Typically pesto is a very simple recipe of basil, pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, garlic, and olive oil. Over the years people have added more and more ingredients to this classic recipe in order to adapt to tastes and preferences. My personal addition is the tomato paste. I felt like the original version of this recipe was slightly bitter with the basil and pine nuts competing for top flavor. A touch of tomato paste adds some acidity, sweetness, and cuts back on the bitterness.
On keto, there’s a lack of condiments to use that aren’t mayo based, so I thought making a very flavorful pesto would be a great addition to many dishes. For chicken, it can just be dipped straight in. For salads, you can toss with some pesto for a fresh taste. For beef, you can use it to marinate. The possibilities are endless – and it’s made in only 5 minutes!
As a side note, it’s worth mentioning quality of ingredients. If you get the highest quality ingredients, your pesto will taste better. We used fresh basil from the garden, organic pine nuts, and a high grade Parmesan cheese.
Yields 24 servings of 5 Minute Keto Pesto
The Preparation
- 1 ½ cups fresh basil
- 1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted
- ¾ cup grated Parmesan
- 2/3 cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons tomato paste
- Salt and pepper to taste
The Execution
1. Place the fresh basil in a container.
2. Add toasted pine nuts to the same container. You can toast these yourself in a pan over low heat if you did not purchase them pre-toasted.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients, except oil, and use an immersion blender to blend everything together. As it’s blending, add oil slowly.
4. Jar up and use as needed – it goes great with chicken! You can also use this to make our pesto crackers recipe.
This makes a total of 1 ½ cups of 5 Minute Keto Pesto. Per 1 tbsp. it comes out to be 79 Calories, 8.09g Fats, 0.73g Net Carbs, and 1.22g Protein.
| 5 Minute Keto Pesto | Calories | Fats(g) | Carbs(g) | Fiber(g) | Net Carbs(g) | Protein(g) |
| 1 ½ cups fresh basil | 8 | 0.23 | 0.95 | 0.6 | 0.35 | 1.13 |
| 1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted | 300 | 30.46 | 5.83 | 1.6 | 4.23 | 6.1 |
| ¾ cup grated Parmesan | 315 | 20.88 | 10.43 | 0 | 10.43 | 21.32 |
| 2/3 cup olive oil | 1260 | 142.56 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 teaspoon minced garlic | 4 | 0.01 | 0.93 | 0.1 | 0.83 | 0.18 |
| 2 teaspoons tomato paste | 9 | 0.05 | 2 | 0.4 | 1.6 | 0.46 |
| Totals | 1896 | 194.19 | 20.14 | 2.7 | 17.44 | 29.19 |
| Per Serving(/24) | 79 | 8.09 | 0.84 | 0.11 | 0.73 | 1.22 |
5 Minute Keto Pesto
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups fresh basil
- ⅓ cup pine nuts toasted
- ¾ cup grated Parmesan
- ⅔ cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons tomato paste
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add all ingredients (except oil) to a containter.
- Use your immersion blender to mix together, slowly adding oil as it blends.
- Jar up and serve!
