Pesto is a popular condiment made with fresh basil, pine nuts, olive oil and some kind of vegan cheese. It’s usually sold ready-made in supermarkets. But here is the bugbear: most brands contain Parmesan cheese, which (by law) contains calf rennet. If you look closely on the jars, you’ll see that they don’t even say ‘suitable for vegetarians’, because they aren’t. You’ll find some good vegan brands listed below.
Vegan Ramp Pesto (Crowded Kitchen) is good for pasta, on toast, as a chip dip or serve with tofu (or use instead of chimichurri). Also good with crackers, it has a cheesy flavour thanks to nutritional yeast, and there’s some spinach in there too. ‘Ramps’ are wild leeks, which you can sub out if you can’t find ramps in season.
Vegan Artichoke Pesto Pizza (Short Girl, Tall Order) combines everyone’s three favourite flavours in one meal. What more could you want than a homemade pesto with seasonal vegetables?
Roasted Heirloom Tomato Toasts with Pesto (Short Girl, Tall Order) is as good as it gets for an Italian-inspired snacks. And pumpkin seeds give lots of calcium too. This pesto is based on cashew nuts.
Homemade Mushroom Ravioli with Vegan Pesto (So Vegan) uses turmeric spice for the colour, and is such a simple recipe you don’t need a pasta-maker and can cheat using bought vegan pesto, if wished. To avoid clingfilm, these are wrapped in baking paper.
Where to Buy Vegan Pesto
We try to always find zero waste packaging. For some that miss the mark at present, recycle plastic with household waste, or most supermarket bag bins now take everything, bar clingfilm.
- Mozzarisella Basil Pesto is a creamy pesto made in Italy with fresh basil from Liguria. Try with pasta or lasagne. MozzaRisella Slices with Basil combines a vegan mozzarella made with organic sprouted brown rice, with basil. Ideal for cheese toasties, or topping your pizza or lasagne. Sacla Free From Basil Pesto is sold everywhere, including major supermarkets. This is really nice, an authentic swap and packed with goodness too.
- Origin Kitchen Creamed Cashew Basil Spread is a lovely alternative to cream cheese. The basil is mixed with peas, courgettes, nutritional yeast (cheesy) and toasted cashews. Made with 92% vegetables, this is naturally healthy.
- Vegusto is an award-winning maker of vegan Swiss cheeses and meats. They have now launched No Moo Pesto Rosso (contains their own cheese with almond butter and cashews) and No Moo Pesto Nero (made in Italy, this dark pesto is ideal with pasta, pizza, rice, potatoes or on a cracker).
- A good brand of pesto is Bonsan. Try the red one for this Spaghetti with Pesto & Roasted Cherry Tomatoes. Or the green one in this Kofu Pesto Sandwich. Pesto is from the Italian word for ‘to pound or crush’ and hails from the Genoa region (where all the sailors live!) Romans had their own alternative herb version.
