Easy, cheesy, and peasy! Low-fat, nut-free, oil-free pesto made in minutes with peas and lots of nutritional yeast for an extra vegan cheesy flavor!
I didn’t think I liked pesto. But then I tasted this Low Fat Cheesy Vegan Pesto…
In general I’m not a big fan of garlic or basil, but with the intense cheesy flavor in this pesto I am a big fan of all of the above. Shoutout to nutritional yeast, you’ve change my mind about pesto.
Non-pesto related tangent: Do you ever feel like you don’t know how to express yourself in writing without emojis anymore? Like just then, I would’ve thrown in a hands raised emoji to say “Holla to the nooch!” It feels incomplete without. And there are many times when I need a grimacing face emoji or a heart eyes emoji and find myself lost for words without it. There are some things that are just best expressed by tiny yellow faces. I’m not sure what that says about the direction our world is going, but it probably isn’t good (see, a grimacing face emoji would’ve been perfect here).
Anyways, back to oil-free pesto.
How to Make Oil-Free Pesto
The phrase easy peasy has never been more apropos. Easy because all it takes less than 5 minutes and you have pesto. Peasy because peas are the base of this nut-free oil-free pesto. They have the right color, the right texture, and a mild flavor that just fades into the background as the basil takes over.
I’m really not qualified to make or judge pesto, I’m a baker, not a cook, and I’ve only had pesto twice in my life. But I know delicious when I taste it and this is definitely it.
So even if you aren’t a huge pesto fan, try this version! It’s a very persuasive pesto, it could change your mind too.
And it dresses up zoodles very well…
Low Fat Cheesy Vegan Pesto
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 1 1x
Ingredients
- 1 cup frozen peas (defrosted)
- 2 large stalks of basil (about 15–20 leaves)
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Juice of half a lemon
- 3–5 tbsps vegetable broth
- 1 clove garlic
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients except for the vegetable broth in a food processor or blender. Blend.
- Add the vegetable broth slowly and continue blending until you achieve your desired consistency.
- Use immediately or transfer to an airtight container and keep in the fridge for up to 4 days.
I will gladly judge you pea and nooch filled pesto!!! OMG <3 Nooch <3 That's all I need to see. I'm beaming with pride right now in the noochyiess! I've been eating (a lot…more than usually) or nooch lately! Haha! I go through these phases where I just can't get enough! Hello B12!!!
Yay noochy approval! I thought you would be shocked and amazed to find something like this on my blog, glad you approve though 🙂 And how can you possibly eat even more, don’t you already eat A LOT!? Hey nothing wrong with that though, maybe your body is just telling you to load up on the B12. And who’s going to argue with eating more cheesiness!
OMG, LOL! Did I really just write that? Insert emoji with tongue sticking out. I’m so guilty of this, mostly because a picture says a thousand words and I don’t have time to write that much. 😉 See!
This is an awesome recipe! I love peas for their protein and nutritional values. Add the basil and the nooch and you’ve made my life with this pesto. Can’t wait to try it!
Hahaha I’m so glad you can relate on the urge to stick emojis everywhere! I think you’re right, they are time savers those little faces 😀 And yes peas in the pesto is a must try!
Such beautiful, vibrant pics Natalie!! I love it when you said “holla to the nooch” LOL! I love it too sooo much. I make a pea pesto just like this except I use spinach instead of basil, so I know I’d love this! My hubby isn’t a fan of basil (Weirdo!) so the spinach he loves. I will take all the greens. I love them all! I really love how organic your pics look! I literally could eat this with a spoon!
Hahahaha nutritional yeast needs a shoutout! Well now I want to try your spinach one, because I get tired of the basily-ness sometimes too. I get tired of all herbs in large quantities, don’t know why I just like bland food haha! Or sweet food of course 😀 And thank you, i love this style of pictures too, the earthy vibe works best with green foods!
