Vegan Parsley Walnut Pesto

This vegan parsley walnut pesto is thick, rich, and ready in 10 minutes with five ingredients. No cheese, no basil, no pine nuts required. Parsley works year-round and walnuts toast up better than pine nuts anyway. Use it on pasta, grilled chicken, sandwiches, pizza, or straight from the jar. Naturally gluten-free and dairy-free with no substitutions needed.

Prep time: PT10M

Total time: PT10M

Rating

4.91 stars (11 reviews)

Keywords

dairy free pesto, gluten free pesto, no cheese pesto, parsley pesto vegan, parsley walnut pesto, pesto without cheese, vegan parsley pesto, vegan walnut pesto, walnut pesto without basil

Ingredients

2 cups flat leaf parsley (loosely packed (about 1 bunch))
½ cup walnuts (toasted and roughly chopped)
2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup extra virgin olive oil (plus up to ¼ cup more as needed)

Cuisine

American

Steps

Add 2 cups flat leaf parsley, ½ cup walnuts, 2 cloves garlic, 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon kosher salt to a food processor. Pulse until the mixture is roughly combined.
With the food processor running continuously, slowly drizzle in ½ cup extra virgin olive oil through the feed tube. Start with ½ cup and add up to ¼ cup more until the pesto is smooth and reaches your desired consistency.
Taste and adjust salt as needed. Serve immediately or refrigerate in a sealed glass jar until ready to use.

Nutitrion

Serving Size: 1 serving
Calories: 234 kcal
Carbohydrates: 2 g
Protein: 2 g
Fat: 25 g
Saturated Fat: 3 g
Sodium: 300 mg
Sugar: 1 g

Reviews

Arianna on 2026-01-23 (5 stars):
Fantastic recipe! It’s also extremely flexible as I’ve used basil in place of parsley and roasted cashews in place of walnuts and it still has the perfect consistency. No tweaking necessary.
Becks on 2025-11-08 (4 stars):
Good but Very salty. Suggest starting with 1/2 tsp salt.
Armand on 2024-08-08 (5 stars):
My daughter has been diagnosed with gluten and dairy intolerance and she never touches meat. She loves pesto and I could not give her the one she loves from Costco anymore. I made this pesto recipe tonight and just doubled the garlic and added some wilted basil that I had in the fridge. It is OUTSTANDING! We all love it! Thank you so much!!!!!
Laurelea on 2023-11-23 (5 stars):
This was delicious!!!! I was afraid my bunch of parsley would wilt and die and went looking for a recipe so that didn’t happen. This pesto was a perfect solution. I love to spread it on a toasted whole grain tortilla with tomatoes and red onion for a yummy breakfast. Will definitely make it a standard in my household.
Catherine on 2023-04-15 (5 stars):
I make this once a week! It’s so amazing and simple! I do sub a couple of ingredients with our family’s preferences: cashews instead of walnuts, avocado oil instead of olive - and it is still great!! Thank you!
Catherine on 2023-03-28 (5 stars):
This is a weekly recipe in our home! My husband and toddler LOVE it! I use cashews instead of walnuts, and it comes out great!! Thank you :)
Lynn on 2022-10-08 (5 stars):
I love pesto and usually make it with basil. There was so much parsley in the garden, so I decided to look up a recipe. This is great! Thank you. I try to have as much pesto on hand as possible - it goes on so much!!