If you’re looking for an easy way to sneak broccoli into your meal plan without compromising on flavor, this broccoli pesto is for you! Everything you love about pesto is here: olive oil, garlic, lemon, pine nuts, basil, YUM! Toss it into noodles or dollop over chicken. Here’s what you need to know.
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Ingredients You’ll Need
Similar to a classic pesto recipe, but with the addition of broccoli. Here’s what to collect for this broccoli pesto recipe.
- From the fridge: Broccoli, basil, garlic, lemon juice, and parmesan.
- From the pantry: Pine nuts, olive oil, and red pepper flakes.
Want to Tweak the Sauce?
Sure can! And it’s easy to do, just like any pesto recipe. To make this broccoli pasta sauce your way, consider:
- Adding more heat by sprinkling in more red pepper flakes.
- Trying a different nut, I’ve made pesto with pistachios, almonds, and walnuts before. All great options!
- Mix in more fresh herbs, although not traditional, you can always try adding a bit of mint or parsley.
How to Make Broccoli Pesto
Grab your food processor and toss everything in! Here’s how to get this flavor packed broccoli pesto on the table in a matter of minutes:
- Cook broccoli in boiling water.
- Add to a food processor.
- Add all other broccoli pasta sauce ingredients.
- Blend until smooth.
Broccoli Pesto Pasta Tips
Using this broccoli pesto recipe to twirl into pasta? That’s a fantastic idea. Just one word of advice: Reserve 1 1/2 cups of your pasta water, and mix it into the pesto before adding it to 1 pound of pasta. This serves a few purposes:
- Pesto is thick, adding water will help thin the sauce so it better coats the noodles.
- Pasta water contains pasta starch, which will make this pesto even richer and more velvety.
- Pasta water has been salted, a welcomed addition to the broccoli pasta sauce.
Psst–depending on how salted your pasta water is, you may want to add more salt if using this recipe to make broccoli pesto pasta.
Best Ways to Use Broccoli Pasta Sauce (Beyond Pasta…)
On that note, there are so many ways to use the broccoli pesto recipe. Some of our favorites include:
- Eggs: Make pesto eggs, or even mix into scrambled eggs for green eggs or an omelette (like my asparagus omelette).
- Chicken: Scoop over chicken for simple pesto chicken, or mix into a pesto chicken salad.
- Fish works so well with pesto. I love this combo for pesto salmon, but white fish also works well.
- Veggies: Spoon over your favorite roasted vegetables, or mix it into veggie noodles like this pesto spaghetti squash or pesto zucchini pasta.
More Broccoli Recipes
- Broccoli and Cheese
- Parmesan Roasted Broccoli
- Broccoli and Cheese Stuffed Chicken
- Broccoli Rice
- Roasted Broccoli
Broccoli Pesto
Print Recipe Pin RecipeIngredients
- 4 cups broccoli florets
- 2 cups lightly packed basil leaves
- 2 garlic cloves
- ¼ cup pine nuts
- 1 cup olive oil
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup freshly Parmesan grated
- 1/2 teaspoon Red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Over high heat, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the broccoli and place the lid back on top, continue to cook for 4 minutes. Then using tongs or a slotted spoon, move broccoli to a large food processor or blender.
- If making pasta, return water to a boil and cook pasta according to box instructions. Before draining, be sure to reserve 1 1/2 cups of pasta water, this will help the pesto to coat the pasta noodles–add only as much water as needed.
- To the food processor, add the basil, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, parmesan, and red pepper flakes. Blend until smooth. Use as a dip, on toast, or for pasta, and enjoy!