It is SO hard to not want to throw in a million different emojis right now…that’s the problem with typing from an actual computer! HA! But seriously, I feel like I overuse them. Anyways….NOOCH is life! We put it in everything…popcorn, pizza sauce, pasta…I’ve even had it in a smoothie (not my idea, from a recipe I was following)…see, I need an emoji right now. But peas?! You almost lost me there. I’m not the biggest fan, but as long as they’re blended up, I don’t think we’ll have an issue 😉 It’s a texture thing. FYI, Willow watched the video and said,” We need to make this mom, but we don’t have peas.” Haha! She’s right, but I’ll get some just to try this recipe! Beautiful photos, Natalie! I LOVE the color!! <3
I know it’s like this unconscious urge to emoji that can’t be met when typing, drives me a little crazy! That’s probably why I use so many when I’m on IG, pent up emoji energy ha! But wait what, nooch smoothie? Like a savory soup-esque sorta thing? That’s crazy. I was anti-nooch for a while because I had only tried that weird Red Star brand since thats all I could get locally, but once I ordered some bob’s red mill online it’s a completely different beast and SO much tastier. Opening up a whole new world of flavors. You don’t like peas? Well I was talking to Jo on IG and she makes a version with cauliflower steamed and then blended, so that could be better for your tastes. Ahhh Willow is always the cutest <3 In her little high pitched voice I bet it was even more adorable! Thanks Mandy xo
Natalie, you are always a GENIUS with ingredients! Never would have thought to use peas, this pesto looks amaaaazing.
They are just the perfect color it’s like it was meant to be! Thanks Mel 🙂
I’m not vegan, but I always love seeing how my vegan friends transform traditional foods into vegan-friendly meals! You have to be creative, which is awesome!! This recipe sounds so yummy. I love that you used peas!!
I love veganizing traditional foods, definitely one of my favorite sources of recipe inspiration! Thanks Christina for your sweet comment!
Bahaha! I feel ya on the emoji rant! Also, YOU CAN DO NO WRONG IN THE KITCHEN! Sweet, savory, you nail it all. This looks so good. I love green peas as it is so I can only imagine how delicious they would be in pesto! Picking up some basil tomorrow!!!!
Haha thanks girl! I just have to keep it simple with the savory things, otherwise complete disaster. Nothing as crazy creative as vegan clam chowder will probably ever be conjured up by my brain, but pesto I can handle 😀
This is so perfect for my kids! They don’t care for traditional pesto, but love peas and nooch, And peas are a decent source of protein. I love the vibrant green color too!
They sound just like me! I’m not a big fan of the pine nuts and all, but peas I like. And yes extra plant protein 🙂 Thanks Melissa!
Hey, nooch rocks! That’s all there is to it. I AM a huge pesto fan, love basil and garlic. Now this looks very tasty, but only one lonely garlic clove? But that’s OK, lol! It sounds delish and I love that you used peas!! Will have to give this one a try. ?
Hahaha poor little garlic clove all by its lonesome 😀 Yeah I’m not the hugest garlic fan. Tbh if I were to make this just for me I would probably leave it out entirely! Maybe I should add a note: “Or as much garlic as you want!” haha
Oooh, that sounds delicious. I do love pesto of all kinds, but never tried it with peas — what a great idea.
And I’m totally with you on the emoji! I can’t stop using them, but every time I use them there’s a little voice in the back of my mind wondering if I come across like a 9 year old (where’s the face covering monkey one? I could use it right now :S lol).
It’s funny because I barely know your savory food preferences haha! All I see on your blog and social is the sweet stuff, so glad to hear you are a pesto fan! I knew you were a basil fan, so I should’ve guessed. Go for the peas, they work well in there! And lol at the 9 year old part 😀 Don’t worry, it doesn’t come across that way haha. And yes I love that monkey!
Peas in a pesto is genius!! This looks so yummy! I’m soo looking forward to wild garlic season – that’s always my time to make a pesto 🙂
Yay for peas! I do remember seeing wild garlic in a few of your recipes, but where do you find it? Farmers markets?
We have wild garlic in regular supermarkets – actually there’s always such an abundance – you can get it everywhere. If you’re adventurous you can also pick it in the forests but there is a flower that looks kind of like it and is poisonous, so I never dared picking my own. Wild garlic is only available in spring, but it’s totally possible that you can’t get it in the US at all :((
Oh wow that sounds rather risky to pick yourself then :/ I’ll have to look for it or research it, it’s also totally possible that I’m just clueless about all things garlic related hahaha! Thanks for the info!
