it’s budget-friendly and allergy safe—and it stores well in the fridge or freezer for future meals!
Spinach Pesto
My family adores pasta (like so many families I know), and this Spinach Pesto is one of our go-to sauces. I like it because the color stays bright green, the ingredients are straightforward, and it packs a serious punch of vitamins and iron from the spinach.
This is, hands down, my favorite way to serve up greens to my kids—that us adults enjoy, too.
TIP: Find the rest of my favorite ways to serve greens to kids.
Spinach Pesto Pasta
This recipe makes enough pesto for about 1 pound of cooked pasta, so toss it with your favorite type. It works on any type of pasta you may prefer to use, whether the shape is short or long, made with wheat flour, or a gluten-free option.
Ingredients You Need
To make this easy pesto you’ll need the following ingredients.
- Spinach: I usually use baby spinach, but you can use any type that you have access to. You’ll want to use fresh spinach, not frozen.
- Fresh lemon: We’ll add flavor from both the lemon juice and zest.
- Olive oil: I use extra-virgin olive oil in this recipe for the best flavor.
- Grated Parmesan cheese: I find that grated Parmesan, as opposed to shredded, has the best flavor, so that it’s my top pick here.
- Roasted sunflower seeds: I use these in pesto since they are affordable, flavorful, and great for kids with tree nut allergies. You can also use pine nuts or walnuts if you prefer.
TIP: You may want to add a little salt, depending on the saltiness of the cheese.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here’s a look at the super simple process to make this recipe. Scroll down to the bottom of this post for the full information.
- Gather your ingredients and wash and dry the spinach as needed.
- Place all ingredients into the blender or food processor. You can use either to grind this up.
- Blend, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl or using the stick that came with the blender.
- Use, or store in the fridge in an airtight container or freeze for future use.
TIP: We love this as Spinach Pesto Pasta and on Pesto Pizza.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can make it ahead of time and store it in the fridge for up to 5 days, or place into zip top freezer bags (I like pint size) and seal as you remove as much air as possible. Press flat and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temp before using.
Absolutely! We make batches of this whenever we have a lot of spinach and use it for future meals all the time. Place it into zip top freezer bags (I like pint size) and seal as you remove as much air as possible. Press flat and freeze for up to 3 months.
TIP: Storing the pesto flattened in freezer bags allows you to break off smaller pieces of the frozen pesto if you just need a small amount for a recipe or meal.
You can use it on pasta like fusilli, as a sauce on pizza (so yummy with mushroom pizza!), with grains like quinoa, to top eggs, or to stir into a vegetable soup or Minestrone to add extra flavor. You can also spread a thin layer onto toast or grilled cheese. You can spread it onto chicken.
Sure! Just sub in kale, without the stem, or baby kale, for the spinach and follow the rest of the recipe.
You sure can. Simply add in a handful of fresh basil leaves when making the recipe to add a hit of that classic pesto flavor.
Spinach Pesto Without Nuts
I don’t typically use pine nuts in my pesto because while they do have great flavor, they are often hard to find for those of us who live in smaller towns. And they can be expensive.
Roasted sunflower seeds have a nice flavor, are accessible to everyone, and don’t have the same nut allergy concerns that pine nuts do. Win, win!
TIP: You can use raw sunflower seeds if that’s what you find at your store.
How to Store
You can make it ahead of time and store it in the fridge for up to 5 days, or place into zip-top freezer bags (I like pint size) and seal as you remove as much air as possible. Press flat and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temp before using.
Best Tips for Success
- Use a blender or food processor depending on what you have and what you prefer to use.
- Blend the mixture well so there are no noticeable chunks of any one ingredient.
- Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure the mixture is evenly blended.
- Taste and add a little salt if needed.
- Use on Spinach Pesto Pasta, Pesto Pizza, grain bowls, eggs, in soup, or spread on toast.
- Substitute baby kale for the spinach to make kale pesto.
Related Recipes
I’d love to hear your feedback if you make this recipe so please comment below!
Easy Spinach Pesto
Ingredients
- 4 cups lightly packed baby spinach
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from about 1 lemon)
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
- 1/2 cup roasted unsalted sunflower seeds
- salt (to taste)
Instructions
- Blend very well until very smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl or using the stick that came with the blender as needed. You can also do this in a food processor.
- Season to taste with salt if needed.
- Use with a pound of pasta, as a topping for pizza, or however you like!
Notes
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days or in a zip-top freezer bag, with as much air removed as possible, for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge or at room temperature to use.
- Use a blender or food processor depending on what you have and what you prefer to use.
- Blend the mixture well so there are no noticeable chunks of any ingredient.
- Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure the mixture is evenly blended.
- Taste and add a little salt if needed.
- Use on Spinach Pesto Pasta, Pesto Pizza, grain bowls, eggs, in soup, or spread on toast.
- Substitute baby kale for the spinach to make kale pesto.
- You may also like my Broccoli Pesto, my Pesto Pasta Salad, Pesto Pizza Rolls, and this handy tip for Freezing Greens.
Nutrition
This post was first published June 2019.
Can we substitute pumpkin seeds for sunflower seeds?
Sure
No fun making this with a blender….Its just blocking and its really difficult ):
Try adding more olive oil!
I just made this and it is delicious. I often make an arugula pesto with walnuts and garlic for myself and my husband. This was a good kid-friendly nut-free alternative that is not short on flavor. I will be adding this to my meal rotation.
Hi Amy, we’re dairy free but vegan parmesan is hard to find and pricey, is there another substitute we could use? We’re ok if the flavor is compromised a bit. Thank you!
Hi- A lot of families use nutritional yeast instead if that’s an option for you.
Great recipe! Added garlic and a bit more olive oil to use as a dressing. Very tasty!!!!
Made this vegan by subbing nutritional yeast for the cheese, and used half hemp seeds and half sunflower – yum! I also added another half a lemon but my lemons weren’t particularly juicy, and I like a lemony pesto.
We really enjoyed this recipe without pine nuts!
Yummy!! Very lemony so I might tweak the amount slightly because it overpowers some of the other flavors but it’s still delicious!! I’m not a huge fan of basil so this is a great alternative for me!!