We love making food from scratch around here. We have more control over the flavor and we also control what goes into the foods. There are no preservatives and it’s always fresh. There is nothing better than fresh ingredients made right as you are making the meal. Obviously, there are days where this just isn’t possible but we do the best we can to. The other fun thing about making your own foods and sauces from scratch is you can usually find what works the best for you instead of traditional ingredients. Our house runs off of good food. We are constantly finding new recipes and seeking out good things to try out and tweak to add to our meals list options.
For our pesto recipe we usually use spinach and almonds instead of the traditional basil and pine nuts. Basil is a little more expensive than spinach and doesn’t have quite the nutritional value either. Pine nuts are very pricey and swapping out the almonds is not only more affordable but just as delicious. You could also use another type of nut if you prefer.
As we get started for today’s recipe – you’re going to need fresh spinach, extra virgin olive oil, Parmesan cheese, minced garlic, a lemon, salt, pepper, and some almonds.
If you are starting with whole almonds instead of some that are already sliced for you, go ahead and toss those into your food processor for a couple of rounds to get them into smaller pieces. Then add in the spinach with 1/4 cup of your oil. I like to drizzle it all around the top of the spinach so it’s well distributed.
As you are are processing your spinach and almonds you can add more oil through the processor lid. The great thing about this recipe is that if you add too much oil you can always add more spinach to counterbalance your oil issue.
Take your Parmesan and add to the processor. Mix for one round to get everything mixed evenly. Then take your lemon half and squeeze the fresh juice into your pesto.
Add salt and pepper to taste and enjoy. Another great part of this, is that you can make it once and freeze the rest. We have done that a variety of times and it works out perfectly. It saves the hassle of doing it every time if you might not always have the time but you prefer homemade pesto!
We love to enjoy our pesto with crackers or as part of your main dish. We love to use it in pasta dishes, breads or even homemade pizza! 
- 1/2 Cup Slivered Almonds
- 1/2 Parmesan Cheese
- 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
- 1/2 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1/2 a lemon - freshly squeezed
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- Place almonds and spinach leaves in the food processor and mix using a 1/4 of EVOO at first then slowly adding more.
- Stop the food processor and remove the top to add in the garlic, Parmesan, and lemon juice.
- Continue to mix.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Enjoy with crackers or as part of your main dish. We love to use it in pasta dishes, breads or even homemade pizza!
- Also - this pesto does great in the freezer!
YUM! I love pesto and I have yet to try to make it myself. I might just have to do this!
I hope you love it, Julie! Let me know if you make it! I would love to hear your thoughts!
This looks delicious! It’s tough for me to find ways to eat spinach since I’m not a huge fan of the taste on it’s own, but this would be perfect! So much cheaper than traditional pesto, too. Seems perfect for Spring, too!
Thank you, Ashley! We all really love the taste of spinach raw but in pesto is definitely delicious. It’s much cheaper than traditional pesto too! It’s great for so many things. If you give it a whirl, let me know! I can’t wait to hear what you think!