Using peas in pesto to make up for the otherwise oil-induced creaminess is genius Natalie! I’ve been looking for a low-fat pesto that would taste great for a while and this is absolutely perfect! Haha, I love your emoji side-note. I totally agree: without them, I feel it’s much easier to misinterpret the message (especially if you like being at least moderately sarcastic, a well placed emoji is what often keeps you from losing a friend or two :D)
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Yes exactly! Emojis are so much better at portraying the emotion behind the words than the words alone! Unless you use the emojis wrong which I sometimes do haha 😀 It’s probably not quite as traditional tasting as your classic Healthy Pesto recipe, but you should try the pea thing sometime. You are probably a much better judge of what pesto should be than I am!
Totally! Oh I couldn’t care less about traditional, I’m the one who loves cauliflower chocolate cakes and serves a blueberry dessert for Valentine’s remember? And I make a pea-mint puree at least once a week so I’m bound to love this <3
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Oh the peas are a fabulous touch!! I just adore anything pesto!
Thanks Sam! A new untraditional version to try then 🙂
Great pesto recipe! I’m addicted to pesto, as you probably already know and I love trying out new pesto recipes. Honestly speaking, I’m NOT a huge fan of peas, but I’m totally trying out this recipe sometime regardless =) I’ve used miso for that cheesy flavor, but never nutritional yeast. It’s an ingredient that’s growing on me.
I was really not into nutritional yeast for a long time, but it’s been growing on me too lately. I probably prefer the miso flavor actually, but none of the stores near me carry it sadly. You’d think it’d be pretty basic, but nope can’t find it. We need to have a pesto swap haha 😀
Hello, I followed your recipe and I think it’s a great idea to incorporate green peas. The pesto just had a little too much lemon in my opinion, which was compensated for by a lot of pepper!
Definitely will make again!
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Hi Sophie, thank you so much for the feedback! I can get a little crazy with the lemon, so its nice to have other opinions, I will note that in the recipe. Glad you tried it and now you can tweak it to your tastes 🙂
This is sooooo perfect!! And once again very creative (and helloooo savory?! YEAH!! I need some emojis to express myself better 🙂 Thank you for sharing and tagging this post on IG with you know what # I can easily add it now to you know where…sorry for all this “you know what” talk, I know it’s not even funny..hmmm..but I’m still laughing 😉
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Hahaha now you have me laughing too 😀 Where is the laughing emoji when I need it!?! I like talking in code, makes it sound super secretive especially when I actually know what you are referring too and everything! I’ve been using THE *wink wink* hashtag a lot lately!
looks delish.
did you edit your video with imovie?
what camera did you use?
thanks!
Yep i edit all my videos in iMovie and I use a Canon Rebel T5i for both photos and video 🙂
Hi Natalie!!!
OMG this is greeny perfection, and what a great idea to use frozen peas. Your pictures and your video tutorial are brilliant, love the colors.
Why haven’t I been earlier here on your blog??? (->Now its the time to insert the sceptical emoji face hahahaha! Honestly I was laughing out loudly about this part of your blogpost!!! You are so funny, love it “hearty eyes emoji”!)
Thanks for the recipe, cheers :-*
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Hi Sharon!! This is a special treat, chatting with you not on IG! Hahaha those emojis are necessary sometimes…or maybe we just spend too much time on IG so we are now thinking in emoji speak 😀 Thanks for coming over here to say hi, plus now it reminded me to hop over and see your site, yay!
Just made this – it doubled up easily, and it is soooooo delicious! Really light & fresh. Having it with some carrot & courgette ‘noodles’, cherry tomatoes, & lightly fried mushrooms…. and its flipping good ! thank you xx
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Yay!! Omg that sounds like an amazing dish altogether, I gotta try adding the cooked mushrooms in my spiralized noodle dishes! Sometimes I wonder why I didn’t just make the recipe twice as large, a double batch of this stuff is always the way to go 🙂 Thanks for the feedback <3
I just made this, it is sooooo yummy, and what a beautiful vibrant color too. Thanks so much for the recipe!
