Basil Sauce

You’ll want to drizzle this basil sauce on everything! It’s herby, garlicky and bright green: like a pesto without cheese and nuts.

Here’s a sauce you’ll want to put on just about everything…bright green basil sauce! It’s packed full of garlicky, herby flavor: essentially like a pesto without the nuts and cheese. It’s more intensely packed with flavor than pesto: like a garlic and basil oil. Use it on just about anything for a punch of fresh flavor: pasta, seafood, juicy ripe tomatoes, Caprese salad…anything is better with basil sauce. Here’s how to make it, the trick to making it stay bright green, and more ways to use it!

Ingredients in basil sauce

The nice thing about basil sauce? Pesto is what we usually make when our basil plant is bushy and overflowing. But pesto calls for pine nuts and Parmesan cheese, which aren’t cheap. Basil sauce drops those pricey ingredients, but you still have all that great fresh basil flavor. It’s a dairy-free and nut-free pesto, similar to a French pistou. This bright green, delicious sauce is endlessly versatile. Here’s what you’ll need to make it:

• Basil leaves
• Garlic
• Olive oil
• Lemon juice
• Salt

How to blanch basil (to keep it bright green!)

This basil sauce starts with a step to make sure the sauce stays beautifully bright green. It’s called blanching! Blanching is a cooking method where you boil vegetables until they’re crisp tender, then plunge them into ice water to stop the cooking process. The point of it? To lock in the bright green color of vegetables that turn brown. Here’s how to get a beautifully bright green basil sauce:

• Boil only 30 seconds to 1 minute! The boiling time is quick: you just want it to be bright green! Add the basil to a small saucepan of boiling water and boil until bright green, 30 seconds to 1 minute.
• Immediately plunge into an ice bath. This stops the cooking process and locks in the color. Once the leaves are cool, remove them from the water and squeeze out as much water as possible.

Blend it up!

Once you’ve blanched the basil, this basil sauce takes no time at all. Simply add the basil to a blender with the other ingredients and whiz it up! A few notes on blending: you can use a standard blender or even better, a smaller blender like an immersion blender. The amount of sauce is not large, so if you have a small blender it’s easier to blend. You can also use a food processor if you have one.

Ways to use basil sauce

There are so many ways to use this flavor-packed basil sauce! Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Pasta: Make a pot of spaghetti and swirl in this oil. Or any type of pasta!
• Tomato salad: Drizzle on Fresh Tomato Salad.
• Caprese salad: Step up your Caprese salad with this sauce.
• Dip for bread: Serve it with Crostini or French bread for dipping.
• Shrimp: Drizzle on Garlic Butter Shrimp or Grilled Shrimp.
• Salmon: It’s lovely on Baked Salmon or Grilled Salmon (or Grilled Tilapia).
• Scallops: Drizzle it over Pan Seared Scallops or Grilled Scallops.

All about basil

Basil is easy to grow, and by mid-summer you’ll likely have a big bush of it! If you don’t grow your own basil, it’s time to start. It’s easy to do and requires little tools and planning.

• Growing it at home is easy! All you need is a pot and a sunny ledge. Go to How to Grow Basil.
• Prune it regularly. The way to keep basil healthy is to harvest regularly. Go to How to Harvest Basil.
• Store cut basil in a covered jar with water. This extends the life to 3 to 5 days. See How to Store Basil.
• Use it in recipes. Here are our top Fresh Basil Recipes. You can also dry basil.

This basil sauce recipe is…

Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free, and gluten-free.

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More basil recipes

Basil is one of our most used herbs in the kitchen! Here are a few more great basil recipes:

• Gin & Basil Cocktail or Basil Gimlet Full of peppery fresh flavor from the bright green herb! It’s sweet tart and easy to drink.
• Basil Aioli or Pesto Aioli It’s quick and easy to make, featuring this fresh and peppery green herb.
• Everything Basil Pizza It’s got a thick layer of savory pesto, and is topped with loads of fresh leaves!
• Tomato Basil Pasta That classic pairing of ripe tomatoes and peppery basil, taken to new heights with tangy balsamic and Parmesan cheese.
• Tomato Basil Soup In under 30 minutes, you have a classic plant based soup with a rich basil flavor.