Collard Greens Pesto Sauce, a super simple pesto sauce recipe that uses collard leaves instead of basil. Ready in 5 minutes and freezes well!
Have leftover fresh collard leaves that you’re not sure what to do with? Put them in a pesto! Great as a topping for vegetables or mixed into salads and soups, this fresh collard pesto is a tasty way to save collard greens from being thrown out.
👉 Ready to learn how to make pesto from fresh collard greens? Let’s do it!
🌿 Ingredients you’ll need
- Collard Greens: Fresh collard greens are the base of this recipe; they provide important vitamins and minerals including vitamin A, vitamin K, potassium, and folate.
- Nuts or seeds: Pine nuts are used in traditional pesto, but you can make it with other varieties of nuts, like cashews or walnuts. You can even make it nut-free with pumpkin seeds or hemp seeds!
- Cheese (or alternative): Parmesan or pecorino cheeses are traditional, but you can also use a vegan cheese-alternative like nutritional yeast.
- Olive oil: Adds flavor to pesto and helps maintain its texture so that it doesn’t become too thick.
- Garlic, salt, and pepper. These are common pesto seasonings that you can adjust to your liking.
- Optional Ingredients: Balance out the pesto with acid and brighten the flavor with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.
- Recommended tools: A food processor or blender, knife set, cutting board, and salad spinner
🥣 How to make (step-by-step photos)
1️⃣ Step One: Wash and prep collard leaves
Start with washing the collards by running it under water or submerging in a bowl of water.
Remove any dirt from the leaves, then take it out of the bowl and lay flat on a plate or kitchen towel to dry. You can also use a salad spinner to dry the leaves.
Before making the pesto, remove any remaining hard stems from the collard leaves.
2️⃣ Step Two: Blend the collards, nuts or seeds, garlic, and oil
Toss the collard leaves in a food processor. Add nuts or seeds and garlic cloves, and pulse until finely chopped.
As the ingredients are being blended, slowly drizzle in olive oil and continue to pulse until the chopped ingredients are well coated in oil but not completely smooth (you will want the pesto to be a little chunky)
Slowly drizzle in olive oil while pulsing the ingredients. Pulse until the chopped ingredients are well coated in oil, but still chunky.
3️⃣ Step Three: Mix in cheese, spices, and lemon juice
Finish off the pesto by slowly adding cheese or nutritional yeast, salt, and pepper. Give it a taste and add more seasoning until the pesto is flavored to your liking!
💡 Ideas for serving
There are so many fun ways to enjoy pesto! Here are some ideas for how to serve collard pesto:
- Use as a sauce or spread. Pasta, pizza, bowls, sandwiches – you can’t go wrong with using pesto as your base spread or sauce.
- Use as veggie dip. Pesto and veggies pair perfectly! You can mix collard pesto into hummus or use it on its own as a dip on a veggie platter.
- Add to salad dressings. Pesto can easily be mixed into salad dressing. Simply combine it with more olive oil and lemon juice and drizzle on salad.
🧊 How to store
Here are some storage tips for collard pesto:
- Refrigerator storage: Keep in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
- Freezer storage: Store in a sealed freezer-safe container for up to 6 months.
👉 Pro tip: To prevent browning, it is a good idea to drizzle a thin layer of olive oil on the surface of pesto before putting it in the refrigerator or freezer. You can add pesto to ice cube trays, freeze, and transfer to a freezer-safe storage bag. Having small amounts on hand are perfect for when you need a quick flavor enhancer!
♻️ Sustainable kitchen tips
Making collard pesto is a great way to reduce food waste! Here are some ways to make it even better for the planet:
Make it during collard greens season. The growing season for collards is usually summer through late fall in most regions.
Freeze for later! Make a big batch of collard pesto when it’s in season, then freeze to enjoy for months to come.
👉 More collard greens recipes
Want more recipes using collard greens? Try our Sautéed Collard Greens and Chickpea Salad Collard Greens Wrap.
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Collard Greens Pesto
Ingredients
- 2 cups collard greens
- ⅓ cup pine nuts, or pumpkins seeds if nut-free
- 2 cloves garlic
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ⅓ cup parmesan cheese, or nutritional yeast if vegan
- 1 pinch salt and pepper
- Optional: squeeze of fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Wash and prep collard leaves: Start by washing 2 cups collard greens under running water or submerging them in a bowl of water and shaking them to remove any dirt. Use a salad spinner to dry leaves or lay them flat on a plate or kitchen towel to dry, then chop them into thin pieces.
- Blend collards, nuts, garlic, and oil: Toss the cleaned and dried collard leaves in a food processor. Next, add ⅓ cup pine nuts and 2 cloves garlic. Pulse until finely chopped, slowly drizzling in ½ cup extra virgin olive oil until the chopped ingredients are well coated in oil but still chunky.
- Add seasonings to finish: Finish by adding in the ⅓ cup parmesan cheese (or nutritional yeast) and 1 pinch salt and pepper. Add the Optional: squeeze of fresh lemon juice if using. Give the pesto a taste and add more seasonings until it’s flavored to your liking.
Equipment
- 1 food processor
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