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Home » Recipes » Sauces and Condiments

Kale Pesto With Walnuts

Published: Sep 12, 2019 Last Updated: Sep 2023 by Lindsay This post may contain affiliate links to products I use and enjoy. 12 Comments

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5 from 5 ratings

Yummy kale pesto without pine nuts made in my favorite food processor (the parts go in the dishwasher!) is the best meal prep ingredient ever! It doesn't require fresh herbs so can be made year-round and keep beautifully in the freezer.

Here's the thing:

How to make the best walnut kale pesto recipe from funnyloveblog.com

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You can email this post to yourself (or anyone else!), so you can come back to it later!

I don't actually hate cooking entire meals on the weeknights. I find it relaxing to put our kids to bed, chat with Jay, and make an entire meal start to finish.

Buthoweveralso, when I do that it means that we eat dinner at 9pm and then don't go to bed until 11, and that's not OK. SO, I mostly prep some things and then cook one or two items when we're ready to eat.

5 Minute Meal Prep Ingredients

Sauces/spreads/condiments are an excellent thing to meal prep because they can be used with really simple meals to add tons of flavor with no effort at all. Think a sauce drizzled over grilled chicken, dressing tossed with greens and roasted veggies, that sort of thing.

Grilled pesto chicken is actually one of our favorites because the chicken is freshly grilled but the sauce is already handled.

How to make the best walnut kale pesto recipe from funnyloveblog.com

This fake out meal prep is a pesto without pine nuts (they're expensive!), made in my favorite food processor (favorite because the parts go in the dishwasher!) in just five minutes.

How to make the best walnut kale pesto recipe from funnyloveblog.com

I wanted to make a pesto without basil or fresh herbs because I've made a TON of basil pesto this summer and was working on some fall recipes. I used all kale because I knew it would hold up in the food processor AND an extra nutrient dense scoop of pesto in our food is never a bad thing, right?

This pesto features kale, walnuts, parm, garlic, lemon juice, salt, and olive oil. That's it! Everything goes in the food processor.

Blend blend blend until it's smooth, and that's it! Taste the pesto to see if you'd like a little bit more salt or lemon juice - it will be super thick and should taste excellent on its own!

How to make the best walnut kale pesto recipe from funnyloveblog.com

The end. What you DO with your kale pesto is entirely up to you! Use it as a veggie dip. Spread it onto grilled veggies or chicken. Thin it out with more lemon juice to make a salad dressing. Toss it with pasta or gnocchi (and some of the cooking water!).

How to make the best walnut kale pesto recipe from funnyloveblog.com

OR OR OR plop some of it on a quinoa/lentil/roasted veggie bowl and really go to down in the nutrition department.

How to make the best walnut kale pesto recipe from funnyloveblog.com

I can't tell you how delicious this is. Since there are no herbs the walnut and parm flavors really shine through, and the kale adds an earthy/green background flavor without taking over the entire dish. This keeps in the fridge for about a week (ok longer, fine, you know me) and freezes perfectly as well.

How to make the best walnut kale pesto recipe from funnyloveblog.com

I make double batches every time I make pesto and freeze half for later which is like DOUBLE meal prepping look at me go.

Enjoy this!

Recipe

kale pesto image

Kale Pesto With Walnuts

Lindsay Howerton-Hastings
Walnut Kale Pesto made in just a few minutes for the most perfect meal prep condiment. Freeze half, and use it with pasta or in bowls all week long!
5 from 5 ratings
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes mins
Servings 1 cup or so

Equipment

  • Food Processor
  • Glass Containers

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup chopped toasted walnuts
  • 3 cups torn kale leaves
  • ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
  • 1 garlic clove peeled
  • ½ lemon juiced
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ cup olive oil

Instructions
 

  • Add all the ingredients to a food processor and combine on high for 1-2 minutes until a smooth paste forms.
  • Taste the pesto and add more salt to your preference or a bit of olive oil if the mixture is very dry. This is a very thick pesto.

Notes

Use on pasta, grilled chicken, tossed with gnocchi, or in scoops over lentil and quinoa bowls. YUM.
Use any kind of kale you like in this recipe!
Tried this recipe?Let me know how it was!

PS while you have the food processor out it's a perfect time to make a batch of the best ever peanut sauce for a totally different type of meal! Takes another five minutes of your life and HOLY FLAVOR.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jennie

    February 26, 2024 at 1:36 pm

    5 stars
    I am so glad I found this recipe and site. I wanted homemade pesto and couldn't get hold of pine nuts anywhere. I made this 2 days ago and it is so good. Last night we had pesto-crusted roast salmon, this morning my daughter added a scoop to some to her latest batch of hummus for her lunch box salad bagel - big hit. I used it to stir through some leftover pasta with some peas for my own lunch salad bowl and again, added some into a cheese toastie for my husband. I was going to use some more for topping some flatbread to go with dinner, but we are now all out of pesto! Next time I think I will add a small handful of fresh basil as I admit I missed the scent. Otherwise, walnut and kale pesto is firmly on the menu from now on. Thank you so much!

    Reply
    • Lindsay

      February 26, 2024 at 2:13 pm

      Jennie, thank you for sharing all these gorgeous uses for pesto! I agree, this is one of my favorites and I think it would be delicious with some fresh herbs added in too - makes me excited to plant basil for the summer in a month or so!

      Reply
  2. Michelle

    June 30, 2020 at 2:46 pm

    This looks yummy! Would you freeze with the cheese or omit and add later?

    Reply
    • funnyloveblog

      July 02, 2020 at 6:08 pm

      I actually freeze with the cheese and have never had any issues thawing for later use. Hope that helps!

      Reply
  3. Marden

    June 24, 2020 at 7:27 pm

    5 stars
    Very easy, tasted good. Filled 1 dozen cubes for freezer.

    Reply
    • funnyloveblog

      June 26, 2020 at 10:55 am

      I'm so glad! Love using this for a freezer stocking endeavor.

      Reply
  4. Sandy

    June 07, 2020 at 10:55 am

    5 stars
    A definite keeper, very yummy and my husband loves it

    Reply
    • funnyloveblog

      June 08, 2020 at 3:19 pm

      Thank you, Sandy, I'm so glad you like this!

      Reply
  5. Mary M. Hastings

    January 26, 2020 at 8:18 am

    5 stars
    Made this last night as topping for roasted veggies. Sooo good. This morning I used it on fresh farm wheat bread, toasted, a smear of the kale pesto and poached egg. One of the best things I have ever eaten.
    YUM. When making the pesto used half the walnuts, doubled the garlic and omitted the parm. Can't imagine how much better the pesto could be using your exact recipe but will try it next time. Look forward to using fresh garden grown kale this summer. Thanks for a keeper recipe.

    Reply
    • funnyloveblog

      January 28, 2020 at 11:04 am

      Mary, I'm so, so glad you like it! Especially love the idea of having it with breakfast + egg. Thank you for your kind comment!

      Reply
  6. Adriane Thompson

    October 04, 2019 at 12:52 pm

    This looks so good and right up my alley! And I can't wait for your recipe that you paired it with. Looks delectable!

    Reply
    • funnyloveblog

      October 05, 2019 at 6:55 am

      Adriane, it's linked. Enjoy!

      Reply
5 from 5 votes (1 rating without comment)

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Image of Lindsay Howerton-Hastings smiling sitting on dark gray couch wearing chambray blue shirt.

Hi! I'm Lindsay. I'm a maternal mental health therapist, a recipe developer, food writer, and taker of all kinds of pictures. Thank you so much for being here! This blog is about how to take care of yourself and your people without taking anything too seriously.

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