When I was younger one of my favorite foods on a night out was some sort of pasta with alfredo sauce or pesto sauce. Since then, I still love a creamy sauce that smothers some noodles but I prefer a little extra flavor – this creamy pesto sauce delivers.
Whether I want a rich sauce to coat all sides of my pasta, or a simple sauce that envelops my shrimp or chicken, this does the trick. The plus is that it’s dotted with flavorful fresh basil, garlic, and pine nuts.
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Why You’ll Love Creamy Basil Pesto Sauce
I absolutely adore the fresh flavor of pesto all on its own – spread on the best bread, dolloped on a caprese salad, or even used as a dip for veggies or pita. But when I can mix it into a cream sauce, I’m even more in love with it.
The best part is that this is such a versatile sauce. With its creaminess, brightness, and simple ingredients, it pairs with nearly any protein or vegetable.
So, the next time you’re looking to impress some guests, consider this the way to do it. Guaranteed, they’ll be looking for the recipe once the meal is finished!
What is Creamy Pesto Sauce?
Have you tried the beautiful bright green sauce that is the typical pesto? If you love the mix of parmesan, basil, and nuttiness, then you’ll love this creamy pesto sauce.
It starts with a roux (this is fancy talk for a whisked mixture of butter and flour) and then you mix in cream as well as a traditional homemade pesto whipped up quickly in your food processor.
The mix of fresh herbs and hard cheese with the creamy sauce makes it the perfect topping for pasta, seafood, meat, and vegetables. It’s even amazing on pizza (or as a dip for your pizza crusts).
One of my favorite things about this decadent sauce is that it’s so simple yet elegant. It’s the kind of topping that seems like you spent a ton of time making it, yet it’s easier and more efficient than running to the store to grab jars of similar sauces.
If you have fresh basil leaves from your basil plants, that’s obviously the way to go with this pesto recipe, but if not, wherever you can source it – the farmers’ market, a local grocery store — will work. The same is true for the parsley.
The next time you need a creamy yet brightly flavored sauce, make this your go-to. It’s one of my favorite ways to liven up dinnertime, no matter what’s on the table.
Ingredients
- Pine nuts– For this recipe be sure to toast the pine nuts ahead of time. In a typical pesto, toasting is an option but to really bring out the nuttiness through the cream, toasting is optimal.
- Fresh garlic cloves– Don’t skimp and go all garlic-powder on this. Garlic brings tons of flavor, and just a touch of texture, too.
- Fresh basil leaves– This is the main ingredient – pack those leaves in there!Make sure to fill that measuring cup until you just can’t fill it any more.
- Flat parsley– Same goes for the parsley — make sure it’s packed in so you have plenty of that parsley goodness.
- Extra-virgin olive oil– Make sure to choose a good brand. When you’re working with fairly few ingredients, quality makes all the difference.
- Fine sea salt– The small granules will dissolve quickly in the sauce.
- Ground black pepper– The fresher the better, but if your table shaker is all that’s available it will work.
- Unsalted butter– Since you’re using fresh cheese for this, as well as sea salt, you’ll want to not use salted butter as well.
- Whole milk– Make sure to grab the full-fat milk to impart all of the creamy goodness into this sauce.
- Flour– All-purpose flour is the way to go here. If you’re trying to avoid gluten you can use almond or coconut flour but it will likely not thicken in the same way. Some suggest using a whey protein isolate powder, though we haven’t experimented with that.
- Heavy cream– This will make your sauce silky smooth, enveloping all of the other ingredients.
- Parmesan cheese– Melt this down and it will blend beautifully with the rest of the sauce ingredients.
How To Use Creamy Basil Pesto Sauce
You can use this creamy fresh pesto recipe for so many things. My absolute favorite way is to toss it with my favorite pasta (especially varieties like linguini, tagliatelle, and pappardelle). Here are some other ideas:
- Transform eggs benedict by using this sauce instead of hollandaise
- Substitute it for the balsamic in a chicken caprese recipe
- Add color and creaminess to a white pizza
- Mix with your ricotta when making stuffed shells or lasagna, or stuffing homemade ravioli, for an even creamier filling or layer
- Dip your favorite bread into it. Slice of garlic bread are a great choice, but you can also just use pieces of a baguette or even pita.
- Make your mashed potatoes brighter and even creamier by stirring it in
- Use this creamy sauce as a dip for french fries or baked zucchini sticks
- Drizzle it over any roasted or steamed vegetables, especially fresh green beans
Variations
- Other nuts or seeds- Allergic to (or don’t have) pine nuts? Use sunflower seeds or walnuts to still impart a nutty flavor.
- Greens– For a milder pesto, or to add more color or nutrients, add baby spinach or increase the amount of fresh parsley.
- Roast the garlic– Roasting the garlic with olive oil will make it creamy and impart a little more earthiness to the sauce.
- Cheese- You can substitute another hard cheese for the parmesan cheese. Avoid cheeses that might become stringy like mozzarella. Grana padano and pecorino romano cheese are good alternatives.
- Spice- If you want to add some spice to your sauce, try throwing in crushed red pepper flakes or even cayenne. If you’re using it with a seafood dish (eg, fettuccine with shrimp) you could use Old Bay as well.
Storage
Leftover creamy pesto sauce can be stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days in the refrigerator.
If you’ve tried this recipe, please come back and let us know how it was in the comments or ratings.
More Homemade Sauces
Creamy Basil Pesto Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup pine nuts , toasted
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 cups fresh basil leaves , packed
- 1/4 cup flat parsley, , packed
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese melted
Instructions
- Place pine nuts in a large food processor. Pulse until a paste forms.
- Add the garlic, basil, parsley, olive oil, fine salt and pepper. Pulse until a grainy pesto is formed. Set aside.
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and whisk with flour until a paste forms.
- Whisk in heavy cream until smooth and then whisk in parmesan cheese.
- Remove from the heat and stir in pesto sauce until blended.
- Use over pasta, on chicken, seafood or vegetables.
- If you’ve tried this recipe, come back and let us know how it was in the comments or star ratings!
This was so creamy and easy to make! Was amazing on tortellini!
This is a great idea to have the pesto creamier. I’m sure my kids will love this over pasta. Going to make this for dinner
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a creamy take on pesto but looks like a nice way to have a bit of both herb flavors and creaminess.
This sauce was super delish! I could not love basil more so I figured I would like it. I drizzled it all over some spag squash. Yum!
This sauce is delicious on grilled salmon, and now I want to try it on pizza, as you suggested. Thanks for the recipe!