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I’m so happy you loved it Julia!! I know it’s very photogenic. Thank you for taking the time to leave feedback here 🙂
Hi Natalie — I made this pesto tonite with just one addition — pine nuts, which I love and can eat. This was SO incredibly flavorful. Thank you for a great way of serving up pesto without oil or dairy. An Italian friend of mine used to make the best parsley/walnut pesto with parmesan cheese and oil. However, I cannot wait to share this recipe with her and let her know that I think this one knocks it out of the park both in taste & nutritional profile 🙂
I would love to see you tackle more savory recipes!
Whoa what a compliment, comparing it to a true Italian pesto!! I am so happy you liked it, and pine nuts sound like a great addition for a touch of that classic pesto flavor 🙂 Thanks for the feedback!
I just made the pesto and we LOVE it! I just found you and I’m going to keep you 🙂
I look forward to trying more of your recipes
Haha so happy to hear that and that me and my recipes get to stick around 😀 Thank you so much for the feedback and enjoy!!
I just made this for dinner tonight over Trader Joe’s’ new red lentil penne noodles mixed with a few zoodles and topped it with Minimalist Baker’s vegan parmesan cheese. It is incredible!! I’ve never been a huge fan of pesto because of all the added fat, now I love it!
What a delicious sounding meal, I am a little bit dinner jealous now haha! I find most pestos unnecessarily oily too, but it’s totally not necessary 🙂 I am so happy you liked it, thanks for the feedback Danielle!
this was the best low fat pesto I have tried!
my husband loved it as well!
many thanks for recipe!
eva
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Yay!!! I am so happy to hear that you both like it? Enjoy!
Do you think I can substitute the basil for cilantro? I have a bunch of cilantro that I don’t know what to do w it, haha!
Sure! It will completely change the taste, but cilantro pesto is totally a thing 🙂
Ahahaha. Dang it! I JUST made a corn-cilantro-edamame salad, haha
Awww. But that sounds so good too😋
Great recipe. Yum. Yum. Yum! Simply divine and divinely simple. Thanks ever so much.
Hehe I love that description, and I am so happy you liked it! Thanks Christine 🙂
Just made this for my two daughters and they LOVED it (and so did I)! We doubled the recipe, and made two batches, one as described and another with a cup of pine nuts added – both were delicious. We used them as pizza sauce on a quinoa crust, with cashew and walnut cheese crumbles on top. It made a ba-zillion small pizzas, we ate a ton and had lots for freezing/future lunches.
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I am so so happy it was a hit! Oh my goodness that pizza (or shall I say tiny army of mini pizzas😂) sounds AMAZING, I wish I had been there now😋😋 Thanks for the feedback John!
Hi! Loved this! I didn’t have peas so I used fresh chopped zucchini instead and it was amazing! Even my picky meat eating hubby loved it!
Oh that’s a great substitute idea! I am so happy you both liked it🤗
How many people does this serve for?
Hmm depends on how much you use, but I’d estimate 2-3. Hope that helps!
made this today on whole oats…WOW! I added chopped sundried tomatos on top and mixed it all up and I tell ya…I will be making this often! Im going to put it on my potato in the morning for breakfast!! thank you thank you!!!
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YAY!! I am so happy you liked it🤗 The peas are so good in there, I still love this one too! Hope you enjoy it on everything💚
Delicious!
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YAY!! So happy you liked it, Edith😊
This is delicious! It’s tempting to just eat it all with a spoon 🙂
Thanks so much for posting!
Haha I can definitely relate to that temptation😆 So happy you liked it Miri!
I made this for the second time yesterday, and after tasting just now can easily rate this recipe as 10/10. Thank you for creating a low-cost, low-ingredient, and, yes, lower-calorie, recipe that tastes like traditional pesto. I can’t wait to use it in all my pesto recipes.
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YAY!! I am so happy you love it Audrey, isn’t it surprisingly legit despite all the swaps?! Enjoy, thanks for the feedback!