Name: Pesto pasta recipe
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Ingredients: 10 oz Parmesan cheese (roughly broken into chunks); 4 tsp Basil leaves (with stalks removed); ½ Clove Garlic; 4 tsp Pine nuts; 4 tsp Blanched almonds; ¼ tsp Lemon zest; ¼ tsp Lemon juice; 2 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil; Salt and black pepper (to taste); 1 pinch of salt; 12 oz Spaghetti; Parmesan cheese (optional) (finely grated); Toasted pine nuts (optional); Fresh basil leaves (optional)

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Good, tasty food shouldn’t be this easy – right? Treat yourself to the perfect midweek meal with our creamy, nutty pesto al pasta (basil pesto pasta) recipe. When we first went to Italy, we experienced what pesto pasta should really taste like, over the years we’ve experimented and while this isn’t strictly traditional, we think you’ll agree that it’s absolutely delicious!

A close up of pesto pasta with toasted pine nuts and vegetarian grated Parmesan cheese.

Why you’ll love this pasta recipe

It’s ridiculously easy and can take as little as 5 minutes to make!
The whole family will love it, including the kids and meat-eaters!
We think that our pasta with basil pesto recipe tastes just as good cold as it does hot!
It’s 100% vegetarian.

Creamy pesto pasta sauce is something that we always have in our home, either freshly made or in the freezer, because you never know when you want a comfort food fix.

Thanks to Corrie Cooks for making a great video for us!

What ingredients will I need?

If you’re making your own pesto, then you’ll need all the ingredients in the photo, if you’re using store-bought, then you’ll just need the pasta, pesto, and the optional cheese and pine nuts to garnish.

Ingredients needed to make pesto pasta, vegetarian Parmesan cheese, toasted pine nuts, fresh basil, spaghetti, lemon, garlic, olive oil, blanched almonds, salt and pepper.

How to make pesto pasta with step-by-step instructions

Making our best pesto pasta recipe is easy if you follow our simple instructions.

A full printable recipe along with the measurements in both US customary and metric is available in the recipe card below.

Not making your own pesto sauce?

Skip directly to the ‘for the pasta‘ section.

If you’re making homemade pesto sauce (optional)

Roughly break or chop up your Parmesan cheese and place it in a food processor or blender.

Add chunks of Parmesan cheese into a food processor or blender. — Break up the vegetarian Parmesan and add it to a food processor or blender.

Add garlic, pine nuts and almonds. — Add basil leaves, garlic cloves, pine nuts, and blanched almonds.

Now, add in the basil leaves, garlic, pine nuts, and blanched almonds

Next, you’ll need to add the zest of one lemon and freshly squeezed lemon juice.

Finally, add extra virgin olive oil.

Blitz in a food processor. — Blitz until you have a smooth pesto sauce.

Secure the lid on your food processor and blitz until you have a smooth pesto sauce.

Taste and season with kosher salt and pepper if needed.

For the pasta

Bring a large pan of salted water to a boil and add your spaghetti and cook according to the package directions.

When the spaghetti is cooked, it should be al dente, carefully take a cup full of the pasta water and then drain the pasta.

Add the drained pasta to a bowl and add the pesto and a little of the reserved pasta water, approximately ¼ of a cup, stirring thoroughly to combine and coat the pasta evenly.

Add pesto to pasta. — Add hot pasta to a bowl, and then add pesto pasta sauce.

Stir to combine — Toss to coat pasta evenly.

Season with salt and pepper, and garnish with toasted pine nuts, fresh basil leaves, and finely grated parmesan cheese (vegetarian version).

Serve immediately and enjoy!

Pesto pasta recipe notes and expert tips

Make a batch
Make a double batch of your pesto sauce and freeze it in tablespoon portions in ice cube trays, so that you have it whenever you need it!
Add tomatoes
Add halved cherry tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, or roasted cherry tomatoes.
Got leftover pesto pasta?
Store it in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 2 days, no need to reheat, eat at room temperature.
Don’t toss the pesto pasta in the cooking pot
It’ll be too hot, and it could turn the pesto brown, which is most off-putting!
Tempted to put olive oil in the pasta water?
Don’t do it! It’ll prevent the basil pesto sauce from sticking to the pasta.
Missing the chicken?
Chicken pesto pasta is a popular dish, you can replace it with vegetarian substitute chicken.
Spice it up
Add a teaspoon of red pepper flakes to add a little heat to your dish.

