20 Best Recipes with Pesto

Let's start with our best pesto recipe! This classic basil pesto is the best way to use a load of fresh basil. Is there anything better? It’s savory, garlicky, creamy, peppery, and you can slather a smear on anything. Here are a few of our favorite variations!

Pesto Recipes
Best Basil Pesto
Basil Cashew Pesto
Basil Walnut Pesto
Kale Pesto
Easy Arugula Pesto

The best recipe with pesto (in our minds)? Pesto pizza! This pizza is totally classic, using our Pizza Dough Master Recipe for the perfect crust that's crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Spread it with a layer of bright green, garlicky basil pesto, then top with mozzarella and fresh tomatoes. It's a triumph!

The best way to make this tasty sauce into a fast and easy dinner? Pesto spaghetti! It’s herby, Parmesan-y, garlicky and always a crowd pleaser. We’ll show you the trick to getting a silky sauce covering all your noodles: no more gummy, dry pesto here! Serve them as is, or top with veggies or fresh mozzarella for a fast and easy dinner. 

Here’s a recipe with pesto that has easy weeknight meal written all over it: pesto shrimp! Turns out this bright green, garlicky sauce is the perfect pairing for this succulent shellfish. The two flavors go hand-in-hand, just like famous duos like tomatoes and basil. Alex and I were inspired to make this recipe because of the bushy basil plant in our backyard. There’s no better use for a big patch of pesto than a pile of shrimp (if you love seafood, that is).

Also try: Shrimp Pesto Pasta

Here’s a genius kitchen move: 5-minute pesto cream sauce! Did you know you can simmer pesto with cream and it thickens into a sauce? You don’t need to make a roux with butter and flour like a normal cream sauce, watching anxiously to make sure it doesn’t burn. Nope, just throw these two ingredients into a pan and voila! You’ve got a beautiful, bright green sauce that’s full of savory, herby flavor. It’s perfect for pasta, and even better drizzled over salmon or grilled fish.

Corkscrew-shaped cavatappi is perfect for pasta’s partner: basil pesto! This recipe with pesto is a tasty way to enjoy them both that everyone around the table will love. You’ll make a quick and easy pesto cream sauce, then drench the curly noodles and add a few handfuls of shredded Parmesan cheese. It’s simple, but it’s got mighty big flavor! If you prefer not cooking with heavy cream, we’ve got another variation that works with just pesto too.

Got pesto? Here’s a great way to use it to make an impressive dinner recipe: Pesto Chicken! Combine basil pesto with a bit of cream and it makes a stunning fresh sauce for juicy chicken breasts! It’s a quick trick that makes an everyday dinner into something special, perfect for entertaining or just an easy weeknight meal.

Got basil? Great. Here’s a dipping sauce that you absolutely must try: pesto aioli! This flavor packed-condiment is a mashup between a traditional aioli and basil pesto. It makes a creamy sauce that’s full of big flavor: pepper basil, savory mayo, and a pop of salty Parmesan cheese. Aioli is perfect as a French fry dip, but it also works as a spread for burgers and sandwiches.

Try this Pesto Pasta Salad recipe, perfect for summer or lunches for anytime! It features chewy bowties with pops of fresh cherry tomatoes, tangy artichokes and peppery baby arugula. Make a batch of fresh basil pesto or grab some at the store, then mix it up in to a creamy dressing to cover everything.

Here's a recipe that works as a quick main dish or easy side: try this Pesto Tortellini! The herby, creamy sauce is perfect for coating tender tortellini. It's great as a main with a few veggie sides, or it's perfect alongside chicken or fish.

Oh hey there, creamy pesto mac and cheese! This seriously cozy comfort food is just as gooey as it looks, and Harvarti cheese makes for the creamiest of sauces. Adding a swirl of bright green basil pesto is a total genius move! Try it with any of your favorite mac and cheese recipes to step them up a notch.

