How to Make the Besto Pesto + 11 Things to Do With It!

It’s not just having the best pesto, but it’s knowing what to do with it! Here, we teach you how to make the best and give you 11 things to do with it! You’re welcome!

Pesto has got to be one of the best culinary creations to this day! I mean, really, does it get any better than pesto? It’s purely delicious, shockingly simple, completely customizable and unbelievably functional. I dare you to disagree.

Because pesto is so quick and easy to whip up and requires very few ingredients (most of which you’d probably already have on-hand), I make it impromptu-ly when I need a quick meal with very little expense, effort, stress, and mess. (Which turns out to be at least once every single week.)

Pesto’s also a great way to bring life and flavor to seemingly boring and bland foods (scrambled tofu or quinoa for example), and really, you’ll be surprised how impressed people get when you make your own pesto. Your guest will either smother you with kisses or offer to do your dishes. Either way, you win!

So use this formula (and a food processor) to make pesto a staple in your diet:

STEP 1 - Choose your herb (add 2 cups of basil, parsley or cilantro)

STEP 2 - Add your fat (½ an avocado or ½ cup of raw or toasted nuts/seeds like cashews, pine nuts, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds)

STEP 3 - Get it wet! (Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil or try water)

STEP 4 - Add a kick (1–2 chopped garlic cloves and the juice from ½ a lemon. I also love adding 1 tablespoon of miso, but that’s optional)

STEP 5 - Add spice (salt and pepper to your taste)

STEP 6 - Sneak in the super stuff (Add 1–2 handfuls of kale or spinach)

STEP 7 - Whip it all together in your food processor!

And then smother that besto pesto on:

1. Veggie Burgers
2. Pasta
3. Raw Veggies
4. Roasted Veggies
5. Toast
6. Scrambled tofu (or eggs)
7. Hummus sandwiches
8. Other sandwiches
9. Quinoa
10. Salad
11. Sweet potatoes
12. Ice cream (ok, no, I haven’t gone that far … yet. We're back to only 11 items)

And there you have it, the place where food gets real.