An overhead view of a bowl of warm pasta with a creamy sauce, made from basil pesto, with a mortar of freshly made pesto, fresh herbs and toasted pine nuts.

Do I have to make my own pesto?

No, you don’t, you can use a store-bought pesto sauce.

But homemade pesto is so easy to make and the difference between store-bought and homemade pesto sauce is like night and day.

It takes just 15 minutes to make pesto, so while you’re boiling the pan of water and waiting for the spaghetti to cook, you could easily make some.

We’ve got a really easy basil pesto recipe, it’s cheesy, nutty, and bursting with flavor.

The great thing with pesto is that it freezes well, you can make a big batch up and freeze it in tablespoon portions in ice cube trays.

Once the pesto is frozen, you can pop them out and put them in a bag, and hey pesto (sorry, we couldn’t resist that), you’ve got homemade pesto sauce whenever you need it.

A side view of a pasta dish with spaghetti and a creamy sauce made from basil pesto.

Is pesto vegetarian?

Most store-bought pesto sauces are not vegetarian because they contain parmesan cheese.

Parmesan cheese contains rennet, so if you are buying a jar then make sure you buy one suitable for a vegetarian.

Our homemade basil pesto is vegetarian as we use vegetarian parmesan cheese or Italian hard cheese.

Don’t add olive oil to pasta water

You may hear that when you cook pasta putting a little oil in pasta water will stop it from sticking together, but all it does is make your pasta oily and for this pesto pasta recipe, it would mean that the pesto will not stick to the pasta.

The simple way to prevent your pasta from sticking together is by stirring it – yes, it’s that simple, just stir it!

Why do you add pasta water to pesto pasta?

The pasta water is a crucial part of pesto pasta sauce.

If you don’t add a little of the reserved water that you cooked your pasta in, it’ll be dry and a little clumpy.

You want a delicious creamy pesto pasta, and the starchy pasta water allows the sauce to coat the cooked pasta perfectly.

What pasta goes with pesto?

Our creamy pesto pasta recipe is perfect as a standalone main meal, but if you did want to add a little extra to it, then why not try it with a Caprese salad, an Italian green salad with balsamic vinaigrette, or garlic bread.

If you’d like a good appetizer then try our caprese skewers made with fresh basil, cherry tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella balls.

Why not try burrata basil pesto pasta from Call Me Pmc!

A bowl of easy pesto pasta, garnished with vegetarian Parmesan cheese and toasted pine nuts, with a fork ready to eat.

How much pesto should you add to pasta?

We use around 1-2 tablespoons of basil pesto sauce per person but use your own judgment and adjust the portions accordingly.

Other spaghetti recipes that you’ll love

If you’re a big fan of spaghetti recipes like us, then you should give these delicious pasta dishes a try;

A bowl of Gigi Hadid pasta with a fork and cheese grate by the side.

Gigi Hadid Pasta: Spicy Vodka Pasta Recipe

Cacio e Pepe Recipe

Spaghetti aglio e olio served on a plate.

Spaghetti Aglio e Olio (With Garlic & Oil)

Best lemon pasta

A bowl of spaghetti marinara with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and fresh basil.

Spaghetti marinara recipe

We hope you enjoyed making and eating our pesto pasta recipe and would love to hear how you got on with it.

Please leave a comment below and feel free to ask any questions you have.

Close up of a delicious bowl of pesto pasta.

Print Pin Recipe

5 from 11 votes

Pesto pasta recipe

You can make this delicious pasta dish in as little as 5 minutes! Our pasta al pesto is bursting full of flavor & is the perfect quick & easy midweek meal. Use homemade pesto sauce to add a different flavor dimension, it's creamy, nutty, and delicious. Perfect for a midweek quick and easy dinner. Great if you want a meat-free meal or are a vegetarian.

Cook Time5

Total Time5

Servings

Calories434

Course: Main course

Cuisine: Italian

Author: Mandy Applegate | Splash of Taste