How to make plain old quinoa into a stunning side dish? Add a swirl of quinoa! This pesto quinoa recipe gives this whole grain big flavor with just a dollop of the green good stuff. It makes for a perfect simple side dish to serve up with salmon, shrimp or veggie skewers.

Looking for the chicken recipe of your dreams? Try this Chicken Pesto Sandwich! It starts with juicy grilled chicken, seasoned to perfection with a savory mix of spices. Throw it onto grilled ciabatta bread, then top with baby arugula, soft fresh mozzarella cheese and juicy tomato slices. The crowning glory is a mound of bright green herbaceous basil pesto. 

Here’s one of our favorite ways to use this herbaceous spread: in pesto grilled cheese! It gives the best garlicky, herby flavor to the gooey melty cheese, making it one irresistible sandwich. It’s quick to put together and almost impossible to put down.

Here’s a trick to a fast side dish or simple dinner: this Skillet Pesto Gnocchi! Cook up these Italian potato dumplings right in a skillet and they cook right in the sauce, helping to thicken it as they release starch. Stir in purchased pesto and you’ve got a bright and herbaceous sauce: in just 10 minutes total. This trick has become a staple in our house when we need a quick meal!

Another pesto recipe idea: swirl it into creamy salad dressing to add big flavor! Turns out, this emerald green sauce adds the perfect boost to salads. This version is a healthy salad dressing that has much less calories than the typical dressing. It’s kind of like a ranch dressing, but with pesto. 

Need an easy side dish? Try this herbaceous pesto rice! It’s simple to whip up with fresh pesto, which brings an aromatic flavor to this easy side dish. A bit of lemon zest and juice add an extra citrus spin! It’s amazing what a few extra ingredients can do to add pizzazz to simple rice. (Substitute 6 tablespoons pesto for the butter, garlic and basil in the linked recipe.)

Another recipe with pesto: turn that pesto grilled cheese into "dippers"! Slicing the sandwich into long strips makes them perfect for dipping. Here you'll dip it into a tangy marinara sauce. It makes for the perfect gameday or entertaining appetizer, or it works as a snack too.

The next best recipe with pesto? Pesto pasta! The simplicity of pesto pasta with homemade basil pesto and ripe juicy tomatoes. With seasonal ingredients, it will always, always taste beautiful and fresh. It will blow your mind every time.

Also try: Vegan Pesto Pasta

Pesto on a breakfast sandwich recipe? Yep. This tasty sandwich works for breakfast, lunch or dinner: and takes only 5 minutes to whip up! The combination of runny egg and basil pesto is savory and satisfying. It's an easy go-to meal you can eat any time of the day.

Here's another sandwich recipe with pesto! It features ripe, juicy tomatoes alongside smoky grilled eggplant, creamy fresh mozzarella, olive spread, and of course: a swirl of basil pesto! It's based on a sandwich we had a sandwich shop in Pisa, Italy, and it's so bursting with flavor that it's become a fan favorite.

Before we get to the end of these recipes with pesto...let's talk vegan pesto! Do you eat a plant based diet? That emerald green, classic sauce is traditionally made with Parmesan cheese. But don't worry: vegan pesto is darn good, too! Head over to see our secret to getting that cheesy flavor. Or, try our Vegan Cashew Pesto, which features cashews instead of the traditional pinenuts (they're easier to find and cheaper).

Instead of pasta, why not try squash noodles with pesto? Here’s an easy spaghetti squash recipe that we’ve been making as a healthy side dish. The tender squash noodles are swirled with basil pesto and doused with fluffy grated Parmesan. It's a spectacular way to use this green sauce. Make either our Roasted Spaghetti Squash or Instant Pot Spaghetti Squash for the "noodles".

Last but not least in our recipes with pesto: another pizza. This time instead of using the pesto as a sauce under the cheese, use it as a garnish on top! This classic Italian-style pizza uses our Easy Pizza Sauce to top that beautiful fluffy crust, gooey fresh mozzarella,